About to pull the trigger, need some quick advice

[superjohnny]

Hey all,
Thanks for the great boards. You guys got a good thing going here. I've been looking to upgrade an audiophile's dream set of KLH 3 way front speakers ($20 for the pair at Best Buy). I'm running them through a modified Toshiba 3960 DVD player and a H/K AVR 125 receiver.

Ok come on, they actually don't sound THAT bad. They were $20, what's a brother gonna do? Right... upgrade when he has more $.

That's me now. I've been reading a whole lot of reviews about the Axiom m22ti's. I'm thinking that's the right thing to do, but a couple of questions first. My room is 13' wide x 21' long x 8' high. The speakers would be set up length wise. My floors are hardwood, couch is pretty close to the middle of the room. Bookshelves & fireplace behind where the speakers would be. On the other side of the 21' room is the dining room which is 12' long and as wide as the living room.

This will be used for music only. I may eventually set up a HT, but don't really like watching TV. Are the m22's going to be large enough for the room? Should I include a VP100 center channel? When more $ comes around I'd probably like to get a nice Rocket 12" sub, but for now I gotta just stick with 2 channel.

Thank you for any advice you may have.
Cheers,
Johnny

 

[Sheep]

Is this going to be for background music, or loud party music?

IF background, you should be fine. I havent heard these speakers, but my house has a similar system that servers a background purpose with bookshelf speakers with only 1. 5.25inch driver for bass.

My room is 24 feet, maybe 25 long. We have it set up different though (obviously ). All in all, you should be fine, but someone who knows how these exact speakers sound can be more reassuring them me

SheepStar

 

[corey]

Axiom has another bookshelf, the M3Ti, for $300. If you went with that, you'd have enough change left over to get a used sub-woofer, which you really need with bookshelf speakers.

I've been shopping speakers in this range, and here's a list of some that are $100 or more less than the 22's:

Brand.....................Speaker...........Est $$

Paradigm................Atom................190
Paradigm................Titan................229
Ascend Acoustics.....HTM-200..........278
Paradigm.................Focus..............299
Klipsch...................RB-25...............300
Axiom.....................M3Ti................300
Polk........................RTi4................320
Ascend Acoustics......CBM-170..........328
Boston Acoustics.......CR77...............349
Def Tech..................ProMon 100......350

Some prices are without shipping, some are with, some are wrong......

 

[jcPanny]

Axiom bookshelfs

I think that the M22ti's would perform much better in your application then any of their smaller bookshelfs. The dual mids and higher efficiency will allow them to play louder and have a more refined sound. For about $100, you wont be able to find a decent sub anyway.

Concerning room size, Alan Loft at Axiom thinks that the M22ti's work well in rooms up to 2500 ft^3. Beyond that, you will limit the maximum volume level that you can achieve. If you add the VP100 and QS8's later, it should be pleny loud.

 

[superjohnny]

I really don't like super-loud music. I rarely push it over normal listening levels unless I'm getting ready in the morning and want to hear it from the kitchen or something.

The plan was to get a sub when money allows. It took 3 years to get the $$ up for the speakers so it may take another year or so to get a sub, but I'm a patient man. I did live with KLH bookshelf speakers for 3 years afterall

Is the VP100 center going to net me any real benefit or should I save the $$ and put it toward a nice sub?

 

[superjohnny]

I like good, clean, detailed, musical sound. I like to be able to hear nuances in music. I like to hear when a pianist misses a note playing a crazy fast Rachmaninov passage. I would like to have the soundstage not present in headphone listening.

I've been really into headphones for a couple of years now and want to try the speaker thing out.

 

[jcPanny]

My vote

Bookshelf speakers first . . .
Subwoofer next.

You will mainly benefit from a center speaker like the VP100 for the dialog on HT. The sub will greatly improve the frequency response of your system for stereo and HT listening.

Then center.
Then surrounds. The cheap old bookshelfs might work well as temporary surrounds.

 

[j_garcia]

With a room that size, something like the M22 would be the least I would go with. My previous room was 25x14 and the smaller bookshelf speakers did OK, but when I stepped up to Paradigm Monitor 5s, there was a definite increase in playback. That doesn't mean you need to crank it; it means they will give you more sound without having to crank it. I think the M22s would be a very good choice, but a sub would be almost a necessity with them in my book. Note also that there are actually quite a few subs that will probably do the trick that are not expensive at all. www.partexpress.com has a 10" sub that is on sale for just $99. PN# 300-632.

There are the Athena AS-B1s (last year's model) for $99/pr at www.audioadvisor.com also. Not going to fill the room quite as well as M22s, but you could actually pick up a few pairs for the price of the M22s. They also have the B2.2 (current model) for $249/pr.

 

[superjohnny]

Ordered on Friday and they're on the FedEx truck for delivery today. From Canada to Portland... now that's fast

I'll need to pick up some speaker stands today I guess. I'd have done it this weekend if I though they'd arrive so fast. I'm really excited.

Funny story... I told my wife I went with a bookshelf type speaker because I didn't think she'd go for the floor-standing. She made me promise not to send them back until I get a subwoofer. Me: "Um, I get to buy a sub? Ok."

 

[superjohnny]

All is well so far. I really like these speakers, but I need more down low. Again this is 2 channel only so I'm thinking about the Rocket UFW-10. I see they're $600 at AV123.com. Is that pretty typical of what people pay for them? Maybe I'll be patient and wait for someone to offer one used...

 

[Takeereasy]

You can get something that will do the job for you for less IMO. Look at the Cadence X-sub at cadencesound.com. About $250 shipped, a real bargin at that price. Also look at HSUresearch.com, I'd suggest an STF-2 to really rock the house. An STF-2 is $400 plus shipping. Also the PB10 from svsubwoofers.com for $429 plus shipping. All will fulfill your needs. A sub will give you what you are missing for sure and make those speakers really come to life. Advent makes a sub that might hold you over for about $80. Not great but man what a value. Maybe one of the guys here will be nice enough to link you to it. Good luck and I'm glad you like the speakers so far.

 

[superjohnny]

Interesting. From what I've been reading the SVS & HSU are better for HT because they extend lower. The complaints about the UFW-10 seem to be that it doesn't have the extension and impact as the HSU or SVS. After reading this article: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=390720 I was kinda sold on the 13" sealed cube.

Overkill?