Are Axiom's good speakers? Q4 or Q8's???

[Dagwood]

Just wondering about using these for my surrounds... Is it a bad idea to mix and match speakers for a 5.1 surround sound? I like the way these appear to function with the side firing and down firing woofers.

 

[Stripes]

Just wondering about using these for my surrounds... Is it a bad idea to mix and match speakers for a 5.1 surround sound? I like the way these appear to function with the side firing and down firing woofers.

I have them, they are a great surround speaker. They disperse a great deal of sound and due to sound being shot out of 4 different areas from the speaker it is very non directional which is ideal for a surround speaker.

As long as you are not listening to multi-channel music, SACD or something similar it will be fine to differ from your front 3.

 

[Dagwood]

What if i took 4 of the QS4's and used them instead of my 4 satellites?!

I have a weird room. I have that "open concept" and there for ran wire where I could... My fronts are on the TV wall, but one is in just above the hallway entry way, in the corner, and the other is in that 22.5 degree angle corner of our corner fireplace and the adjacent TV wall. I have to push that sound our of the corners. Probably should have put them right on the wall facing outward, but asesthetically (and that's what the boss wanted) I couldn't make that happen.

Then I could get their center channel, keep my sub in the system (10" Kenwood - 8 years old) and be set!!!

yes? No? Would the QS4's work in a larger room? Better than my little RM 6000's?

 

[Dagwood]

The boss just said she really likes the style of the QS4's and the fact that they come in so many diff. colors. I also noticed that I can send in a sample and they'll match that color (for a fee, of course)... but now I'm wondering, if I cannot use the Q series as a front speaker because of the multi-directional thing???? Should I go with their smallest bookshelf one and mount it right on the wall? She'll hate the way that looks even if it sounds great.

Also, is that entry level center channel they hae a decent one (again, probably need to compare that to my little dual woofer polk center channel).

 

[krzywica]

You cannot/should not use the Qs4's or Qs8's for mains. If you are sticking with Axiom and want a more WAF approch then get n walls for the front sound stage.

http://axiomaudio.com/wallspeakers.html

 

[Dagwood]

Will those on wall speakers sound just as nice as the book shelfs ?

 

[lsiberian]

Toole said, "Surrounds need not match the fronts because the speakers hit the ears at a different angle". That man has done a lot of research on the subject so I follow his advice.

For fronts you want something that can get down to 80hz well.

 

[Dagwood]

So that on wall speaker will not work for my fronts...

 

[GO-NAD!]

So that on wall speaker will not work for my fronts...

Not the QS4 or QS8. But, the M3 or M22 In/On Walls would.

 

[Dagwood]

I have to say, I cannot keep the little satellites anymore. I pulled my garage speakers (16+ year old Boston HD8's) and they sound 100 times better as my fronts. I don't know if you guys like Boston's or not, but that doesn't even matter at this point... they make those polks sound like crap... really crappy! I did the auto setup, too. Music and movies are so much nicer through those... One thing we liked about the QS4's is you can get them in an unfinished cabinet, and paint them to match your walls, and custom order the cloth on the grills. We may do that with the surrounds. Then, I'm thinking of putting the M3's on the wall (the bookshelfs, not the in/on wall model) and getting the VP100 v3 for the center channel. Not sure if we'll paint the front and center's, or if we'll custom order a wood finish and grills.

I'm concerned about the size of the M3's on the walls (especially with one of them going in the corner, sort of), but I'm more concerned about the sound, now. She doee like the tan colors for speakers... Could i do a lot better for the money than the front and center axioms? If I don't have to match, I guess it doesn't hurt to ask.

 

[krzywica]

IMO you could do a lot better......but speaker taste is 110% subjective and can vary wildly from person to person. My only answer would be to get to your local hifi shop and get listening. Remember to bring your own test material.

 

[ChunkyDark]

I really like the m3 on walls. In my head to head they were so close to the Aperion 5b that I went with the Axiom. They also blew away the Infinity 162 bookshelves.
They have a good sound stage and go a lot lower than I would have thought possible.

The only real issue I have is the veneer on the basic finish is very thin/cheap. If you stand close you can see the imperfections. Sitting 8 feet away it looks fine.

They offer free shipping to you, but you have to pay return if you don't like them. I just returned the Infinities which weighed about the same and it was ~30 bucks for shipping/insurance. So try them out in your house and see if you like em, not much to lose if you don't.

Cheers,
Chunkydark

 

[Dagwood]

Chunk - that's pretty good point. Thanks for chirping in. Do you also have the same surrounds and center channel? I was also looking at BIC center channels because I have a set of floor standing speakers by BIC. I think someone said you should have the same brand of front and center (???). What about the MartinLogan M6 ( I think that was the center channel)?

I'm all over the road now, other than I know I'm getting those surround axioms... Free shipping and no tax... good deal. I do know however, that we've been drastically missing out on the music with the rm 6000's. They gotta go!!!!!!!!!

Not sure where to go for local hi fi stores (Lake geneva, WI) other than the big boxes... any suggestions? Milwaukee or norther IL?

 

[ChunkyDark]

So far I only have the fronts m3. Once I've finished painting I'll order the m2 for surrounds and probably the vp 100 for center. I prefer standard speakers because of music listening in other parts of the house.

Make sure if you do go with the BIC that the center and L/R are from the same line so they are timber matched.

Personally I'm no longer a fan of auditioning at stores, really prefer to do it where they'll be sitting.
Case in point; The aperion 6b (said 5 before but was 6b) that I auditioned were the most detailed speakers I ever heard when they were set up in a temporary position. When I finally got them where they actually would be, they hurt my ears after a few minutes of listening. Now I know it was my funky room, but I just couldn't fix it (part of why i went with axiom).
So if I had listened to them anywhere else they would have sounded great, except where they would have been used.