Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater concerns about VP150

I'm trying to choose between the VP100 and VP150. I have room for the VP150, I can afford it, and I think it would at least *look* cool right up front with the TV. My concerns are. . .

From the website, the VP150 is "6 Ohms (Compatible with 8 Ohm receivers)". What exactly does compatible mean in this context? My receiver has a warning label saying it's for 8 to 16 Ohm speakers only. I'm just not sure what to make of that.

I've heard from some people who love the VP150, but also several who think it's too bright at the high end. They complain of exaggerated S and P sounds in dialog. I've also read one explanation saying that a lot of movie soundtracks have intentionally exaggerated the high end, in order to compensate for the acoustics of your typical theater. . . and the VP150 is simply reproducing that signal faithfully, whereas other center-channel speakers tend to roll it off.

By comparison, the VP100 is an 8 Ohm speaker, and it has only one tweeter, so it's very conventional and there should be no surprises. It would seem like a safe choice.

I have a large workroom where I'm putting this setup. . . BUT when watching movies it's usually just me in my easy chair sitting only about 7 to 8 feet in front of the TV! So it seems like the room-filling qualities of the VP150 would be wasted in this situation anyhow.

I'm guessing the VP150 might be a plus when running 5.1 DVD Audio or SACD music. I have the hardware to play those discs, but I haven't really gotten "into" DVD Audio yet.

Can someone help me decide?

What receiver are you using? Many receivers will have no problem driving a 6ohm speaker. The Qs8's are also 6 ohm and most people don't have any issues. 4ohm would be a different issue.

It's nothing exotic. . . a JVC RX-8040B receiver. 100 watts per channel.

I agree with sirquack. If you have a decent surround receiver, a 6 ohm load should be no problem.

Personally, I would go with the VP150. Even if it's bigger than you need now, you can simply reduce the output levels during your system calibration. It should have better dispersion than the VP100, and you may end up moving your system to a larger room some day.

Hello tonybelding,

The easiest way to determine which center to get (apart from the good advice given by others here) is room size and listening distance.

The VP100 and VP150 are tonally neutral and very similar. For rooms up to 2,200 cu. ft and sitting up to 10 or 12 feet away, the VP100 does a fine job.

If your room is larger or you sit farther back (or you have large floorstanding speakers and want to have similar power handling abilities in the center), get the VP150.

The stuff about sibilance is nonsense. I do extended listening tests to all of the Axiom speakers. They are neutral and balanced for rooms with normal domestic furnishings (rug or carpet on the floor, upholstered furniture, perhaps some bookcases or the like to break up reflections).

If the source material has been recorded with microphones with a presence peak in the midrange (not uncommon on CDs, and a few movies) the Axioms will reproduce it accurately. Don't expect a neutral linear uncolored loudspeaker to compensate for engineering screwups or bad recordings.

Soundtrack transfers to DVDs these days are not overly bright like some in the old days of laserdisc, where the THX curve was sometimes useful in cutting some treble. Nowadays the THX EQ isn't needed on the vast majority of Dolby Digital movie and TV show soundtracks.

See my articles in the Axiom Learning Center on Fine-Tuning center channel sound. It's important to experiment with placement in your room, which can be hugely influential on loudspeaker sound.

Oh, any decent brand of AV receiver, including your JVC, will drive 6-ohm speakers as easily as 8-ohm speakers. Only a 4-ohm speaker like the M80ti towers cause problems for some brands. For those, we recommend only Denon, Harman/Kardon, a few Yamahas, Rotel, B&K and NAD. Some new Pioneers, I'm told, will drive 4-ohm loads without overheating or shutting down. A 4-ohm speaker has less electrical resistance, hence more current (power) flows through the output stage, the transistors run hotter, and many brands (Sony, Kenwood, etc) can't handle it, so they shut down temporarily or go into current limiting, which limits power output.

Regards,

Alan,

I’ve seen it recommended on this board, on numerous occasions to go with the same center as the fronts. Several members have this set up.

Could you explain the pro’s / con’s to this? I mean, in reference to the theory besides the obvious dimensional aspects of the VP’s. I have the room under my 'soon to be screen' to place a tower, and need to make up my mind pretty quick.

In reply to:

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If your room is larger or you sit farther back (or you have large floorstanding speakers and want to have similar power handling abilities in the center), get the VP150.

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My soon (but not soon enough) to be constructed Media Room will be under the 2200 cu ft mark (approximately 1755 cu ft) and the seating position will likely be about 9-10 ft from the speakers.

You state "want" above so can I take that to mean a VP150 over a VP100 is not necessary? For example my Monitor Audio speakers for all intents and puposes are probably the "equal" to the M80s which will be used for music listening as well as home theater. Based on your post, I don't need the VP150 to "keep up", correct?

Am I correct in assuming that the QS4 and VP100 will be sonically "identical" (or perhaps I should say tonally identical) to the QS8 and VP150 [comparatively] in my smallish room? Is this a situation where I should buy both and return the one that does not suit the intended purpose?

It would be easy to buy QS8s and a VP150 and be done with it, so to speak, but if I don't need them over the QS4 and VP100 it would be a "waste of money" considering the system will never be moved to a larger room.

I guess one of my concerns is that if I would like to cross over the sub at a lower frequency than 70 Hz (the Monitors can reproduce lots of bass down to 35 Hz as the -3db point is 28 Hz), I would need to go with a VP150, correct? Otherwise I have my sub crossed over at a high frequency to compensate for the lack of low frequency output from the VP100 and then create a hump in the low frequncy area unless I cross over the Monitors at a frequncy to match the center. Yes?

Mike, Alan apparently hasn't been back, but hopefully wiil be able to add his input. My view, as I've indicated before, is that if you have the space under the screen, then there're no cons to using a vertical speaker identical to the mains(or similar M60). You'd have the advantages of essentially identical frequency response and dispersion all across the front. The advantage of the horizontally configured center being able to lie fairly flat to the top of the TV obviously wouldn't be relevant.

Hi Mdrew,

As JohnK pointed out (thanks, John), there aren't any downsides to using an identical speaker (to your main left and right front speakers) as a center. Keep in mind that even when you do use an identical speaker, it won't necessarily sound exactly the same, at least with pink noise, as the left and right speakers simply because it's in a different location.

But it would certainly have identical power handling, dispersion, frequency response and so on as the main speakers. If you have the budget and space for one, sure, go ahead.

On the other hand, it isn't a big compromise using a well-designed center channel speaker whose timbral signature smoothly matches the main speakers. You aren't going to "lose" bass frequencies when you configure the system with a subwoofer, as the ".1" channel routes all the deep bass to the sub or the main left and right speakers when you set the center up as "Small".

The other option of using dual VP150 center channel speakers, one above the screen and one below, running in parallel, gives you tons of power handling, excellent coverage for all listeners, plus the advantage of the two centers imaging the dialog and vocals at the center of the screen.

Regards,

BruceH,

"Am I correct in assuming that the QS4 and VP100 will be sonically "identical" (or perhaps I should say tonally identical) to the QS8 and VP150 [comparatively] in my smallish room?"

Yes, the timbral match is very close.

Unless you listen at extremely loud levels, I don't think you'd need the VP150 to match the power handling abilities of your Monitor Audio speakers. Speaking of which, British speakers as a group (with some exceptions) generally don't have power handling the equal of, say, the M80ti's, which we routinely run past 800 watts per channel in our chamber.

I don't know what the power handling rating is for the Monitor Audio speakers. The VP100 is 200 watts. Come to think of it, the timbral blend with the center and main speakers is really crucial, so why aren't you considering a Monitor Audio center channel speaker? Or, alternatively, getting two Axiom main speakers that will provide an excellent timbral match to the VP100?

Regards,