Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners VP 100 or VP 150 paired with M3ti?

hello all, my question is witch center will match the best with the M3ti bookshelf speakers the room size is 14'L x 14W'x 7'H I have a built in entertainment center that does not allow tower speakers or the M22ti. I will most likely go with 4 QS4 surround speakers with a SVS PB1-ISD sub. For the receiver I will be going with ether the Denon 2803 or the HK AVR 525. thanks for the help.

Logan, I have a different suggestion. Since you're getting a very good sub, M2s should be excellent as mains where you're facing space limitations. Then, the best match as center to M2s is a third M2, positioned vertically. If for some reason it has to be a horizontal center, the general opinion is that the VP150 is significantly better(the possibility of placing 2 M2s horizontally, woofer to woofer in a TMMT configuration shouldn't be overlooked).

John, I am curious about the option of using two M2s (placed horizontally TMMT) in a center channel configuration. My receiver has only one speaker input for a center channel -- would I simply connect both speakers to the same input and program the receiver as if there were only one speaker? Is there anything else which must be done in this sort of set-up? Thanks!

Correct me if I'm wrong, everyone, but I believe the way to hook up the two speakers correctly to one output is to do them in series. You'll need 3 separate speaker wires:

• One to go between the red terminal on your receiver and the red terminal on the first M2.
• One to go between the black terminal on first M2 and the red terminal on the second M2.
• One to go between the black terminal on the second M2 and the black terminal on the receiver.
  

Hi pmbuko,

Yikes. The proper way to hook up a pair of speakers to the same output is in parallel, not in series. A parallel hookup will, of course, present a lower impedance (two 8-ohm speakers in parallel will present a 4-ohm load to the amp), but you'll preserve the correct tonal balance of each speaker.

When you hook up speakers in series, the impedance curve of one speaker interacts with that of the other speaker, and the speakers may sound quite different, depending on frequency and the shape of the curves themselves. Series hookup should be strictly a last resort when your amp can't drive the lower impedance of a parallel connection.

Regards,

That would take the impedence up to 16, which is probably no good on modern amps (anyone?). I would think that parallel would be better, which would take the impendence to 4 ohms. No biggie, there!

As an aside, I was thinking about a pair of M2s for a center, but having them both vertical and very close to the TV. I figure the TV has speakers at the corners, and the sound seems fine, so this could work. However, I could be insane.

Alan - so if I have this right, I run a connection from each speaker to the single center channel input on the receiver. This is considered parallel? Something else you mentioned about impedance gives me pause, however. The two speakers I am considering using for the center channel are rated at 6-ohms. My receiver only has an 8 or 4-ohm setting, and I am running M22ti as my mains. What are my options?

Yes, running a pair (+ and -) for each speaker to the receiver is correct (try drawing a picture, it makes more sense, then). I'd be a little concerned about the 6 ohm thing (it would take it down to 3 ohms), but I'll let the experts speak to that.

Does your reciever actually have switches between 8 and 4 ohms?

Oops! I knew I was quite possibly wrong, which is why I invited correction in the first sentence. Not more wiring advice from me. :P

Yes bigrocks, as Alan indicated, since no two speakers(even of the same model)are precisely identical, differences in impedance curves can cause interference when they're connnected in series(although 2 speakers of the same model should have only a small problem)and it's generally better to connect them in parallel if the resulting impedance is acceptable. There's various ways of doing this so that the positive amp terminal is connected to the positive terminal of each speaker and likewise for the amp and speaker negative terminals.

Ken, there shouldn't be any significant problem with setting up center speakers right up against the side of the TV(so that the center image wouldn't shift farther outside than that)although some might worry about the exaggerated problem comb-filtering is supposed to cause when two widely separated speakers play the same material.