Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater VP180 First Impressions

OK, it's late so I won't go into great detail, but I was able to finally play with the VP180 today. I figured I'd start a new thread to save others/newcomers having to read through the massive VP180 thread before getting to any reviews/feedback. I will start with my (unprofessional) impressions but any and all other owners are encouraged to add theirs as well.

Here is a picture of the VP180 standing on end beside an M80 for reference, sorry I don't know how to attach an image.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/51286284@N02/4716480288/sizes/l/

Yes, the VP180 is a beast and is every bit as big and heavy as the M80. The M80 only appears slightly taller because it has four rubber feet supporting it.

First part of listening was done with the VP180 oriented vertically (like in the picture) and compared to an M80. In a nutshell, the VP180 sounds incredible! It is literally as close as you will come to the sound of an M80 without actually getting an M80. First thing that stood out was the depth of sound. Did not sound hollow or tinny, it did sound full and rich and detailed. Bass was plentiful and provided lots of punch, just like the chest thumping effect I get from the M80's. I did all my testing without a sub and the VP180 didn't miss it that's for sure. The mids and vocals were clear and smooth, no evidence of any sibilance whatsoever, just like the M80's. The highs, again like the M80's, were detailed, crisp, and...well...sweet. By sweet I mean not overbearing or bright or fatiguing, at least it wasn't for the 3 hours I was listening.

So is it 100% identical to the M80? No, but I'd say 99%. It's hard to describe the difference. First off, even though the specs say sensitivity is the same as M80, I found that I had to increase the VP180 level by 2dB in order to acheive the same SPL as the M80. Even with that correction, though, I could still hear a very very slight difference. I will cautiously say that I found the M80 to be *slightly* more forward (prominent?), BUT the difference diminished as I lowered my ear level, so maybe it has to do with the driver alignment. Without direct comparison to the M80's I'd likely be more than happy with a pair of vertical VP180's as mains, but I can't really think of a situation where I'd ever recommend that setup over a pair of M80's. Horizontal placement is an entirely different matter. Here, there is no comparison at all, the VP180 wins hands down.

Geting too late and too tired now, sorry can't think of anything else to write. Will add more if I can remember. Feel free to ask questions and I'll do my best to answer, that may be the easiest way to get info out of me, LOL.

Thanks for the review!

Nice review HT, sounds like another winner from Axiom!

I am very impressed with mine as well .

Regardless of the similarities and driver configurations in center channel speakers compared to the mains, what you are describing in terms of what you are hearing is the inherent limitations of horizontal center channels. Adjusting your ear level is essentially the same as re-positioning the speaker and center channels have always been more sensitive to this issue.

Back some some time ago Alan Lofft wrote an interesting article about this when comparing the VP150 and 100 and how the sound changed just by a slight move in location.

It seems nothing will ever beat the original THX concept of identical speakers in the front three channels, however, when you have big "floor-standers" in your L/R configuration, for many it is not possible.

Actually, the VP180 was vertical when I noticed the effect of different ear levels. I found that when the VP180 was oriented horizontally, raising or lowering the ear level made little difference.

Well if that`s the case, then our friends at Axiom have unlocked the secret of how to build the "ultimate" horizontally oriented center channel.

Thanks for the review HT. It seems your initial impressions and mine were just about the same. I love the VP180, and cannot even think to put it in the same class as the VP150.

I did notice that moving my ears lower tended to make the sound more pronounced. What I did to fix the situation was angle the speaker more upward (I had the VP150 flat horizontal). Just propping it up about 15 degrees did the trick. With the adjustment, I have the VP150 about 2db less than the M80s (most likely because the M80s are about 2-3 feet farther away from my main listening position than the VP180).

Glad to see you're enjoying the speaker!

Casey, on the vertical dispersion point, that's actually about what would be expected from any horizontally configured speaker. The vertical speaker is designed for wide horizontal dispersion and narrower vertical dispersion. When on its side, the broad horizontal dispersion is obviously transformed to the vertical plane.

One interesting point for further comment would be a comparison of the horizontal VP180 with the vertical VP180 for center channel duties.

Now that would be interesting. I'd imagine it would be an even better / closer match than a VP180 with two M80's. It would basically come down to the sound of the M80's vs the sound of the (vertical) VP180's. If one feels that the difference is small enough, non existant, or in favour of the VP180's then they'd have themselves an ideal setup with three VP180's.