Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater VP160 Concept Discussion

I just think that would be to bulky for my taste.

It looks like a mail box?

Randy, I like the way you phrased it. Because the VP150 is not to my taste, and the VP180 is just ridiculously large for some people.

I'm sure I could get used to it though.

Perhaps they could make the cabinet the same kind of height(width?) as the M60...BUT!...they could use a secondary baffle(over the cabinet baffle) to extend the centre height a little for the upper-centre mounted tweeter.

So...a reg cabinet, with a 3/4"(1/2"?) baffle added to the face, with a hump at the centre to mount the tweet. This will keep the overall package narrower, and the front baffle can extend out from any stands or HT cabinets, thereby clearing the "hump" if necessary(ie, if the shelf is narrow and won't clear the tweet).

[quote=tomtuttle]Just for clarity, I'm thinking of an Axiom treatment of something similar to this...[quote]

Yes tomtuttle. I think a design like that would look very nice with the classic tapered Axiom cabinet. JohnK was alluding to a similar design as well. Do you have any information about the dimensions of that speaker? Just curious to compare it to the size of the VP150.

When I first heard about the 180, I was initially excited and wanted one. But when I started to think about it, I just don’t have room for it and I most definitely do not have room for one under and one over my screen. Plus, I don’t want to hang one above my screen with chains, which I think it the only real option for the above screen location. There are those who feel two centers is a bad idea, but having done it, I’ll never go with one center again.

When Andrew posted this conceptual idea thread, I started thinking about it from a purely selfish perspective, and not a perspective from a builder / designer. I think that to make this possible, I need to put my cabinet maker hat back on and think about the cost / benefit ratios with differing cabinet sizes and shapes. When looking at it from that perspective, the “hump” or “triangle” ideas will be a show stopper. To do that would require a very radical cabinet change which will also affect veneering and internal bracing. It can be done, but I suspect the expense would be cost prohibitive. The strength of the cabinet is obtained by how it is assembled and the size of each cabinet piece. The cabinet structural integrity would be drastically reduced if the lid is cut to accommodate a hump or triangle. Cutting and assembling a lid with an odd shape would be a nightmare. To keep the cabinet structurally sound, but large enough to stack drivers vertically, it would obviously have to be squattier, like the one Tom posted the picture of. I personally do not like this look, but others do.

Whatever cabinet shape is determined, I would really like to see this thing wall mountable so that I could mount one above and one below my screen without stands or chains. That will require the cabinet depth be reduced, considerably, to get the pivot / weight moment point closer to the wall.

It sure would be fun to build a few of these differing design ideas and do some blind testing……

I’m also very pleased that Axiom has thrown this out for the general input of forum users. I’ve often mentioned during our CC meetings that a broader opinion base would be great for some of this stuff. Thank you for doing that Andrew.

Michael, for the record, the "hump" that I eluded to would be on the outer baffle...the cabinet would be standard Axiom style with flat angled sides, but with another, separate baffle with a CNC'ed hump in the middle attached. The second baffle is a separate piece, the same size as the standard baffle(which is folded and glued up like the standard cab's) but with the extra material in the middle to house the tweet above the midrange.

Perhaps an alternative would be to add a small appendage to house the tweeter on top of the cabinet, glued and screwed from inside the main cabinet. This could be done in black for all the cabinets, no matter what finish the customer chooses on the main cabinet. The "appendage" would only be the size of your fist, or thereabouts.

It may be possible for Axiom to manufacture their tweeter with a truncated or greatly reduced flange size, like this...



Which might make the standard cabinet width work. Dunno. I'll let you detail people figure it out. I'm just a concept guy.

I agree with Mike about trying to make it less deep than a standard M60. I disagree with him that he doesn't have room for a couple of VP180's, though

Edit: Doc, the speaker in the picture I linked is about 24"W x 11.25"H x 13.25"D. Those are 7" woofers and a 4" midrange.

If you want it to sound like an M60, though, you're going to need roughly the same cabinet volume as an M60.