Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Speaker mix and placement question.

After living in this home for almost 2 years now, I've finally punted on setting up a HT system in a smallish room in the basement and have instead opted to set it up in my main living room. Originally I had planned on using M60s and QS8s in the basement and had purchased M22s for stereo listening upstairs in the living area. Now that I'm going all upstairs what do you guys think about using the M22s for back surround or side surround or vice versa with the QS8s or just stick with a 5.1 system with M60s and QS8s? I'm gonna start snaking wire through a miserable crawl space space later today, so time is of the essence. All suggestions welcome. BTW....HELLO OLD FRIENDS!!

After rereading that post, it doesnt make that much sense. So the question is....... 7.1 system with QS8s for side surrounds and M22s for rear or M22s for side surrounds and QS8s for rear or just stick with 5.1 system with QS8s for surround speakers?

Also where is there a good diagram of a 7.1 and 5.1 speaker placement? It's been awhile since I've been here and things are not as easy to find as time has passed.

Welcome back Bray, using the M22s as rears sounds like a good idea with the QS8s as sides.
I have tried my M3s as rears instead of my QS8s and really didn't notice much of a difference. Might have been the fault of the room, it's only 13 feet wide but that's what I have to work with. You already have the M22s so why not try them there. In my room the QS8s are perfect as side surrounds. You could check out the Dolby Labs site, they have 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1 layouts illustrated there.

I too would say to put the M22s in the rear surround position, and the QS8s on the sides. You will, in theory and dependent upon your specific room, get a little more "umph" in the rear surround channels with monopole/direct radiating speakers like the M22s. Our ears hear things better when they in in front of us and off to the sides a little bit, but a lot can be lost behind our heads, thus the reason for wanting a bit more "pin-point" sound shooting straight at the listening area and not so diffused like the QS8s.

Absolutely not slamming anyone's setup with QS8s for rear speakers. I used QS8s for side and rear surrounds for years, then shifted to QS8 side surrounds and M3 rear surrounds and liked it a little more, but that is my experience. I think that you will get great enjoyment with the M22s on rear channel duty and the QS8s on the sides.

I just finished snaking wire through the nastiest most awkward crawl space in the world. Went ahead and ran it for 7.1. If you never hear from me again, it's because I died of a spider bite.
Going to run QS8s on side M22s rear. Going to listen to some of the same parts of a movie in 7.1 and 5.1 and see if I notice a huge improvement, if I dont notice much, the M22s are going in my bedroom for tunes there. Thanks for the feedback.