Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater M80ti's small room.

What's going on, Charles? Say somethin', man!

Chaos, I think you might have designs that date back 12+ years. You may even have the 500 that pre-dates the v2. That's the one with the brick wall filter on the DSP and an old amp. The v4 is a completely new beast. You will think you've died and gone to heaven when you hear it. Yours sounds like garbage compared to the new. Trade it all in. You know about the trade-in program?

It's too bad you live in Virginia or Vegas or wherever the winds have blown you now. If you lived close to me, you could hear what a 23 foot sound-stage is like with M80s and the EP800v4NME. That would give you a completely new frame of reference.

In 2.1, I hear stuff 6 feet to the sides of my speaker boundaries. I just wish I had depth. I've been told I need M100s or LFRs for depth.

I look forward to your LFR1100 review.

You'll be waiting like...forever, Charles!

I'd really like to hear from someone who had M60s or M80s and moved to M100s or LFRs. What changed?

I've read the M100s are like the M80s but with more bass. If that's the only thing that's different, then that's pretty sad!

Thanks you all for the replies, I enjoyed reading the debate. You all had some good points that were relevant to my situation.

My stuff is pretty old, think I got it a few years before I left Virginia... and that was 11 years ago!

Would love to have been able to hear your stuff Mojo... my axioms are pretty much all I have ever heard. I have one buddy with a decent setup for movies, everyone else I know has a damn sound bar. I figured maybe my m80s wouldn't work in the room, but thought the ports may help. You guys even addressed something I didn't post, which was what if I cut off some of the drivers/tweeters inside. 😁

I am probably an due for an upgrade, but definitely didn't want to. I didn't really think speaker "technology" improved enough to warrant an upgrade if I already had something that was good. I will say I am surprised that a new sub may be in order, as Socketman guessed, I wasn't looking to have to buy all new stuff yet. I had come to terms with most likely needing a new LCR before posting on here, this was more so a last ditch let me see what options I have from the knowledge of those who know more than I. Subs will probably have to stay for awhile. I will probably buy some KEF q100s for now and see how they compare with my m80s in the room and use whatever works best till I can do a full upgrade.

Thank you all again very much.

Great speakers are more affordable now. As in your choice. Enjoy!

A couple of people pointed out that the crossover from sub to mains gives you a degree of LF control that people running without a sub (eg typical 2-channel system) do not have.

IMO that is a really important point, since the biggest challenge I have seen with large speakers in small rooms is not being able to get them far enough away from the walls and getting stuck with too much bass reinforcement as a consequence.

As long as you set the M80s as "small" rather than "large" (so the M80s are not handling deeper bass anyways) I expect you will be fine, and may not even need the port plugs. You might have to adjust the crossover point up to 100 Hz or so.

Speakers have certainly improved over time (and I am another fan of the M5HP) but I am also very happy with M60ti's and a ported EP500 in my home theater and haven't really given any though to changing them.

I did upgrade the center channel though, and will probably add rear surrounds and maybe Atmos channels at some point (that's what the M2s and M3s are for).

Sub placement is going to be interesting in a square-ish room - probably worth looking into that as well. My first thought would be "one right by the listening position (like an end table) and one near the mains" although having them both near the listening position might be fun.

I think it was J.B. that had the speaker cockpit. M80's flanked by SVS tube subs in a small room driven by pro amps. It can be done. If not a little crowded.

That and forming an enjoyable soundstage.



This has not been my experience with my M80v2.




I thought my room was "bad" or I didn't know how to place my EP600v2. But I realized over the years just how bad that sub was because when I brought other subs into the room, they sounded right; not nearly as deep or as powerful but tighter and faster.

When I first powered up my first EP800, I did absolutely no tuning and it sounded right. In fact, no matter where I moved it, it sounded right. In its final position and with tuning, it has cleaned up the sound of my entire system. No matter where I sit in my space, it sounds good. As I said in my review, the difference now between Audyssey engaged or not isn't as obvious as when the 600 was in the picture.

For Chaos, I advocate trading in the 500s and M80s if he has to for one 500v4.