Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What would you do, home theater 101 questions?

Do you have port plugs for the M22's? Seeing as you will have a massive EP-500 to do bass duties, plugging up the port at the back of the M22 would reduce the need to pull them out too far and help minimize weird sound dynamics. If you don't have port plugs, ask Axiom to send you a pair when they ship your EP-500.

You have an M2 for the center channel, but what is the center channel we see above the TV? Why not raise the shelf your TV sits on and squeeze that center channel underneath it? That way your center channel will be better aligned with your M22's in there new upright positions and closer to ear level.

Nice country house.

The M22's are nice and as long as they are in good shape keeping them is a solid choice. I really like bridgmans idea of install in sliding shelves inside of the existing bookshelves so you could slide the speakers out when in use. I purchased industrial sliders for my component cabinet, they hold 75 pounds each. Work great! With this idea you can play with the depth quite a bit anywhere from 1" past the lip of the bookshelf to as much as 12" or more depending on the depth of your bookshelf. I'd love to see and hear about the results if this is how you go.

TDIPablo, aarons thank you for your comments,

TDIPablo, in regards to having port plugs for the M22's, yes & no. I am using 3/4 inch pipe insulation cut in half, rolled to fit in the ports of the speakers. I am not certain that my DIY port plugs qualify? The use of the M2 for center channel is an experiment. The above speaker is a VP100 Center Channel and you definitely have a good suggestion for an alternate location that I should experiment with.

aarons, I agree with you, I too like bridgmans suggestion of having sliding shelves. It is definitely a suggestion that I must reflect on. Very nice of you to share that the concept is also working for you. Your suggestion is reviving similar idea that I had for the television. Idea that I have put momentarily aside due to the prepping of the family room for the arrival of the new doors and windows replacements. I must tread carefully about objects that I put in front of the bookshelves. I may have mentioned this previously but provided poor explanation of why. The front of the bookshelves provides a corridor without obstruction between the kitchen to the left of the bookshelves and the right of the bookshelves: the breezeway and gazebo. Some immediate thought/concern is: carrying food/beverages from the kitchen down the stairs to the gazebo, forgetting to look or not seeing speaker(s) that could potentially be sticking out.

Pictures showing the access from the Kitchen to the Gazebo:
Kitchen 1,
Kitchen 2,
Bookshelves Corridor 1, note: temporary location for the receiver,
Bookshelves Corridor 2, note: temporary location for the receiver,
Breezeway Access Door, usually left open in the summer. To be soon replaced by sliding door,
Breezeway and Gazebo 1,
Gazebo 2,
Gazebo 3,
Breezeway Access Door.

The speaker bookshelves cavity is about 12 inches deep. How far forward should the speaker be to clear the bookshelves and/or front of the television?

Your plugs don't appear to be perfect fits but may be doing the job. Axiom, however, have specific plugs https://www.axiomaudio.com/port-plugs worth considering.

You may get the desired result just pulling the speakers out an inch or two especially if you are plugging the ports. Also another possibility is to close off those cabinet spaces so they are flush with the wall and installing M22 on wall speakers. That would remove the issue of any sound reverberating inside of the cabinet cavity. Since you are all subbed up with the 500 the on walls would probably do very nicely.

TDIPablo, aarons I am happy that your are chiming back. You and all here are providing me with tremendous help, steering me in the right direction.

TDIPablo, I agree I should order plugs.

aarons, I like your suggestion it kind of brings me back to my original question. I am most likely not in need of speakers that moves the air in my bookshelves cabinet. My speakers where not designed to have plugs where the on wall and cabinets where. With this knowledge, are their differences in sound between on wall and cabinet speakers? Or my current speakers with plugs? Has anyone compared the different types? It would be nice to hear from the designers a sound comparison between bookshelves speakers with plugs, on wall speakers and cabinet speakers? If that is possible?

Edit: I made a mistake to my previous post. I assumed that Axiom had the M22 in its list of cabinet speakers. I would still appreciate a sound comparison between the M22's bookshelves with plugs and on-wall speakers.

I am quite sure if you call Debbie at customer service she can give you a good description of the sound difference between the two speakers. I’ve only had the on walls in the M22 but I use them with dual subs, so I have them set as SMALL. The bookshelves would provide you with more low frequency but with your sub you probably wouldn’t need that. I assume other than the low frequency the sound quality would be the same.

Run a simple A/B/C experiment to put your mind at ease...

A) Place your M22's on some sort of stand/stack of books at about the same height they would be in the bookshelf.

B)Compare that to how they sound in the bookshelf (make sure you include whatever "stuff" you plan to put there).

C) The M22OW's are bottom ported and need to be hung. You don't have room on the left side to wall mount them unless you get a bracket that have them stick out. If you are ok with that, you would have better separation of speakers (assuming the second M22OW would be mounted between the closet and fireplace). Try that too in your M22 A/B/C comparison to see if separation is worth it. I don't think the improvement will that impressive to justify the expense and trouble.

I can almost guarantee you, unless there is some weird vibration as a result of the M22's on a shelf, that whatever difference you hear will not be worth the effort to get the "best" sound possible when balanced against the practicality of your situation. You took care of your weakest link (subwoofer) and that will make a big difference.

This room is not a dedicated Home Theater or Music listening room. I think you have a gorgeous country home and a really great room to hang out in to listen to music and watch movies when to mood takes you. Enjoy it as is :-)