Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Out with the new and in with the newer

I am sorry to hear that you couldn't make a living doing what you love. Perhaps one day you'll be in a position to do it for fun.

As for the actives, I am finding out I cannot have it all. I cannot have well-defined images with black space between them if I want a broad and immersive sound-stage. I cannot have deep, growling, articulate, 3D bass with a broad soundstage either.

As I tune from NEAR2 to FAR2, the images get bigger, more dispersive, images to the left and right of center shift towards their respective speaker while the center image gets broader and the sound-stage extends beyond the speaker boundaries. Bass is also affected as I described above. This actually may be the way some listeners like it. It's the difference between a concert hall and an intimate club I suppose. Movies may also be better with this spatial broadening.

The effect on the bass isn't something I like though. BTW, I have the actives set to 40Hz via the DSP. The dual 500s are working below that cross-over. The 800 is set to 60Hz via its rear control and the Onk is set for "double bass". The 160 and QS10s are both set to 40Hz. This ultimately results in very tactile and high resolution bass at all listening levels.

It's been a very long day but I can finally report I now have it all with the actives.

I have width, I have depth, I have imaging, I have 2pi envelopment with the right material, I have infra-sub-mid-upper bass up the wazoo with impeccable growling, articulation and spatial resolution and I have more than 30dB of dynamic headroom.

Most importantly, in 2-channel with my two 500s fed off the DSPs and the 800 from the .1, there is absolutely no difference with Audyssey XT32 engaged. I never thought I'd see that day in this cursed, terribly assymetric room.

The active 1100s are the real deal. But you may have to work hard like I did to achieve Nirvana.

They ended up 13 feet apart and 19" from the front wall. MLP is 14'. Toe-in is a little more than 45 degrees.

Here are a few tunes that result in 2pi envelopment:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3rX1JTpQI4mGGTGwgXnigd?si=luhr2VB4RxC6NDUI-ZegQg

https://open.spotify.com/track/3c2JI45ZzER8wM7gKxtLkH?si=4dHjbu3tRCGirN3q1_eBwQ

https://open.spotify.com/track/1pYGVhpgjTlvzFvajPKNjh?si=972U6TCtRES4ZyDiVtRdJw

https://open.spotify.com/track/56aZjhRKgkBjPzwgHu826m?si=_aK1hagvQ8eYlAjMXE25Yw



P.S. To achieve bass Nirvana in my room, I've employed the following EQ settings. An interesting observation is that at reference levels, the settings below heavily tax the 160 and LFR woofers. Hence, I've crossed them at 40Hz and that works just great. It's a real credit to Axiom that they don't ignite or rip themselves to shreds. The 500s and 800 handle the on-slaught without a sweat.

Front: +6dB @ 63Hz, -3dB @ 160Hz
Center and surround:+6dB @ 63Hz
Sub: +6dB @ 25, 40 & 63Hz

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That's great news, Mojo! While I've been happy with my normal LFR1100s, I didn't do nearly enough experimentation with them. I played with distance from the front wall a bit, as well as a couple of crossover settings, but I wonder how much more I could have gotten out of them if I'd been as determined as you.

I'll have to spend a bit more time seeing what I can achieve with the Actives. I did order them, so when I get them and am trying to set them up, I'll have to refer to your posts for ideas.

Thanks, Charles. For discerning listeners, every little change makes an audible difference.

Since finding the active LFR sweet spot, I've made a couple of tweaks. I've pushed the TV and the 160 back to reduce diffraction. That made the soundstage deeper and tightened imaging around the center. Then I added two more of Trevor's panels to the front wall. That made imaging at the outer boundaries of the soundstage more aetherial and broadened those boundaries.

Still no need for Audyssey in two channel with three subs. I've become a real fan of these actives. I apologize to Ian and Andrew for cursing them as I endlessly tweaked for almost 4 weeks. Everything from hereonin is just my curiosity and nothing more.

I still very much enjoy the M2 system though. For those who just don't have the means, get the M2s, position them right and know that they are just as sublime as the actives.

You need a much bigger screen for that wall and all those speakers.

Yep... a pair of M2's and a good sub is still pretty much the best audio bang-for-the-buck I have seen/heard.

I need the money for active LFR 1500s and their 14 channel amplifier.

14 channel amplifiers... you'll need two

OK, I want them too!