Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Just Ordered LFR660s!

Geez, Rich. Take some risks. Have some fun!

You can put smoke high on wall so long as room is left between it and ceiling/corner. I wanna say 16” is code but I cant remember. Much easier to do this maybe.

Hey Mojo, I'm putting on "The Towering Inferno" ... bring the marshmallows.

The theater is actually a fire trap. One way in and cement walls on three sides.

Is that the same in the states?

I can still get the alarm on the ceiling ... just have to run the wire over the MLV. From there is about 3" to the finish ceiling.

Ours had to be on the ceiling within a certain distance to the door but that was in a bedroom. We also had to have one in the hallways outside of each bedroom. Being that it's a theater room and not a bedroom where someone is sleeping I'm not sure that there is code on that other than you would obviously want to know in the event of a fire. I may still have the building code specs at the house. If I do I'll send you the updated code.

I'll bring my fire pit. Let's burn 'er to the ground! Yeeeehawwww!

Ceiling a sure bet. Confirm your local code requirements if on wall.

Our codes are based off yours, so likely same.

Welll I got all the parts and pieces, the 660s + integrated DSP ADA1000 and got back up north last weekend to get them all set up. I was a little worried about the caramel walnut being to light, after finding some of Mojo's pic's buried in the threads. They are in direct light but up north where it's a little dimmer and softer light, they're just perfect. So very pleased with the finish color aesthetic, and great quality as usual. These were my first non Black Oak order and went based on the web photo so was excited and nervous.

I was beginning to second guess whether it would worth the cost of the upgrade from the M5s after I had time to ponder for a while. The conclusion is, holy shit yes! A couple of things to note, my goals were wider, deeper soundstage and better off axis stereo effect from MLP. The 660's deliver + some!

The MLP still is a noticeable sweet spot, there is almost an ORB of sound cocooning you, the surround effect is literally mind blowing and almost eerie on creepy PF samples (perfect sense for example) haha. Soundstage is massive and very deep, hearing smaller details much more clearly as they separate across the image instead of sounding on top of each other. Roger Waters in the flesh, is of course a fun listen, but the weird SFX, samples, crowd noise all sound like it's surround sound. The dogs barking in Dogs sounded like it was my neighbors and the laughing in Brain Damage, was like a floating laughing skull bouncing around the room. I was completely astounded. The image was so wide in Miles Davis - Kind of Blue, it felt like I was front row in the club. Similar results for all my fav listens and well recorded live shows make you feel like you're in the crowd.

The stereo sound while cooking or simply sitting in a different location is so insane, it fills the whole cabin with great sound and detail and do not miss things or weight different sides more heavily than the other. This alone is huge. especially since a lot time of there is spent with friends in front of the wood stove or playing games, etc. and not just one specific seat.

I have them coupled with my Rythmik E15 and it's bliss (getting that low wave of bass that sounds like the massive array in an arena is amazing), I do think the sub is necessary with the 660s, the 880s and 1100s def benefit from the added usable low frequency, but for my space with the normal volumes being fairly tame the 660+sub is a match made in heaven and do not feel I am missing out. The 1100s would have been overkill and overpowering in my space I think. I had the feeling that I was giving something up with "only" going for the 660s when barely anything is written or reviewed on them. Adding the sub makes them full range down to +/-14Hz and all qualities I've read about the passive 1100s are present. So very very happy with them and have already sent back the M5s, even though I've only had about 6hrs to listen. I think it will improve even more as I get used to them. Literally cannot imagine a better experience unless Ian and Andrew decide to make fully active 660s in which case my wallet will be upset, so I hope that doesn't happen for a year or 3 haha. Although I am very interested to hear the fully active 1100s now, how can it get any better?!

Jritz, that awesome! Isn't it great when you get the improvement you're hoping for but can't quite believe is possible?
I wound up going with the M80s over the LFR660s, and I see that you also have M80s. Where they in the same room? And if they were, how would you characterize the difference between them?

Cork, thanks! It's a great feeling to be really satisfied with such a large purchase, especially this day in age haha.

I think you weren't running a sub? I can see how the 660s might leave you wanting for more in the lower frequency range. It's such a large part of the experience, for me anyway. I do have the M80s, in my home theater set up at my apt. I have a cabin up in the White Mountains in NH and that's where the 2.1 set up is. I find that at home I have a hard time sitting to listen but love movies and while up north really enjoy relaxing and listening to music more than watching TV/Movie. So I've never really been able to compare the M80s for music listening. I just started the foray into 2 channel music during the pandemic, as I snuck away to the cabin for a few months to get outta dodge.

I would say the M5s + Sub are probably similar to the M80s or at least as close as I can compare. The sub digs deeper but the 660s alone def miss some of the excitement, which I think is far more noticeable to the overall experience than the added benefits of the LFR so I can see why you'd favor the M80s. But couple the LFRs with a good sub that's articulate and goes low and its a match made in heaven. I also listen at moderate volumes, so 660 is good otherwise M80, 880, 1100 will obviously be the better horse. I'd say the difference is the the width and depth of the soundstage, and obviously the off axis performance. These were my key areas to upgrade. The sound "quality" isn't better persay but the experience is better when doing other things I enjoy, casual listening is drastically improved while eating, cooking, playing games, whatever. The added "surround effect" is a weird and awesome bonus and better definition of instruments through the wider sound stage provides much better image clarity at the MLP. I found it much easier to be transported to the venue and visualize the instruments.

The M80s Rock for HT and really like them with the VP160, unfortunately I've been in an apt for a while and not been able to really let them or any of the other speakers get a good workout in.