Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater m3 vs m22 vs m5hp and which center set up?

Hi,
I bought my home theatre for my old apt in 2010 - m60/qs8/vp100 - very happy with it but I got most joy from listening to stereo music on the m60s - older apartment and no subwoofer meant I couldn't really crank it for home theatre.

Now I am in the burbs and in the living room I just use the m60s with a stereo amp. I am looking to set up home theatre in the basement. I may use the basement for music listening also as I am not allowed to crank up in the living room for fear of waking my baby daughter ;-)

My viewing area is skewed to the left hand side in the 22w x 16d x 7h basement. That's about 2400 cubic so maybe I need to stretch to the EP350 for the sub? I suspect leftward skew is not ideal but not much I can do about it. My head will be about 12 feet from the TV.

On the good side, there is a wall behind my sofa where I can put the qs8s in pretty good spots - about 4 feet behind the sofa/my head.

Without taking on substantial expense for now and also keeping partner happy - I need to put the 65 inch tv in the space in an existing built-in unit which is about 87 inch wide - TV will be 57 inch wide, so that will leave about 15 inches either side of the tv for me to fit two front speakers. In the picture, I spaced out the two qs8s to show approx width of tv. I suspect I am going to be told that putting the speaker in somewhat of a cabinet/tight space is not ideal? But if I put them on the wall, the would very far apart and not so clean looking. Any views on best front speaker option to tolerate this situation? I always like the look of the m22 and I would be tempted to buy in the refurb store - the m5hp would be a bit of a splurge at the moment but open to suggestions. Is the m3 the safe bet?

For the center speaker, I would like to re-use by vp100 but there are challenges. The TV platform is already pretty high( 3ft) so it can't sit on that with the TV above. So options....:
- I need to get the cabinet modified to move the center supporting post so I can 'center' the center speaker in the top shelf of the cabinet
- give up on the idea of re-using my existing vp100, purchase an on-wall vp100 and put it above the TV angled downwards ( maybe I can mount the existing vp100 with a fancy enough mount but it will protrude forward a fair bit from wall/plane of front speakers)
- just have a phantom/no center speaker for a while until I get figure it out


Thanks for reading and looking the pics - would be grateful for any suggestions/thoughts.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ND-ChnZoedl893l4ImQWfA9NiZc0nmVA/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q3znX93RIrAXQsgNfWkuLAt6MhJtK-Se/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QWgJESW2wOelW20ROS10bosWd7dzPAe4/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cLyUtUp7x3OTGt2q3-p7hXM28uEPfpbE/view?usp=sharing

Peter

That's a difficult space, no doubt about it.

Can you reclaim that cabinet to the right, or is that a circuit panel or some such? That would give you plenty of horizontal space; although it would move the TV into the walkway coming into the area.

The M22s are 7.3" wide, so what you're proposing would work, but not quite enough separation. (BTW, if you want the specs you can get to the M22 page by adding a "2" to the M2 page.)

Have you considered rotating everything 90 and using the side wall as the front? The current space would make a fine landing spot for liquor.

The only thing I wouldn't do it mount the center up high; having voices come down at you is distracting.

You could put the center on a sliding shelf and slide it out when you want better sound. I had a VP100 in a bookcase for a few years and it wasn't that bad; I did use a port plug.

I've put right/left satellites up high way back when, and it wasn't all that bad; you could do that with the M22s and mount them sideways. I also have M22s mounted high (upside down, so the tweeter is closer to ear level) on a back porch (just music) and that's also not that bad.

I find the TV wall to be rather busy. Do the cupboards store anything? I'm tempted to just rip everything out and drywall it. Or at least paint the wall with a dark low-sheen/flat paint to minimize the contrast between a black TV and a white wall.

If you haven't bought the TV yet, perhaps a front or short throw 4K projector and an acoustically transparent reflective screen? It would give you a bigger picture and more options for speakers. Rtings recommends an 86" screen size for someone sitting 12 feet away.

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-size/size-to-distance-relationship

I tried a soundbar and it didn't work out. I just didn't like the collapse in front soundstage due to the narrow width of the bar.

Ha, I sit 12ft from my screen in the HT and it’s 150” … have to admit I do like sitting closer then most but the difference between an immersive movie experience and a tv experience is all in the field of view. I’d say a 1/1.1 to 1/1.4 is the range most would feel comfortable at (that’s width of screen to viewing distance). My set up is 1/1.1 which is a compromise between what I really want and what my wife wants. Also if you get too much closer you can’t image your speakers … my second row images easier/better then the first.