Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler GOT MY TRACKING NUMBERS!!!

miss congeniality?? damn, i was hoping to win most photogenic!!

small update(notice the time).. got receiver, dvd/cd player, vcr, record player and tv all hooked up. no probs.. got fronts, center channel, and sub wkng.. no probs.. gonna run wire in the attic and mount(on the wall ray) the QS8 in the morning. i was playing with some of the surround modes and DSP modes on the receiver.. pretty neat. i liked the neo6 when listening to music, very rich sound..

i still have to make final sound adjustments and set crossover and speaker levels, but i am on the home stretch. i just hope the qs8s go up with no problem.

then i gotta clean up the living room.. my wife is already getting tired of having to walk and climb over stuff. pregnant women are sooooo grumpy..

bigjohn

Just wait till the hormones start changing again and they get less sleep from midnight feedings. I am lucky, my sons seemed to be in tune with when I arrived home from work at 2:15AM. They would wake up around that time and I got to do the feedings.

In reply to:

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They would wake up around that time and I got to do the feedings.

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Did you at least shave your nip... oh, never mind.

Bren R.

Actually I used a bottle with a latex nipple because we could hear the difference compared to a rubber nipple. The latex sounded more natural.

Wonder if John made it to work this morning?

OK, another quick review.

i finally got the speaker wire run in the attic saturday afternoon, and had everything installed, mounted, and connected by saturday evening. running the speaker wire for the surrounds ended up being more complicated than i thought, but it is a clean job and i am happy it is completed.

i mainly listened to some audio tracks on saturday evening. i listened to ALL the modes avail on the onkyo 701.. straight 2 ch stereo, 2.1(w/sub), neo 6, dolby surround, and the various DSP modes. although each listening mode had its various 'good' features, i found myself prefering the neo6 mode. it gave great dispersion thru all speakers, and had a very full, rich sound. (i am not an audio expert, so the 'terms' i use to explain might not be the best).

the AXIOMS are very clear and precise.. i was listening to some bluegrass, and i literally felt as though i could hear each individual string being plucked and strummed on the guitars, banjos, and fiddles. it sounded very clean and had a snap, or pop to it.. i mean that in a good way.. the highs were very defined, to a degree that i had never heard before.. they stood out to my ears, but were still properly related to the rest of the mids and lows. i didnt think they were bright at all. i tested the mids with some good ole' heavy metal power chords.. AC/DC and metallica. they both sounded fabuolous. the guitars were very full and robust.. my old vegas had a very 'whoompy' sound on the metallica stuff, but the AXIOMS were tight and responsive.. i could hear the guitar seperation much better, instead of the one guitar sound i was used to. i cant say a whole lot about the bass from the axioms.. i listened to most music in full surround, not to much stereo direct, so my sub was supplying most of the bass. i can say that the M60's worked well with my vega sub, and i dont have a case of sub envy, at least not yet.

on sunday, i got the entertainment center pushed back against the wall, and went ahead and set the speaker distances to my listening position on my config options on the receiver. i did the pink noise calibration by ear(no SPL til wednesday), and made minor adjustments, including bringing up the two surround volumes up +3 dbs by comparison to the fronts. i will get the 'proper' calibration once i get the SPL meter. i decided it was time to watch some movies.. 'finding nemo', 'pulp fiction', and 'open range'.. i was kinda skipping thru each, going to particular scenes, but i was completely impressed. the QS8's really produce sounds that i had never heard before. they fill my room(28x26x8) completely. i found myself really having to adjust the sub during movies cause it tended to want to over-power the rest of the system.. i am sure the SPL meter will help with that. darla rocked the living room(and the neighborhood), but i actually thought the scene in the whales mouth had better LFEs.. there were a few scenes in pulp fiction, where i had to pause the movie cause i thought i was hearing other people in the house.. it was just the surrounds doing there thing in the DTS mode.. SIDENOTE- movies with the DTS impressed the hell out of me.. the sound was amazing.. i felt immersed in the movie scenes, and the details of the sounds was very surprising to me.. now, i dont know if that is the dvd, the receiver, the speakers, or a combination of all three, but i would have to say i was immensly impressed. i often found myself actually looking 2-3 feet on either side of the M60's for an actor to be standing there saying their lines.. it sounded to me like they were right there. oh, and the 150 center was awesome also. voices were clear, and precise.. not chesty or hollow at all.. dispersion was good, and i moved around the living room to check from different angles, and all sounded great.

i would say, my first impression of the axioms is super. they have detail, but plenty of guts and grunge also. music and movies both sound great, and i have much more experiementing to do. i truly feel, that not only just the speakers, but my whole system is great. the 701 has power to spare, and the pioneer 563a plays smooth/clean images. i am very happy thus far, and i expect to be even more impressewd once i listen to a few sacd's, and dvd-a's.

the only downside i could find to the axioms, is that they make it to where you can really hear the scratches on records.. they are such a good/clear speaker, that the clicks and pops on records are very obvious.. my old vegas just muddled them out. i will just have to get new records.

just for clarification.. i used home depot 12ga wire(about 100ft total), heavy duty banana plugs to connect to speakers and receiver, and ratshack fusion and gold series connectors(rca, digital, and s-video), and a 1,500 joules power strip. the fronts are approx. 12ft from the listening position, the QS8's are 11ft to the side and 1ft back, and the sub is in the front-right corner.

wow, this was longer than i thought it was gonna be. more experiementing to come, and pics should be up by the end of the week. give me some time to play first.. i am like a kid in a candy store.. only prob is, the candy store is in my living room!!

bigjohn

great to hear you are enjoying the new purchase John! Looking forward to seeing some pics of that wonderful setup.

John, you are one articulate son of a gun. That was a really good review. Needless to say, I'm really excited for you. Man! That is a BIG room! (makes sense BIG guy; BIG room. )

When calibrating by ear, it is very common that the sub gets set too hot. That may be why the sub "tended to want to over-power the rest of the system.." The SPL meter will fix that.

You didn't mention this, and I suspect you've already done this, so forgive me if you have. Be sure to go into your "Speaker Setup" menu and set the speaker distances from the sweet spot.

Again something you already may be aware of. If your 701 is like my 797, when are listening to the "Stereo" DSP mode, you're hearing only the M60s AND your sub. If you go to the "Direct" DSP mode, You're hearing the M60s alone. I didn't figure that out until last week and I've had my Onkyo for 2 years. DUH!

jack- yes, i actually figured that out pretty quick. the 'pure direct' is the M60's only, and then the 'stereo direct' kicks in the sub. i would have to say i like the latter better.

i did go into the spkr config screen and dial in the spkr distances from the sweet spot. i found the manual to be very easy to follow, and i walked thru the set up process rather easy.

i will get the SPL meter on wednesday and do the proper calibrating at that time.. meanwhile, i will just manually adjust the sub volume to whatever i am listening to.

the two modes i found that i liked the best for listening to music were the 'DD neo 6', and the 'all channel stereo'. each sounded really good, but the neo6 seemed to put the voices in the center channel better. i just liked it the most.

it is a big room, but the system fills it well.. the loudest i got the volume to the other day was 93(i think it goes to 100).. and at 93, it was very LOUD, but still very clear and clean. no distortion. to be honest, i couldnt listen to it at that volume very long cause it started to become uncomfortable.. but it was a good test to see if the axioms could stay true.. they did!!

i am going to pick up my first SACD this afternoon.. either 'darkside' or elton johns 'yellow brick road'. i cant wait to see how that is gonna sound.

i should have pics by the end of the week.

bigjohn

Very nice write up. I can't wait for the pictures! I second that you are very articulate.
As a fellow Onkyo owner (601) I also listen to the Neo6 Music and Stereo modes the most, adjusting my sub's volume depending on the music (I don't want to be evicted).


jr