HT help

[brainhulk]

I'm initiating research for my dedicated HT room and would like some help. Please provide any suggestion if you think I can do with better choices

This is what I'm leaning upon right now:

Pre-amp: waiting list for emotiva umc-1

amp: emotiva xpa-5

speakers: axiom

TV: Vizio vf551xvt 55" LCD or Panasonic VIERA S1 Series TC-P65S1 65-Inch 1080p Plasma

Blu-ray: OPPO BDP-83 or PS3

my room i use for gaming and ht now:
Samsung 61" dlp
denon 3805
Klipsch reference speakers
ps3, xbox 360, wii

i'm setting up a new room because there are too many people at my house and 1 TV, and i can't play my games...

 

[newnameman]

If this is a dedicated HT room, why not go for front projection?

 

[sivart]

If you are using a 61", going smaller will definitely be disappointing. Why not do like the poster above suggested and go front projection?

I have a 100" Front projection DLP setup in my dedicated room and it is great. Even had a PS3 in there for a while before I sold it.

 

[Chapbass]

Totally agree with the above. I went from a 50 in. Panny plasma to a 115 in mits projector and the difference was massive.

I was also considering going from my klipsch reference to axioms with emotiva powering it... Let me know how it goes! I know one of the reviews I read said that having the axiom m80s with two center channels sounded amazing...

 

[brainhulk]

Well I went ahead and bought the vf551xvt from costco (i wasn't comfortable going projector route). I think the pq is great. I know im gonna get flamed for this but i like it better than my buddy's kuro.

I ordered the xpa5 and still waiting on umc-1.

Planning on getting the m80's and the vp150 and using some monitor audio bookshelf's i have for the rear's.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Take it with a grain of salt, but well known crossover / speaker designer Dannie Richie of GR Research along with folks at "Skiing Ninja" looked into the M80s and the VP150 from Axiom to see if they could improve the crossover network.

They've done this same analysis and new crossover design for many speaker brands including
AV123
Best Buy's Insignia
Emotiva
JBL...
Actually, the list is right here
http://www.skiingninja.com/www.skiingninja.com/category-s/4.htm

In their analysis of the Axioms, they found that the dual tweeter design had some major issues with cancellation.
Since the M80's are mounted vertically, it has vertical cancellation problems.
Even worse, the VP150s are mounted horizontally, so it has horizontal cancellation problems.

You can read for yourself about the findings:
http://www.skiingninja.com/Articles.asp?ID=173
https://www.skiingninja.com/Articles.asp?ID=174

I am not an anti-axiom guy.
In fact, I bought a pair of M22s and a VP150 a few years ago when my parents wanted to get their own HT system together. (Got a good deal on those three Axiom speakers, stands, a decent receiver, and a 10" sub from AV123 off craigslist for $750)
I hooked them up to my own system at the time to check to make sure they worked and did some significant Axiom M22 vs. AV123 RS550 testing.
I confirmed that the center channel worked, but did not actually listen to it closely.

I concluded that the M22s were nice, but not my personal cup of tea. GR Research / Skiing Ninja found the M22s designed in a way that one of their crossover upgrades would improve it.
http://www.skiingninja.com/Axiom-M22v2-Upgrades-p/m22v2n.htm

I'm posting this just to caution you to try to get a demo of M80s and the VP150 and see if you notice the effect of the cancellation that dual tweeters causes. I wish I had listened to the VP150 more when I had it myself to be able to give you a personal impression on how much of a difference it made, but I honestly just tested to see if it was working and then did my critical listening of the M22s almost exclusively.

 

[brainhulk]

thanks yo for the info. will definitely have to do more research. I might have to bite the bullet and look for some b&w's on craigslist

 

[brainhulk]

I found someone in my area selling B&W 805's. I will audition them on sat.
Jeez my budget for this project is just ever increasing. sigh

I think I may just get the vp100 center with the single tweeter so I don't have to deal with the cancellation issue...

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I found someone in my area selling B&W 805's. I will audition them on sat.
Jeez my budget for this project is just ever increasing. sigh

I think I may just get the vp100 center with the single tweeter so I don't have to deal with the cancellation issue...

If you're putting stock in the dual tweeter cancellation issue, that means the M80s would be suspect as well.

 

[brainhulk]

yeah, I don't think I'll get the m80's since I won't be able to listen to them. I'm gonna listen to these B&W 805's and probably use them for the fronts. I have a velodyne spl-800r, so hopefully that will make up for any low end deficits the 805's have.