I agree that you can’t rely on reviews. The only problem is, I can’t hear any of these speakers (Axiom or Fluance) before I get them. Granted Axiom offers a 30 day money back guaranty, but that would be a hassle, and I would have to cover the ship back costs. Thus, I want to get as much out of the reviews out there as I can, and do as much research as I can before I take the plunge and try the Axiom’s. Hopefully this research pays off, and the end result is that I end up happy with what I get.
I get the same impression you get about the Fluances (being cheap, low-end). With the Axiom’s, I have seen both good reviews form the end-users, and also from soundstage. This at least gives me a comparison of what an audiophile thinks of the axiom speaker verses a speaker that cost way over my budget.
One of the main things I’m holding off getting a set of the M22ti’s is because I wanted a tower speaker. Unfortunately, the only Axiom tower that I can afford (and even at this, it is over my “budget” that I had in mind) are the Factory Outlet M40ti’s. The reason I wanted towers was that I wanted to make sure the sound could fill a good-sized room and sound good. I’m sure that m40’s are way better then what I have now, but from the reviews I have read, the m40’s are really good, but the m22’s are exceptionally good. I do have a sub (ok, maybe not an audiophile sub) so I don’t think bass is a concern if I go with the m22’s. None of my equipment is Hi-end. I have a Sony 945 (or something) DTS receiver/amp, and a JBL PB12 (I think) sub. If I do go with the M22’s, I’ll try and get the factory outlet ones, because of my buget, and again, it looks ike there is a lot of satisfied customers.
