Hey Brad!
Well, that's worth 1,000 words, at least.
Yes, I believe Axiom will send you samples of standard finishes also. You might be pleasantly surprised by how good they look, especially the Mansfield Beech. Give them a call. Great people.
I think you may be surprised how large the M60's are. Putting them on a shelf that high might make them seem a bit overwhelming. Perhaps more importantly, they are quite DEEP, and require at least a token amount of clearance for the ports on the back of the speaker. I don't know the depth of that shelf, but you might want to look into that dimension. Again, the M22's might end up being a better choice (use a good bookshelf speaker instead of setting a floorstander on a bookshelf)
It would also be much easier - because of the weight - to engineer the sliding mount concept.
Dude, seriously, you've got to get the sub out of the cabinet. I am a big Axiom fan, but the one thing that has always bothered me is that the subs are front-firing. From an aesthetic (and kid and pet protection standpoint) I have quite enough grill cloth in my life, thank you very much. The wood finishes on the SVS and Hsu models make them look like just another lovely wood cube in your space. Flexibility in placement is critical to getting good sub performance, and it's not something that is easily predicted by room dimensions. A few inches either way can make all the difference.
Finally, I do not think that having the speakers as far to the edge as possible is a good thing. You will dramatically increase the amount of early reflections you get from the side walls and muddy the soundstage appreciably.
Nice piddling, btw.
I don't fully understand your vision for the equipment and how this all lays out dimensionally. Is it reasonable to suggest that you put an equipment-rack width space to the outside of the speakers on each side?
