You are quite welcome. Of course, we're a little biased around here towards Axiom, so you are doing the right thing by listening to *everything*. If you have a CD burner, burn a mix CD of your favorite music and take it with you when you demo speakers. I find this invaluable, as I can hear music that I have a deep and passionate understanding of, instead of just whatever-the-dealer-puts-on music. It makes a difference. As another member says, 'Trust your ears'.
In looking for Axiom-like speakers to demo, it's hard to say that brand X sound's exactly like Axiom, because very often speakers within that brand will differ in their sound qualities. For instance, B&W's 6xx line sound quite different from Axiom (they are the opposite of the Klipsch's, I would describe their sound as having a hump in the middle), but the couple of 7xx line speakers I've heard do have a bit of the 'Axiom sound' to them and are quite lovely, IMHO. That is to say, accurate and smooth. My friend's B&W 801's sound like they're on a whole different plane of existence from anything by Axiom, but then again they're $12k speakers.
With that in mind, you could try to find an Energy dealer. I have owned and listened to several Energy speakers over the years, and while I certainly haven't heard *all* of them, the ones I have heard do sound 'familiar' when compared to Axiom. Especially the Veritas and Reference Connoisseur series. Again, a relatively balanced and smooth presentation without being overly bright, warm, or heavy.
Just to make things more difficult, you could also take a look at the Onix Rocket line of speakers. Another direct-to-consumer retailer, I have never heard them but they seem to have have a pretty serious set of online groupies too. Many, many folks seem to rave about them.
AV123.com I'm not going to say they're better or worse than Axiom, since I've never heard them.
I would definitely try to hook up with an Axiom owner in Calgary and listen to their setup. Even better than that would be to just buy the m22's and return them if they're not what you want. You'd only be out the return shipping cost, with Axiom's 30 day return policy.
