I have not ever heard M2's, but my M22's are fantastic. You really just can't go wrong with them. They're still reasonably portable (they're not small, though) but have a lot of room presence. 5,8,10 years down the road if/when you move into a bigger place with a big AV room, they may not have the size required for a large room, they'll still be fantastic in a bedroom, den, office, kitchen, etc. Even without a sub, in a smaller room, they're amazing.
And like others have said, don't be afraid to order F/O gear. It's likely that you won't be able to find *any* cosmetic defect in the speakers. The only drawback is the extra couple of week wait.
And yes, you touched a nerve (with some) on the "bright" comment.
Folks that don't like Axiom speakers will often accuse them of being too "bright". We've had many, many discussions about this in the past, so it's kind of a touchy subject.
But it really just boils down to personal taste. I've listened to a lot of different speakers over the years. Cheap ones, expensive ones, "good" ones, "bad" ones, etc. They all sound different. Some I liked, some I hated. Some speakers emphasize the midrange and hold back on the highs, and these are sometimes described as "warm" speakers. Other's have a more depressed midrange and exaggerated high range, and these can be described as "bright" or "cold". Still others might be just all bass and nothing else. I've heard examples from every category. The bottom line is that each of us appreciate different qualities in a speaker, just as some people might prefer an apple to a pear, or vice versa.
So if you're used to "warm & fuzzy" sounding speakers, then Axiom's may indeed sound "bright" to you, as they are very accurate and do not color the sound as some speakers do. They are clean and neutral.
Having owned my Axiom speakers for almost 7 years now, I've found myself much more critical of how other speakers sound. I'll be at a friend's house and hear his BrandX speakers and they'll immediately sound too bright, or too bassy, or too warm, or too <whatever> to me. And it's not that all other brands sounded too warm to me now, which would be the case if Axiom's were indeed "bright". I hear just as many that are too "bright" as I do that are too "warm". And that to me says that my brain has been trained to the neutrality of Axiom sound, which is exactly what they're supposed to be.
