Bob, I too am looking at speakers, and trying to investigate and audition various brands....I know it can get a little overwhelming with so many out there. The way I am doing it is 1)setting myself a "rough" budget, I will emphasize "rough" because I am more of a value type shopper - if 'A' is 10 % more expensive than 'B' but offers much more value or if 'A' is comparable to 'C' which is twice the price....2) what kind of "sound" do you like, every speaker has it's own sound 3) mostly movies or music? 4) company reputation 5) both professional and consumer reviews 6) estetics 7) power ect
For the record I have been looking at Paradigm, Monitor Audio, PSB, Mirage,Energy and of course Axiom. Axiom definately fits into my idea of quality/value as I'm sure you've heard, they are often compared to much more expensive speakers.
Finally, one thing I think that is very important to add, is customer service/relations. I'm actually very new to home theatre, and as such have many questions, like yourself. Alan and everyone at Axiom are very customer oriented....as an eg. My brother and I were in the Muskoka (cottage capital of Canada)area of Ontario in the fall, and we were close to Dwight so we dropped by the Axiom plant. Even though we had made no arrangements prior, we were given a tour of the facilty by Debbie and met a few of the people there including Tom. The family atmosphere you see here amongst "Axiomites" is easy to understand when you meet the people behind the company. I hope I'm not sounding like a salesman here!! but I know alot of people on this forum will atest to their product and customer relations over the years.
Anyway, once you know your budget, you can eliminate a number of co's right away. A combination of value and excellent reviews brought me to Axiom.
