My choice of Axiom was similar to others.
In my case, what first caught my attention were all the positive reviews of Axiom speakers over on Audioreview.com. At the time, M22's were listed as one of the very top bookshelf speakers. M80's were near the top for floor-standers as well. Several other Axiom speakers were among the 'Top 10' lists. Axiom just really stood out. From there I started doing research on Axiom. I read a few more reviews and found this forum. The reviews all seemed to point to an 'incredible value for the dollar' theme, and the folks around here were nice enough to answer some questions. The 30-day return policy was enough to convince me that it was worth ordering blind. I was somewhat apprehensive about the experience, as this was the first time I'd ever purchased speakers without listening to them first. That was a big deal to me, but I figured at worst I'd be out maybe $50 (shipping) if I returned them.
Happily, I was very impressed with the SQ of the M22's. I quickly ordered a VP150 to complement them. Those speakers anchored my HT room for a good couple of years before I got the bug to upgrade and went with M80's & QS8's, which is where I am now.
I'm a happy customer and will gladly demo my system for anyone willing to listen. I appreciate Axiom speakers because they are truly excellent for the price. Like many of us, I've listened to a lot of other speakers. My wife and I have driven many hundreds of miles to various shops and listened to dozens of other speakers over the years. Admittedly, it's not easy to try to objectively compare speakers with so many variables. We did our best.
IMHO, there are better speakers out there. Axiom speakers aren't the be-all, end-all of speakerdom. But in my experience, everything that seemed more acoustically pleasing to me cost at least twice as much (often 3x +) as an equivalent Axiom speaker. And that's what did it for me. I simply couldn't justify spending $4,000 on a set of mains from CompanyX when a $1,300 set of M80's made me just as sonically happy.
Sure, that $10,000 pair of B&W 8xx's were better, and that $50,000 pair of Dynaudio's were jaw-dropping. But I'm not that wealthy. And that's really what it boils down to. Axiom's are excellent (period). But for the money, they're absolutely astounding.
