John, for not being an audio expert, ya done good 'splainin the set up. I am really glad you finally got everything, and early to boot. The initial noticeable improvement in the audio with the Axioms almost detracts from the full experience as your attention keeps being yanked to those new pieces of ear candy that you haven't heard before!!!

Your comments about pausing the action because it sounded like someone was in the house were interesting. I still do that after 3 months. Wait until you watch a scary DVD like "The Others". It will creep you out.

I'm still playing with the levels on the QS8s. My 3803 allows me to adjust by 1/2 db at a time and I have my MX-700 remote set up to handle each speaker and the sub individually. Pretty interesting the way you can move the audio towards the M60s or back to myself by tweaking the Qs. A range of 1 - 1 1/2 db is significant.

Anyhow, you are going to enjoy this journey of discovery. It just keeps getting better. BTW - an excellent narrative on the experience thus far. When we retire, we are looking to have a great room that size or bigger, so I have a touch of envy.