First I want to verify I understand how Axiom products are priced. Unless the product is clearly one loudspeaker (e.g., a subwoofer), the price is per pair, correct?

Second, I am trying to make up my mind about what to get. My wife and I live in a small, 4 unit apartment complex (2 bedrooms, a living room and kitchen per unit) that seems fairly well insulated - at least we haven't been bothered by noise, nor have we had complaints from the neighbors.

Our listening space is a living room that is rougnly 18 ft wide x 21 feet long x between 8 and 9 feet high. Lets say 3200 cubic feet. The current gear includes:

* A Sony STR-D365 stereo receiver, 100 watts RMS x 2 at 0.1% THD. Not wonderful, not terrible. Its a reasonably priced home receiver.

* A Sony CDP-CE315 stereo CD changer.

* I am embarassed to say a small pair of bookshelf loudspeakers I picked up at a garage sale 8 years ago. What can I say, we were broke!

We greatly enjoy listening to music and have reached the stage in our life where we're willing to make an investment. What makes more sense in our situation:

* a pair of M22Ti's or
* a pair of M3Ti's w/an EP125 sub?

Our idea is to slowly build up to a 5.1 or 6.1 audio system. We don't have a TV, but don't want to lock ourselves out of purchasing one once HDTV is common.

In the meantime we can have a decent stereo system, while getting ready for something heftier later. For example, we could wait to see how the SACD vs DVD/A battle ends then purchase the winner, and mate the appropriate player to a decent 5.1 or 6.1 receiver. I like Sony but am partial to Harmon/Kardon. To prepare for this system we can purchase M3Ti's and an EP125 sub now. When we're ready to purchase the nicer receiver, the M3Ti's move to the rear channels and we purchase M22Ti's or their future equivalent and a center channel speaker.

Does this plan make sense? I would be interested to hear from Axiom customers who have tried the combination I've described.

Thank you in advance for your time and interest. I can't wait for Christmas!

Mark Andrews
Monterey, CA