Paradigms are real nice speakers. From an informal sample at work, anyone with good ears looking for good speaker value either owns Paradigms or Axioms.
A lot of people divide the Axiom lineup into two "families" depending on whether the midrange is handled by a 5.5" or 6.5" driver. The M2, M22, M60, M80 are the "5.5 family" while the M3, M40, M50 are the "6.5" family. The difference sound-wise is that the "6.5 family" has a bit of a dip in the midrange (centered on 3-5 KHz), which makes vocals a bit softer, makes the speakers sound more "relaxed" and tolerant of bad recordings, but also loses you some of the incredible clarity that Axioms are known for.
In general, the Paradigms seem to sound and perform more like the "6.5 family", ie the laid-back ones rather than the super-accurate ones.
Which is better ? Hard to say. There are good arguments for both, and both families of speakers are passionately defended on this board. I tend to lean towards the "more clear" sound side of things so I own M60s and M2s... but I bet I would be happy with either the 6.5"-based Axioms or similar Paradigms.
I started by ordering M2s and was just blown away by the sound -- they had a clarity that I had not heard in that price range before. A few people (including Axiom) have said that you have to go to the Paradigm Studio line (one up from the Monitors) to match the Axiom's clarity. That matches my impressions but mine are based on very casual listening NOT serious A/B testing.
This seems to be the general trend. You can get speakers as good as or better than the Axioms from other companies but you have to get up into the high end lines and spend a lot more $$ to get them.
Anyways, good luck with your choice. Speaker shopping is always hard work. Remember that there are lots of Axiom owners around who don't mind showing off their systems.
John
