Done! My final speakers have been ordered. 2 QS-8 that will be my back surrounds and a pair of M3 to do some comparison/validation and that will afterward become a very early x-mas gift to one of my brothers who loves music, but has never been able to afford anything remotely good (part of the gift is a Sony 100W stereo amp paid by my sisters).

Anyway! Hope it will be here Friday since I am taking Friday, Monday and Tuesday off!

I also ordered a polo shirt and a softball cap! This is a bit out of character for me. That's shows how Axiom can enter one's life!

You wrecked your post by telling us that Axioms will be fed through a Sony .

But you can redeem yourself by telling us what you think of the M3s as surrounds, rears and/or fronts .

Sony is for brother, not me! And one of my nephews is called Sonny, so it will be easier for him to remember the brand! (I am anxiously waiting for all the posts from the PS3 fans reacting to your reply )

Testing-wise, I was planning to do the M83 combo test in addition to back surrounds! Also trying it as center (I may have up to 5 days of play time, after all).

It would be great if you can also take it into a Paradigm and Totem shop and compare against their bookshelves. For brownie points, replace your QS8s with the M3s.

Actually, I have listened to a lot of Paradigm in my life (one friend has Series-100, another has S8, and I shopped for them for over 18 months until I found Axiom). I don't remember the model name of their bookshelf I heard though. Those are good speakers (S8 are amazing), but pricy.

I am actually looking forward to evaluating the M3. I have lots of friends who want good sound, but can't pay for M80 (I can tell, they are my employees and I know how much they earn ). if M3 are good, I will only assume that the M22 are better (especially with the loving posts on them).

But, man... barring those Paradigm S8, the M80 are SO GOOD!!!! I was listening to some cemballo suites by Francois Couperin last night and it was SO GOOD!!!! And for 1/4 of the price... and 1/2 of the weight!

Yeap, I am so glad I found out about Axiom in the 18 months it took me to hesitate about forking 14-20K$ on Signature!

To go back to original point, I heard quite a bit of Paradigm bookshelf. I am expecting the same type of difference (both very good, Axiom 1/2 or 1/3 of price).

Have you ever owned or have friends owning Paradigm speakers?

No. I am the only one from all of my friends and family that appreciates a good speaker. I am trying to raise awareness though.

I know the feeling. And then they want to buy and they are so scared of their own hearing that they buy overly expensive stuff just "to make sure" they have the best thing!

A friend of a friend was squeezed two days ago by a salesman to buy a 1K$ Marantz amp and 3K$ worth of Boston Acoustics.... Not that it is THAT BAD, but he could have paid less than half of that if his actual needs had been taken into account and if he had talked to me BEFORE buying. He asked me to validate his choice and was so pissed off when I gently asked for model numbers and specs...

Well...

Welcome to the fold.

Oh, yay, my posting works. Of course, now I have NO firewall protection at all.

I've noticed that. You really need to clean up your desktop and organize your files better. It's a real mess and it makes my job as a hacker that much more difficult.

Good One Mojo.

It's shipped! These people are good or what!

It has arrived earlier today. That was a lot of installation, mostly because my main cables were pretty oxidated (22 years old) so I had also ordered cables and connectors. I have tons of permutations to try (including M83 to get into the game of creating new speakers!).

First impressions are:
1) QS-8 as back rear (just mounted on Axiom's stand) are not directional enough for DVD-Audio recordings placing instruments in the back. But, if I put the rack on a 2 feet high stand, they are! (good news)
2) M3 by themselves (with new amp--brandname witheld) are impressive. Nice thing. I will certainly win a best-brother award after I give them to my brother! Either later tonight or tomorrow I will start moving them around the room to see how they fit.
3) My cables were definitely oxidated too much. I am not a big fan of "better cables", but my old ones were pretty good (don't remember the gauge, but it was better than 12) and now the M80, to my surprise, do sound crispyer and a tad louder. Unexpected benefit so I'll just be happy!

Later after the next few days of trials... Need a beer.
Oh! Also, nice Axiom baseball cap!

the amp isn't a SONY is it?!?!

No no no... Where could have gotten such an outrageous idea? Please don't spread rumours, it may attracts the attention of forum's sharks...