Upon more thinking I am still somewhat indecisive as I will not be able to hear these speakers until after I order them and I have been told that return shipping from my location (Washington) will be about $100. I spoke earlier today on the phone with someone from Axiom (Joe I think) he told me that the M22 with the EP175 sounds closely to the m60 towers (without sub I'm guessing). The total cost of the M22/sub would be about $900 US and the towers $800 US. Would I be better off going with the M60's and skimping on the sub...say a different brand/much cheaper (app $200 US)? What would the advantages and disadvantages of this be? I am also eyeing the M50 as it is cheaper. I guess this is where I am confused, how quality of a sub needs to be paired with the M22 in order for them to reach that level of near m60...and is the only great improvement in the Axiom line from the m22 sub combo up to an M60 sub/combo?...will a budget sub cause the quality of the m22/sub combo to suffer greatly enough to the point where it will be nowhere near a tower/sub combo?...I am unsure these question are even possible to answer I don't know. Sorry if I seem a bit indecisive/paranoid but I am trying to gather lots of opinion/info to elimate some of the doubts. I apologize for the length of the post, and any help/experience/opinions are appreciated. Thank you for your time and support.
Room=12x15
Receiver=Pioneer VSX 811-s, 100W channel(6)
Use=80%movies 30%music, mostly action intense explosive movies, all types of music
What would route would you guys take? I am interested in hearing your opinions/reasons. and again THANK YOU, all of this help I have been receiving is much appreciated and hopefully I can get to a point where I can offer some help of my own.


Jake

If you are into movies DON'T skimp on the sub.

I have my M40's paired with a SVS 2531pci. This is a great combo.

See it here:

http://www.axiomaudio.com/wallofame.html

Look for Steve C's

P.S. Don't wait to long, those M22 in the factory outlet go fast!!

How much should I expect to spend on a sub that won't disappoint. How do Axiom subs compare to others in price and quality. Are SVS subs more expensive?

Jake, you should go with the M22s plus a sub, even if your budget requires spending a little less on the sub. There are some quite good subs in the $200-$250 area that would work nicely with M22s. I'd suggest you take a look at the Bic America V1215, which you could get for about $250 delivered from sources such as etronics.com. Not fancy-looking, but subs are meant to be heard, not seen.

I agree with not skimping on a sub.

The M60's, the VP150, the QS8's, and the EP175 are Joe's favorite speakers.

If you are going to have a home theatre for action movies, at least one sub is a must. I hear two EP175's is amazing.

SVS is also a great competitor for quality subs at low prices.

I have had my M3/M2/QS4 setup for about 8 weeks now. I'm using M3's as my mains, M2's for front and rear center, QS4 for surrounds. My living room (aka "the theater") is very open leading into the kitchen and study. I have stone tile floors. The room is approx. 16ft long by 11ft wide, with the left side open to the kitchen, and far end (behind the TV) opening to the study.

I put all this together thinking a sub would be required. Having run the specs on some different spare subs (originally for my car, just never used), I decided that I could build a sub as good as I could purchase. Especially since I just didn't have the $500 for a good powered sub.

With all this in mind, I've been playing my system using a variety of sources (lots of movies, though). I've concluded that I don't have to have the sub NOW. I'll have it built sometime hopefully by the end of Feb, but the M3's still sound great without a sub.

As for advice on what to get...

The M22's are a step above the M3's so I can't imagine them having less bass than the M3's. If you're handy with a screwdriver, you can buy a kit sub that sounds great for under $350(http://www.onhifi.com/product/dayton_titanicsub.htm).

If you're like me, you can use some left over stuff (a 12in. MTX sub, Onkyo 501 amp) and buy the parts to build one (sonotube, MDF, glue, screws, pvc pipe). I'm going after a sonotube design, but could nearly as easily build a cabinet design sub.

If you want the best sub for the buck (requiring no manual labor, cept to move it around the house) then I'd consider SVS first, Hsu second.