Greetings,

I'm in the market for some speakers for a new home theatre setup. The room is about 12x12, open concept with no wall on one side.

I probably only need bookshelves but I don't really like speaker stands. Also, I worry about the cat viewing the tower as a scratching post. If the drivers were all positioned high I'd be safe. Truely I wish Axiom made some M3's in the shape of Totem Arros. Towers will look better in the room. With the range of M80's would I still need a centre speaker?

If you are not interested in bookshelves on stands and you are concerned about the distance of the drivers from the floor then the M50s might be your best bet. Not quite the range of the 60s or 80s, however, better than bookshelves.

For Home Theater and dialogue localization, a centre channel speaker is almost always compulsory.

My cats never touched my speakers--I've had a lot more problems with my kids.

Your cats touch your kids?

Good touch or bad touch?

If your mains wouldn't be too far apart and you probably would get away with a phantom center however a center speaker is desirable so you can adjust the volume depending on which movie your watching (some movies have the center mixed to low and need to be raised).
The M80s have their bottom woofer very low. The M60s is higher but I don't know if it's high enough. Then you have the M50s as suggested. Good luck.

I'd be thinking M60s or M80s, and just leave the grill cloth off. If it becomes a problem, you can always try it with the covers on, but I think that would be more tempting to a cat.

The M50s could be an option as was mentioned, but they'll have a slightly different sound than most of the Axiom lineup. Neither better nor worse in some people's opinions...just different. (Others will argue that the M80s are just better than anything!

That's only because they are!

No arguments at all

Axiom used to make a tower version of M3 called M40. I have a pair and really like them, but I get the impression they didn't sell as well as the other models :

http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/axiom_millenniam40ti.htm