Thanks for the kind words, F107plus5. And thanks to oldskoolboarder for taking the time to post my PM.

My personal experience (FWIW) as far as Monitor Audio speakers was to compare the Silver series with the Gold series. I found that the Silver series does not have the same imaging presence that the Gold series have. My former speakers were Mirage M3-si which were phenomenal sounding speakers. However, I had to concede with my significant other that they were just too darned big (135 lbs each). Also, I eventually felt that they were more suited to stereo listening (or stereo movie listening) than HT listening. For HT the "mirage bipolar sound" is very diffuse and not very directional. I decided to go to a conventional direct radiating speaker as I find they "work better" in portraying the type of audible information intended by the movie makers.
When I first auditioned the GR-10s, I was very impressed. The imaging was excellent and as far as the lack of bass (which can be compensated by placing closer to the wall), I still have my Mirage BPSS-210 "audiophile" subwoofer. Unfortunately the sub was discontinued due to people preference for a more powerful subwoofer. Anyway I had come across a deal for a pair of GR-60s (MA's flagship model and befoer I found out about Axiom) that I could not pass up. They are smaller than the M3-si at about 61 lbs each and driver-wise similar to an Axiom M60ti. I had played back some live recordings I had made on a mini-disc recorder and have to say that it was as if I was close to being back in the live setting (I say close because I am only using a HK AVR-320). I know that once I go to separates that it will really come alive, however I am not going to tri-wire them. That is a lot of amps for HT.
The difficulty for me now is that I have to spend the extra money on the axiom center and surround speakers to match the GR-60's cherry finish. I know the wife will want it that way, though .

BruceH, I had the warm cherrywood sample sent to me a while back from Axiom. It matched well enough in tone with MA cherry, but lacked the depth and contrast of grain. To me, the Sorrel Pear and Cinnamon Beech offer a more visually pleasing look. But that's just me.

You can request numerous samples and use the money spent on those towards your future purchase. Really a risk free way of comparing finishes. The MA Cherry and Rosemah are some of the finest finishes I have come across. I wonder how Axiom's high gloss finishes are? Anyone have those?

Oh, and the MA GR center channel is very pricey. Another reason I almost went with the Silver Series. Building in stages isn't so bad, except I had a Klipsch center running with the Monitors for many months.

Thanks for the heads-up. I will have to order some samples and see what the wife likes. I just want them to sound good . Agreed on the MA center channel. I was even more floored with the Paradigm Reference center channel. I'm sure the Axiom will be a great compliment to the MA GR-60s. Heck, they both use metal drivers.

I love the look of my M60's and VP100 in the Cinnamon Beech finish. I don't think that there are very many Axiom owners with this finish? When I get around to ordering the sub and QS8's, they will be in the same finish.

The Cinnamon Beech is very nice. I like the contrast of the Sorrl Pear a bit more, but there is an odd out-of-focus quality to the grain that I don't like. Someday I will get around to ordering my custom speakers. Maybe I should look into that layaway program. . .hmm.

Get Axiom to send you some finish samples. It is the best way to determine what the finish actually looks like. Brent recommended this when I was trying to decide on the finish for my M60's.
Good Luck!
Shaun

I'm sittin' on four samples now.

1. Cinnamon Beech
2. Sorrel Pear
3. Warm Cherrywood
4. Russian Maple

Oh, and I have the little port cut out of Boston Cherry.
Plus, the M40s are in Mansfield Beech.

I'll probably order a few more before I decide.

Oh, I didn't realize you were looking at the samples. The four samples you have are very similar to what my wife and I looked at. We took about a week to decide....

I think one of the most important factor that listener forget is to do room accoustic. I have M60 driven by Rotel amp. I have recently added acoustic panel and bass trap to the room of 12x14 . THe sound is much much better now. Good imaging, soundstage. Bass is tight and not boomy anymore. So far i'm happy.