I’ve been mostly lurking around here for a while figuring out what speakers to buy. I think I’m ready to take the leap but just wanted to get opinions/recommendation and a reality check. I based my initial research on the Audioholics recommended 5k budget system but have made some changes and upgrades. This is where I first saw the Axiom line.

Presently I live in an apartment with neighbors left, right and below but may be buying a house in the next year or two if the right one comes along. The volume of my HT room is 2640 cu ft (15 x 22 x 8), however, about 25% is taken up by the kitchen leaving a usable area of 15 x 12 ft. The whole floor is carpeted with only the furniture I choose to put in there. When I buy a house the only thing I wont be willing to do in making a dedicated HT room is knock down any load bearing walls.

I’m willing to pay about $8,300 to $10,000 USD for all my HT components right now more to upgrade later. The following is what I have and/or am thinking of getting. Recommendations on changing, adding or deleting anything are welcome.

Already Have:
HDTV: Samsung HL-S5687 $1,740
HDDVR: DirectTV HR20 $100
TV stand $280
Cables: $25
Total $2,145

What I need:
Speakers: Epic 80 - ??? 5.1 plus 2FMSQS stands $3,172 (factory outlet)
Receiver: looking at a Denon AVR-2807 $950
DVD player: looking at Oppo-981 $229
Calibration: Avia HT setup DVD + Radio Shack SPL meter $80
Power conditioner/Surge suppressor: ???
Cables ???
Total $4,431

What I might want:
Universal remote: ???
Tactile transducer: Clark model ???
Amp for transducer: ???
Media center computer: Dell ???
Game machine: Xbox 360 or PS3 ???


My current plan is to get the Epic 80 - ??? components plus 2 FMSQS stands from the factory outlet right now. I know this is overkill for an apartment but if I do buy a house I don’t want to feel the need to upgrade the speakers so soon. Later I will upgrade with two additional QS8 and stands, and perhaps another VP150 and subwoofer.

My questions are:

7.1 SURROUND:
Is there any great advantage in a 15 x 12 room to having two rear speakers if I’m already using two QS8s as LH/RH surrounds?

SUBWOOFER:
EP350, EP500 or EP600. Ultimately, I would like to have the EP600. Considering that for now I’ll have to run all these speakers at fairly low levels most of the time is there any advantage to getting the EP600 now, or get a smaller sub and add the EP600 later?

HDDVD:
Is it really worth getting one? My gut tells me to wait for more models and titles to come out and for HDMI to get it’s act together meaning my money is better spent elsewhere for now.

Again, any and all recommendations are welcome. And thanks in advance for all the great info I’ve already found searching this forum and Axiom site.