There is a pretty current thread on the Rockets around here somewhere. They sound very different than the Axioms.
I think you would still very much enjoy any of the Axiom towers without a sub for quite a while. The only way you'll be happy without a sub is if you buy reasonably big boxes for the mains; my recollection is that the Rocket towers are quite a bit more expensive than comparable Axioms.
Hsu Research makes excellent products (Craig is obviously having a bad day, this being his first post ever that lacks his usual glowing endorsement of his VTF-2).
They are releasing another line of products in a month or so (the STF line) which will be even more reasonably priced than their already-great-value VTF-2 and VTF-3.
I looked for a previous thread that had several good recommendations on lower priced subs but could not find it. (help?) My recollection is that people advocated the Dickason Titanic at partsexpress.com, the Def Tech, the Paradigm and the Athena at the sub $400 level. But I think most folks are going to advocate spending a little more to get the Hsu or SVS.
