I fall in line with the others. Spend the money on a good sub. I don't care if you just listen to classical music, a good sub brings a surprising amount of realism to any music. I also believe that running your mains in a phantom center mode won't be nearly as good as having a real center. I've tried it, it's not the same. But IMHO it would be better to spend the money on mains, sub, surrounds now and 'make due' with a phantom center for a while. Save up for a few months and buy a center when you can. You'll have a better system in the end.
I owned a cheap Kenwood sub for many years. It was what I could afford at the time. I thought it was good, because movie explosions and such certainly had a lot of kick & impact to them. But I always felt I was missing something with music. Even with my M22's, music was slightly lacking. Just never sounded all that great. Good, not great. Then I upgraded to my SVS sub, and it changed everything. It completely transformed the music experience and brought back what was missing. Music sounded far more real to me. You'd be surprised what clean & accurate bass can do for music. And movie LFE effects rattle the neighbor's house. I'm sure the EP175 would be far superior to my old Kenwood one, but the EP350 is commonly regarded around here as being a significantly better sub.
I know we're an Axiom forum here, so I'll stay mostly in the party line and say you ought to buy the EP350. But since money is an issue, HSU & SVS's make some darn good subs too at slightly lower price points. Maybe something to check out.
My system consisted of M22's + VP150 + SVS sub for several years, and I was very happy with the setup. I would bet that you'd be happier with an M22+EP350 setup than an M60+EP175. The m22's are very good speakers. The only drawback is that they require stands of some sort. The Axiom stands are good, but when you factor in their price, the M60's aren't that much more expensive. Food for thought, anyway.
And if you're looking to save a buck, definitely consider the outlet. Many of us have purchased stuff from there, and with very few exceptions, all have been happy (based on chatter here). It is rare that anyone can even tell that they're from the outlet, let alone actually having a problem. My QS8's were from the outlet, and I couldn't find anything wrong with them. They are as perfect as my non-outlet Axiom speakers.
And don't forget that Axiom does do a 5% 'Home Theater' discount when you order more than 5 things at once.
Good luck!
