I believe it would be prudent to try to compare the Studios and the M80s if possible in the same environment(dealer). The dealer's got nothing to lose if Bob were to bring his Axioms to the Paradigm dealer and everything to gain if he were to like the 'digms.
The worst thing that could happen is to return the Axioms, only to find out that the same issues remain with other speakers because of poor room acoustics or setup.
I've considered this myself, if I were able to bring my awaiting M80s to a Paradigm or MA dealer, just to do a direct comparison. I'm surprised the magazine guys haven't done more A/B testing with speakers in the $2G range(most popular).

Half of communication is listening. You can't listen with your mouth.