Welcome Ax,
I'll try to help, haven't owned the 22's, but many of the other lineup, I'm sure some of the 22's club will be along soon.
First of all, Axiom as been around for about 30years, and are considered an audiophile grade of speakers like Paradigm, B&W, etc.. The brands your listing would be like comparing a Corvette (Axioms) to a Honda Civic (brands you listed). They are not even in the same league.
I have no idea what your referring to when you say compressed. Axiom speakers are designed to be neutral and sonically flat across the frequency range. They are also very efficient, requiring little power to play at very loud levels.
The only thing you might be referring to is if your playing music cd's that have crappy recording techniques, or if your playing mp3's at a low bitrate, they won't sound as good. That is not the problem of the speaker. Axiom speakers are very true to the recording your listening to, so crap in you get crap out. On the other hand, if you have music that is recorded with the best recording techniques, your jaw will hit the floor it will sound so good.
The differences between former Axiom models, and the newer V2's have been discussed often, you might try searching. Basically, Axiom has made slight changes over the years to the electronics, cabinets, etc. so they decided to come out with the V2's. Sonically, you would be hard pressed to hear any difference.
They vinyl finish Axiom uses is the highest quality vinyl wrap you will find in the industry. I've never seen the white, I think that is a custom vinyl color, but I'm sure it would be nice. I have the Ebony Pica custom, which is awesome.
I don't know what GST is, but I can tell you that probably 60% of the Axiom owners use the Factory Outlet to save money. These speakers are brand new with the same warranty. Axiom's quality control is very strict, so if a speaker has even the slightest blemish or nick, it goes to the outlet. All my speakers came from the outlet, I have never been able to find a single problem with the finish on them.
In regards to sound difference, it would be like apples to oranges. The Axiom's would blow away these other brands you mention...
Later,
Randy
