Welcome David. There is one forum member from Australia who is on the audition list:
jmone in Sydney and looks like he has the Epic 60-500.
There are a couple of other members in Australia, Shane White in Perth comes to mind but I’m not sure what he owns. Also you could do a search for “Australia” and see if any other member have mentioned being there. Also you could email Axiom and see if they have any local connections they could hook you up with so you could have a listen. You could also ask them about how warranty issues are handled for Australia.
I think the Epic 60-500 5.1 is an excellent choice for that size room for both movies and music. I’ve used both M22s + EP500 and M80s + EP500 in my 13 x 21 foot room and both combinations sounded great so I think the M60 + EP500 would also work great for you. Also, even though I have 4 QS8s I only use 2 of them for 5.1 because they work so well I don’t feel there’s any need or benefit for me to use 7.1 for now. Of course others opinions may vary.
I think Epson makes great projectors with excellent black levels and would be a good choice for any use. I’m not acquainted with any Marantz equipment so I can’t comment on those.
Besides what you’ve listed have you been looking at any other equipment? I can’t see much sense in making other recommendations not knowing how much different brands cost down under.
Cheers,
Dean
