Very useful post Chess ! Indeed Ray, your guess was right on the mark. Still, after more pondering I have finally decided to go with the QS8's which are on their way (incidentally, the interaction between my credit card and the Axiom web page was less than perfect with the unintended consequence that I almost bought 6 pairs of QS8's.. everything got cleared up by the folks at Axiom without trouble - customer service is indeed excellent).
Next... the sub.