I auditioned the Mission M5 series, a few different Klipsch speakers and the B&W 600 series. The B&W 700 series may have been a decent comparison, but they spun off into a price/value direction that wasn't appealing. The Axioms won handily, AND they were less expensive. I have the M60/VP100/QS8 set with an SVS 20-39 PCi. In a word - WOW.

I'm not an audiophile, but I provided a "first impression" post last week that you might find useful here

Hope the info helps.