While I agree that there are companies out there that offer better bang for the buck in the sub department, Axiom is not "known" for their subs for for their speakers. I got a EP600 cause I was able to find a used one for a good price. For what I paid for, I couldn't ask for better however, if I would have been willing to spend $1800+, I would have looked somewhere else.
I still consider Axiom being, not necessarily the best, but one of the best bang for the buck for their speakers. Very few surrounds will be as good as the QS8s for example, and I truly love my M80s and VP180.
As for the customer's review, it is just that, a review, it is subject to his own taste (and pocket), another reviewer might have liked the M60s better, audio is subjective to taste and the end, what one likes might not please the other.
Now regarding the price increase, the V3 designation is just a name that came together with the Magnetic grills and the all aluminum drivers, the real improvement has been done over the years where they kept on developing their drivers and crossovers under the V2 designation and with no special price increase to their customer. As a Canadian, I think that Axiom has been pretty good at keeping a fair price to their customer. I remember when the exchange CAD/US was poor (for us) the price would go up but when it was good, it was also going down. I bought my M80s in January 2010 and they were $1380CAD, the same price as today almost 2 years later but I also remember checking the price 3 or 4 month later and it was $1260CAD cause the exchange was better.
Overall, Axiom might not be the best but it surely still offers a great value as of today, JMO.
