I have a buddy with the Intimus 5.1 system. They're beautiful speakers - great fit and finish. His doesn't have them positioned properly and his system isn't calibrated and he continuously dicks with his settings (audio and video) so it's hard to give a good listed to them. But, I think they sound pretty good. They are more layed back than axioms. Call it warmer or more blendy or less accurate. He has the 10" sub which isnt' too bad - good down to 25 Hz. A couple of things to note - the power towers only go down to 30Hz, I think, so you still need a sub with them. They just came out with a horizontal center channel (a 3-way, four driver I think) and they have a dipolar/bipolar surround. I haven't heard the new center or the surrounds. I think it really cones down to personal preference and whether you want a more detailed and accurate sound v. a warmer and layed-back sound. I agree with Ken about not trusting CNet reviews. I'd put much more faith in something from Audioholics, or the like. This post probably isn't of much help. I'm hoping to do a better comparison between Axioms and Aperion once my buddy get his new furniture and sets his room up so we can calibrate his system.
Pete
