>>but as you said it is disconcerting to find such a dearth of professional reviews in the media.
Yes and no. There is more to "the media" than printed media these days. You've seen what's happening in the PC world -- printed magazines don't even try to compete in terms of product reviews since everyone goes to the internet ANYWAYS when they are making purchasing decisions.
It's getting the same way with audio -- the magazines focus on the high end ($$) since that's where there is enough money washing around to support the traditional industry model of boutique stores and glossy magazines. Axiom is not a real player in that industry so they don't get covered in the magazines. On the other hand, there are a lot of respected internet-only publications popping up and Axiom tends to be pretty well covered there.
I know it sounds horribly cynical to say "no advertising = not much review coverage" but these guys all have to make a living. What happens to advertising revenues 3 months (heck, one day) after the first "hey you don't have to buy all the expensive products advertised in our magazine, just get everything from this Internet company instead" review hits the stands ?
I had my doubts just like you and started off purchasing a pair of M2s -- not a lot of money and besides everyone seemed to say that the customer service and return policies were excellent and honorable.
The main thing to remember is that this whole "internet business vs. traditional business" struggle is not just going on in the audio business. It's a tough thing for everyone to get their heads around, and so far the best strategy has been to either "pretend it ain't happening" or "jump in with both feet".
Axiom has jumped in with both feet. The high end magazines and vendors are pretending it ain't happening. They are probably both making the best decision in terms of their own survival and prosperity.
Axiom might be able to sell their speakers for a significantly higher price by jumping into the traditional industry -- distributors, high end dealers, lots of magazine advertising $$ -- but there is a real risk associated with making the transition and it's not clear they would be better off if they made that jump. I don't see how Axiom's customers would benefit other than being able to open up the magazines and say "see ? see ?" to the doubters
If you were in B&W's shoes, with a well established dealer network and monthly showers of love from the high end magazines, would you want to take a chance on cutting out the dealers, dropping your advertising and shifting to an Internet model ?
You can't have it both ways. Traditional industry models are expensive and companies spend a lot of time and $$ working their way in. You either go the internet route or you go traditional, it's very hard to do both.
