Appreciate any and all feedback. This HT stuff is worse than shopping for a car!!
First of all... the room. Apartment on second floor with a friendly neighbor below... but still have to be aware of over-doing it on the volume. Room is roughly rectangular but with angled walls and one side totally open. Angled, vaulted ceiling. Couch centered on long wall, no room behind (so 5.1 only). Dimensions: 12'x18', ceiling 8' high at closed end of room, 11' high at open end. Room opens into dining room, and also a 4'x3' opening into kitchen above TV.
Only equipment purchased so far is my tv, a Panasonic TH-42PHD8UK plasma monitor - commercial product, no tuner or speakers. Nice and compact. Will locate below opening in wall to kitchen, on a table w/stand, leaving me 19" below... so center speaker will be essentially on the floor. Still looking for a table or low platform to make this work. Receiver is probably going to be the new Denon line, either 3806 (available now) or 4306 (Crutchfield shows 11-11 as ship date). I like the HDMI switching capabilities, power seems more than adequate for my apt (120w/c for 38, 130w/c for the 43). Probably a 50/50 mix of movies to music. I prefer country, and Joe Satriani-esqe style of distorted metal guitar played as loud as the neighbors can stomach. :-)
If I go with Axiom, my plan is to go with M60ti's, VP150 and QS8's, and buy someone else's sub. Vann's (and Amazon too I see) has the Mirage Omni S10 on sale for $250 which is tempting, otherwise was going to get the SVS-PB10 which lists for $429. I need to stay small with the sub, obviously, so want to stay compact and not sink $$$ into it - but want quality.
Am also looking at Onix Rockets, the original RS750's have been reduced from $1400 to $900, same as the M60ti's. Being discontinued, great deal to me. Their RSC100 center speaker is a mere $200 right now too, another great deal. Surrounds are the sticking point, at $600 per pair - total cost then is $1700, which is the EXACT same cost as my Axiom order would be with the 5% HT discount applied. :-)
If I missed anything important, please ask. Budget is important but I am single (yippee haha) and thus not capped. If I feel it is worth it, I will spend... but given my situation, and the fact that I don't plan on moving anytime in the next two years at least, I don't think I have to spend $15 grand to get something I'm happy with. Right now I'm at approx $2500 for the tv, $2000 for the receiver (4306), and $1700 for the speakers plus $400 for the sub... $6600 total, plus a Harmony remote and cables/wires... let's say I'm at the $7000 range which is kinda steep but still ok for me given how much television and music I watch/listen to.
So... how in heck's name do I decide? I can't listen to both of them, and I DO NOT want to order each, set them all up, and then have to send one back. Obviously the responses here will be mostly pro-Axiom, but I'd still like the feedback. Thanks!
P.S. I still am looking at other speaker brands too, but price-wise it seems the Axiom/Onix business model works to my advantage nicely. I cannot stand stupid salesmen in retail establishments, and helping to pay for their salaries. :-)
