I am a new user to Home Theater and have currently enyoyed the sound produced by Athenas (Auditions), Energy (Connisseur), RBH (Signature) and Klipsch (can't think of the Model at this time) which I have liked all of them so far (I have listened to many others as well, and have not enjoyed them as much as most appear to have highs and lows, but appear to miss out on the Mids. I was reading that Axiom were comparable to the ones I listed above, but would like to listen to them to see how they sound. I am looking at spending around 1500 for a system (speakers only). The room is a larger room (17x22 sitting, 17x33 total size of room (note that it is a living room, has lots of windows and tile floor (a large plush rug is located on the floor). I would prefer to go with bookshelves in the front due to the layout of the room as well. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

-Paul

`Congratulations on coming to the right place, Paul!

Based on my little auditioning of the M22's the other day (thanks Mike! - I will post my impressions here when I have time to write it up!), I can strongly recommend these wonderful bookshelves. Although it looks like your room might be on the "bright" side, if you liked the Klipsch sound (which is way too upfront for me), then it is unlikely that you will find the Axioms bright. I can almost guarantee you that the Axioms sound more accurate than Klipsch and most others you listed.

That is all I can comment right now, but it looks like the combination of M22/VP150/QS8 seems to be highly popular and fits your requirement. For the subwoofer, I would do some research on SVS and HSU, besides Axiom's own models.

Cheers!

I just bought a set of M22ti's for my rears in a 7.1 configuration but I hooked them to the front just to hear the speaker as I've heard so many great things about them. These really are the best bookshelfs I've ever heard without spending ridiculous amounts of money. I think you'd be very happy with a home theater built around these speakers if you're dead set on bookshelfs. Sadly, I'm no where near Austin to let you hear them.

Thanks for the reply. One thing that I am nervous is that testing speakers, I have loved the Athenas, Energys and Klipsches, but of course its in a Sound room. I don't know if htey will be too bright, so that is a concern, especially in a room with lots of windows and tile floors (we do have a plush rug though) I hope to hear these from someone. Thanks though.

-Paul

The ideal scenario would be if you had a suitably large credit card and could buy them all, listen to them in the same setup together and then take back the ones you don't like. I don't know if that's feasible for you or how your signifcant other would respond to that.

Its not the limit on the credit card, its the damn return policy. Shees shipping on these bad boys is almost a home mortgage. (Actually my wife would kill me as well :-)

Hello again. I recently auditioned a similar assortment of speakers in my various local stores here in Dallas. My living room is also similar to yours in size and windows, except that it is 80% carpeted and 20% stone-tiled. Given your list of "likable" speakers, I strongly believe that you will like M22ti's as one of the best bookshelf L/R fronts in the price range. I would say, the Axioms are fairly similar in tonal character to the Energies (not the entry-level ones but significantly pricier Energy models). I just posted my personal impressions on the M22's here.

You might go ahead and first order a pair of the M22's alone ($400 or $360 from the Factory Outlet), and listen to them in 2-channel stereo for a few weeks. In the unlikely event that you do not like them, the return shipping will be very modest given the size of the bookshelves. If you do like the M22's, then you can confidently build a 5.1 system around them.

Cheers!

I'm sorry hollapm. When you described listening to the previous speakers, I assumed you had a place near you that carried them all. I figured you could buy from them and take the speakers back. I wasn't including the axioms as I haven't seen much south of the very northern states (only thing you people have going for you!). If none of these speakers are available from local places, you can't audition them together at all.