OK owners, your enthusiasm for Axiom is impressive. So tell me what to buy...

Here are my plans:

Denon 2805 receiver
Denon 2910 or Yamaha DVD S 2500 DVD player

Music most important to me - variety but largely acoustic folk, country, alt country etc. (Dylan, Lovett, Sun Volt, Aimee Mann to name a few) Also like old Jazz (Miles, Coltrane). Plan on getting into SACD and DVD-A.

Room size - 15 by 20 with 10 foot ceilings, wood floors

Need small center channel - not much room over TV.

What would you buy? Floorstanding or Bookshelve for front? Surround or Bookshelve for rear? Any alternatives for for center if can't fit one of the Axioms? What else would you look at besides Axiom?

Budget is not too tight - 2K to 3K for 5.1...

Thanks....and be gentle...

Total budget or speaker budget?

speaker budget - already accounted for receiver and dvd/cd

Epic 80 500

You can drop down to VP100 if you don't have room, but I'd stay with VP150 if you can.

I have not heard the Axiom's, but I would definitely take a look at the PSB speakers possibly the Stratus Silveri

Very nice speakers, but you might have to go with the Platinum Series to get the sames type of sound.

My take:
Floorstanding fronts.
QSx for the surrounds.

As for the centre, is width the problem or height? I believe the VP100 is just as tall as the VP150, but it is not as wide. Check the webpage specs and do some measurements above your tv. Various mounting brackets for back walls are also possible.

Subwoofers vary depending on your budget. In keeping with 2k to 3k i would say Hsu or SVS, otherwise go with an Axiom EP500 or EP350.

Or go with factory outlet for 10% discount?

You could also try the HT wizard on Axiom's site, otherwise I agree with Chess

Your room size is large enough to push you to floorstanding speakers if you want a good "all round" system. With your specific musical preferences you could probably get away with M22s since there aren't any "loud, bass heavy" genres on your list but overall I think you would be happier with floorstanding speakers. If the room arrangement is going to have the listening position fairly far away from the main speakers then definitely go with floorstanders.

How "live" is the room, ie mostly bare walls & bare floor or lots of rugs and absorbent furniture ?

If you are looking for a "mostly music" system you might want to think about getting conventional bookshelf speakers for the surrounds rather than the QSx speakers. I have used both M2s and QS8s with my M60s and *slightly* preferred the M2s for music. The QS8s are far superior for HT though, and are the obvious choice for a dual-purpose system.

I bought my speakers & system primarily for music but was quite blown away the first time I played a DVD through a good sound system -- most of my friends had amazing TVs but crappy sound -- so my usage went from 90% music to 50/50 very quickly.

Have you heard a really good HT system before or is there a chance you might have the same experience ? The reason I'm asking is that you might want to spend relatively more on the sub if you think you are likely to do more HT listening in the future.

Some people prefer listening to music in stereo without a sub (I'm one of those -- the M60s have all the bass I need) while others much prefer to have the sub handling the lowest notes. Don't know what drives that difference.

Anyways, 80s are probably more than you need for that room size unless you're looking to play REALLY loud; I think it comes down to 50s or 60s. The 60s are a bit more forward (and, strictly speaking, a bit more accurate) while the 50s are a bit more forgiving of less-than-perfect recordings and have a slightly more "relaxed" sound.

My thought would be M50s or M60s for the front, M2s for the surrounds, probably VP150 center (I think your room is big enough that the VP150 would be a bit better) and not sure about the sub...

I've heard this before. "My 80s sound good at any volume".

I have yet to crank them up above 88.

I listen to music without the sub. Movies are a whole new experience with the EP500.

Great help from all.

To answer some of the questions posed back to me:

- the room is not real "live", wood floors covered by a rug, curtains over the windows, big cushy sofa, etc.

- i've done all of the measuring and i am severely limited by the existing furniture / TV with only about 5 inches of clearance atop the TV and no other real options for placement (maybe on top of the Armoire...- will have to negotiate with spouse on that one)

- mainly music in this room - i have a home theater setup in the upstairs gameroom with a big DLP - i've even considered doing only 2 channel, but want to experience the SACD, DVD-A music

thanks again to all...

My first thought would be to go with 4.0 or 4.1... floorstanders for the front, compatible bookshelves for the surrounds, phantom center (as long as your receiver will split the center channel between the mains) and see how that works. You can get small center speakers but I expect they're going to sound... small.