Thanks for the info on AAD. I had found a dealer online with some demo's for 40% off, but I just couldn't bring myself to pull the trigger without hearing them first. They were originally like $2300 towers for about under $1400. If they performed as well as they say, it would have been a great deal, but just couldn't do it.
As far as your question, the whole brick and mortar vs ID is one of those subjects that tends to bring out the opinionated, or verbal, but anyway...
I've ordered from 3 ID companies so far, and all have gone well. A MWF-15 sub from AV123, Aperion 6T's and 5C, and Axiom M80's, M2's and QS8's.
I returned the M80's and went with the 6T's. I had them both at the same time for direct comparison. I liked both sets of speakers quite a bit actually.
I wanted to get another pair or two of other brands for comparison, but ended up not getting any more for various reasons.
I don't have the history or experience of some of the others guys on here, so I can't give a very good comparison of different brands which are better at what. Since there are not many dealers within 20-30 miles of me, I decided to go with what I could order online easily.
Below I copied some comments from other posts I've made. I've got a more detailed review of what we had listened to and differences we noticed if you're interested. Otherwise the below might give you an idea what I noticed in my comparisons. The return process was easy, so I would definitely recommend ordering speakers for auditioning if you're thinking about it, you don't have much to lose. I do have a post in the General forum too with pictures of the 6T's if your interested. Let me know and I can find the link.
Commence pasting of previous posts...
The Axioms dig a bit deeper still, and they do well all around imaging wise and with detail. They have a good size soundstage, and they do like power, but are an easy 4 ohm load. I had them up to 100db yesterday for a few minutes, and they didn't seem stressed at all and sounded great, though I will no longer listen at such levels any more anyway so it doesn't matter much to me. The Aperion's kind of got overbearing for me at 100db, and I wasn't sure I would dare go any higher with them. The Axioms seemed to beg for more. I might try this again later to see if anything has changed after more of a break in.
What the Aperions have going for them- wider soundstage, little more clarity and detail in the high end, a little better imaging, and looks- the cherry finish is nice. The Axioms have a rough edge or two. Also, the 6T's take a little more to drive I believe and might be less efficient (haven't double checked), or maybe it's it because the M80's are 4 ohm, but I have to turn the receiver up 4-6db to get the 6T's level with the M80's.
I decided to return the M80's and called Axiom up. It was very easy, no questions asked. They offered to send me shipping labels for $20 each for the towers, so I took that offer to save some money. They also offered to call the courier to schedule a pickup. So basically all I had to do was box them up and be home when the courier came back. A lot easier than I expected (I thought I'd have to take them in somewhere). As a bonus, I was never actually charged for return shipping and received a full refund. I don't know if this is common, or if it is because I did order a couple of other sets of speakers from them, but it was a nice surprise.
