1. I would say $3500 max on price, but since I have not heard the Axioms or EMP (Which get great reviews and liked when compared to more expensive brands) I thought I would entertain them as an option.
I believe that removes the ML's from contention.
2. Freestanding would be the only option in my new house.
There go the Sunfires/
3. Also I ordered the Marantz equipment direct from Marantz in a dealer program and got them both for less than $1000 (Only reason I got them).
66% off... I need to make friends with this dealer.
Any additional info is greatly appreciated.
Any speaker anyone ever reviewed is described as "better than many speakers costing far more". It's probably technically true (Bose makes sure of that), but not very useful.
I don't have experience with Axiom, though there are many here that do. I'll leave it to them.
I've heard the EMPs as setup by EMP. They were competent, but not outstanding. If I compared only to speakers in their price range, my opinion might be higher; But owning Pardigm Sigs at the time, and having just listened to Salks (admittedly, both more expensive), that is the best I can do.
If you are already running a sub and asking only about speakers; you could just about manage Salk SongTowers and matching surrounds on that budget... and that would be my personal choice in your shoes.