I assume that you meant by "Bach keyboard pieces" some harpsichord recordings. The harpsichord sounds certainly contain a lot of treble energy, and in order to reproduce the nuance and immediacy of the instrument you need good treble capabilities in the speakers.
Given that you are listening from generous 14 feet away in a good-sized room (probably over 3000 cubic feet?), the treble energy will be heavily affected by the room acoustic. It may well be that the M2's cannot simply provide enough treble energy for the room. You may be overtaxing the M2's, resulting in a "muddiness" and "lack of precision" in the treble and mid-treble frequencies.
But before concluding that the M2's are not sufficiently capable, I would suggest you separate the L/R channels a bit more, say, up to 10-12 feet from each other. That will surely open up the soundstage and result in a better imaging as compared to your current setting; you will likely perceive more details. Alternatively, as others suggested, try a closer listening distance, say, 8 feet or so.
Finally, I think Sennheiser headphones (along with Grado and many other brands) are on the "bright" side sonically. Besides, no speakers placed far-field will match the shear amount of details you hear from a pair of headphones. In return, in-room speakers, of course, provide much more natural soundstage and ambience. Using headphone sound as "reference" can be misleading...
Last edited by sushi; 09/19/03 08:11 PM.
