Just got back from Mojo's where we had a nice listening session with the modded M22s, a stock set of M22 v2 and his M80s. I must say that there is a much closer sonic signature between the M22v2s and the M80s than I ever have had with my M22v1's. The 3 of us agreed that the M22v2+sub lost very little in comparison to the M80 or even M80+sub. My v1 M22s+sub never quite sounded as rich, as the M80s, although I felt the combo had more detail.
In light of this new found information, I must say that for your smaller room stick with the M22s and sub.
I feel the same way. The only place the M80s or M80s+sub beat the M22v2+sub in my room was more impact coming from the front. However, though the M22v2+sub didn’t have as much in-your-face impact the bass was tighter, because I could optimize the subwoofer placement.
