Hi bridgman, demasoni,
I've just returned from the North and doing a bunch of A/B comparisons in the Axiom plant's listening room. I could not agree more that the differences between two good speakers often come down to the source material. In A/B'ing the M60 and M80, I sometimes preferred one slightly over the other, but then my allegiance would change with a new CD. Were I doing these tests at the NRC, and blind, I'd have written on the scoring pad, "similarly good," and given them the same ranking.
As you've discovered, bridgeman, moving a pair of speakers (your M2i's) a few inches can introduce sometimes huge changes in timbral balance and perceived "sound." Often, slight changes in speaker placement introduce far greater tonal differences than intrinsic differences in the speakers.
As the the M2i/M22ti, I found that overall, as good as the M2i's are, I still prefer the M22ti's slightly greater clarity and spatial presentation.
Regards,
