Some months ago I picked up a pair of M2s to make a nice little bedroom system. I loved the sound, but wanted a bit more bass extension. One thing led to another, including a subwoofer then M60s in the bedroom and every other combination you might imagine. Now I have an M60-based system in the basement (missing only QSs to make it complete) and the M2s are back in the bedroom, where (you guessed it) a bit more bass extension would be nice.

So... first thought is M3s. They seem to sound a bit fuller and people are happy with them as standalone speakers but I'm actually real happy with the M2s except for a particular class of music (70s Pink Floyd, Genesis etc...) where the need is deep bass not lots of bass. Echoes (Floyd) and Dancing With the Moonlit Night (Genesis) are good examples of where the bass pedals really add something to the overall sound.

I doubt M3s will really carry the pedals but not sure. The room is 13x17 so the room modes are in the right places as long as there is some bass to excite them. As far as I can see the M2s and M3s roll off at about the same point but the M2 rolls off more steeply than the M3 and the M3 starts a bit higher because of the bass "bump", implying that there might be more of an audible difference than the specs would indicate. A couple of reviews mentioned that "the M3 puts out the bass but has trouble at high volumes while the M2 doesn't even try".

The M40 seems like the perfect answer -- again, I don't need lots of volume and don't need "kick-ass bass", just want good full-range sound at comfortable volume.

I don't want to get into subs again; without an AV receiver I was never happy with the sub/main blending although with the HK AVR the M2/sub combo is great. Another option is to haul the M60s back upstairs but they're just a bit too physically large for the bedroom (they scare people) and I would like to have something a bit larger than M2s in the HT system.

Thoughts ? Anyone running M3s or M22s standalone with the same musical tastes ? How about M40s ? I know the M22s will have some real advantages over the M2s but AFAIK they aren't significantly different in the deep bass.



M60ti, VP180, QS8, M2ti, EP500, PC-Plus 20-39
M5HP, M40ti, Sierra-1
LFR1100 active, ADA1500-4 and -8