. . .but the last pair of production M40s went up for auction on Ebay yesterday. An emotional moment for its fans!

The ad notes that the M40s are similar to the sound of the M3s; I thought it was the M50s that were "sound twins"???

If it's the 40's, I might do some bidding myself!

Hey, no commercial hanky panky on these boards .

It's the 40s, not the 50s. The 50s are similar, but not the same as the 3s. From what I've heard on the boards, the 40s match the 3s better.

can these player louder than the M22s?

They look great with the half-way grill.

I'm trying to talk my boss into buying them. <evil>

Amie, you're trying to get me to complete the set. I see that pair of Vermont Maple M60s on eBay there...

Fortunately the M40s are Boston Cherry, which I already have. If they were Mansfield Beech or Maple I would probably have to think about buying them. Whew

I never had a chance to directly compare M3s and M40s, but in terms of "forwardness" we previously concluded that M50s were a bit more forward than M3s and a bit less forward than M60s. The M40s have the same speaker complement and crossover as M3 (AFAIK) so should sound pretty much the same except at the low end.

I wouldn't expect M40s to play more loudly than M22s -- their real forte IMO is as "pure music speakers" at moderate volumes.

Well, since you're expanding your family anyway . . . ;-)

I think I need to get a new house, first... I'm certainly running out of places to put the wires.

I'll be able to compare the two once I get my M3s--took advantage of the special on Burled Walnut. Hope to have them by month's end.

Mark, actually the M40 was identical to the M3 except that the larger enclosure allowed it to be tuned much lower for more bass extension. The minimum in the impedance curve shown in the NRC tests indicate that it's tuned to about 40Hz, compared to about 60Hz for the M3 . It's also interesting to note on this point that contrary to some subjective impressions mostly due to the elevated M3 upper bass, the M22 is tuned just above 50Hz for slightly more bass extension than the M3.

That bass on the M22 is harder to pick out, as it is not emphasized due to the flat response, where as the M3 has that dip just after the 100hz level. I bump up the bass just a little in the tone controls to bring the bass forward a little on my M22s.

Well, I bid as high as my CFO would allow....

Anyone here win the M40s?

I take it you're not the top bidder any more?

I didn't get them either. I was looking at them as M3s with built in stands and was bidding accordingly (love them M3s). There was a flurry of bidding this morning and they went for $406. I did a quick check and that's just shy of their trade in value. Hope whoever got them actually wants them!

Oh, didn't realize the auction had finished.

Of course, on the plus side, seeing as how I had already justified buying some more floorstanders the money I would have spent on the M40s can now be reallocated to some M80s! Those are becoming cheaper and cheaper as I continue to subtract what I would've spent on other things. Soon they'll be practically free! Another victory for specious reasoning!

Excellent reasoning. I am a few silly expenses away from being able to afford a A1400. I am considering NOT buying a car next month to complete the deal!

Wow, that not buying a car thing sounds like just the ticket to put me over the top! Thanks, man!

I was thinking of not buying a Learjet this week.....

I guess someday I'll just hope that M50s in a VaSSallo finish to match the wood trim in the studio pops up in an owner's club newsletter.

What are the chances of that?

Maybe I should try to justify M50s in the HG Cherry.... though that will less likely make it past the CFO.

Eric,

If you already have a car, then your decision can't be too difficult.

Even if you don't have a car, you can always ride the train and bus for a while.

Are you going to A/B the Onkyo against the A1400 ?

No car... I walk. Office is only 2 miles from my place so it's only 30-32 minutes. Good for da body! AND, no plans for a car since I don't even have a driver's license (just a woofer's one).

With the amount of wires it would involve, I don't think I will A/B them! I'll let you do that when your times come.

Could do a Left/Right channels test? Would that even make any sense? (that last question might actually be serious... I haven't decided yet).

I was thinking that you would only A/B the fronts. Not too many wires for that.

I'll have to setup something. The space where the interconnects are is hard to access.

Damn! I am typing this as if I HAD actually decided to buy the A1400... The problem is I know myself too much. I have already thought today that, if I get the A1400, I may as well have it before xmas so I can take time off to play with it... Damn!

Yay, A forthcoming review of the A1400.......

The preview has just been released:

Narrator: From the creator of the great SACD/DVD/CD/DTS ultimate fight comes this new and poignant review:

"[...] at that point, I decided to crank it up a notch since they both seemed to drive the speaker to 60-65db without too much problem. The interesting thing happened at 116db. The Onkyo read 115, while A1400 pushed it 117db (a +1 result that could be due to the fact that I use a very crappy SPL meter, but as long as the result is on the right side, who cares?) [...]
[...] that was the scene where the guy rings the doorbell. Believe it or not, I actually went downstairs to see if there was someone. A good thing since the pizza guy was waiting for me [...]
[...] and then, when Kramer says "I'm out" and slams the 100 bucks on the counter, the A1400 really renders the squeeling of each and every fiber from the wooden counter like I had dancing cables [...]"

Narrator: "Onkyo 805 vs A14000-8" coming to a Home Theater near you.