M60 vs M50 + M2 decision - 06/20/05 10:18 PM
Hello,
I've been in the hunt for new speakers for a while now, and I've been doing some auditioning and lots of reading. I had pretty much made up my mind that M60s would be the perfect speaker for me, but a couple of things have given me pause: nothing about the audio suitability of the speakers, but some concerns about the room that my speakers are destined for.
Basically this is our living room, and its main function is entertaining and so on, so the WAF weighs pretty heavily (ie acoustic treatments are limited to the leather furniture!)
My first concern regarding the 60's is how picky they are regarding placement: the way the room is designed, I can't pull speakers too far away from the wall. The speakers I'm upgrading from are Paradigm Phantoms, and they are front ported and seem to do just fine fairly close the the wall.
They aren't right up against the wall, but it's difficult for me to get them more than say, 8 inches away. I'd have a hard time getting much more space, especially with bigger speakers.
I'm also a bit concerned about the size of the 60s - the wife really wants speakers that won't "stand out" or dominate visually. Actually, she'd prefer no speakers but that's another topic for another day
As it is, she's OK with the Phantoms, and really liked the looks of the B&W 603s that I recently listened to. Now I liked the 603s, but that was at a dealer in a well treated room listening to some well recorded material (though, the bass did sound rough to me on one track, but maybe that was due to room interaction?)
Anyway, the 603's cost more that the 60s (more than M80s for that matter) and from what I've read I have a hard time believing that would be better sounding. That said, I could easily live with them - they seemed to be an upgrade from my Phantoms, though it's awfully hard to judge that listening to them in a different room.
The living room is a pretty big space largely because it opens up to the dining room which opens up the kitchen - that's the main reason I thought that 60s would be the way to go.
What's more, I'm the cook in the household and I love to have music on while I'm working in the kitchen. It's also nice to have for dining and so on.
But it just occurred to me that maybe the ideal solution would be to put 50s in the living room. I think that they'd have better WAF and I think the mansfield finish would match the decor nicely (it is possible to get samples of the finish to check?)
But what to do about filling the whole space with music? Well, why not add a pair of M2s to the kitchen - it seems like a brilliant solution to me, and the price of 50s + M2s is very close to a pair of 60s.
So, I guess what falls out of all my rambling are a few questions:
Does this sound like a good idea - purchasing 50s +M2s for this space?
How picky are the 50s regarding placement? I know that they have rear ports, too. Would they be OK 8 inches from the wall? I could possibly squeeze a bit more room, but probably not a lot.
Can M2s be wall mounted? If I'm putting them in the kitchen I'd have to - speaker stands in the kitchen or dining room would be impossible.
Or, would I just be happier buying the fuller output of the 60s and maybe adding bookshelves later if I feel the need? And of course, paying the hefty price of dealing with the wife's wrath if she finds them too big or dominating? (yeah, I know, you can't answer that for me!)
Anyway, thanks for any thoughts
Bill
I've been in the hunt for new speakers for a while now, and I've been doing some auditioning and lots of reading. I had pretty much made up my mind that M60s would be the perfect speaker for me, but a couple of things have given me pause: nothing about the audio suitability of the speakers, but some concerns about the room that my speakers are destined for.
Basically this is our living room, and its main function is entertaining and so on, so the WAF weighs pretty heavily (ie acoustic treatments are limited to the leather furniture!)
My first concern regarding the 60's is how picky they are regarding placement: the way the room is designed, I can't pull speakers too far away from the wall. The speakers I'm upgrading from are Paradigm Phantoms, and they are front ported and seem to do just fine fairly close the the wall.
They aren't right up against the wall, but it's difficult for me to get them more than say, 8 inches away. I'd have a hard time getting much more space, especially with bigger speakers.
I'm also a bit concerned about the size of the 60s - the wife really wants speakers that won't "stand out" or dominate visually. Actually, she'd prefer no speakers but that's another topic for another day
As it is, she's OK with the Phantoms, and really liked the looks of the B&W 603s that I recently listened to. Now I liked the 603s, but that was at a dealer in a well treated room listening to some well recorded material (though, the bass did sound rough to me on one track, but maybe that was due to room interaction?)
Anyway, the 603's cost more that the 60s (more than M80s for that matter) and from what I've read I have a hard time believing that would be better sounding. That said, I could easily live with them - they seemed to be an upgrade from my Phantoms, though it's awfully hard to judge that listening to them in a different room.
The living room is a pretty big space largely because it opens up to the dining room which opens up the kitchen - that's the main reason I thought that 60s would be the way to go.
What's more, I'm the cook in the household and I love to have music on while I'm working in the kitchen. It's also nice to have for dining and so on.
But it just occurred to me that maybe the ideal solution would be to put 50s in the living room. I think that they'd have better WAF and I think the mansfield finish would match the decor nicely (it is possible to get samples of the finish to check?)
But what to do about filling the whole space with music? Well, why not add a pair of M2s to the kitchen - it seems like a brilliant solution to me, and the price of 50s + M2s is very close to a pair of 60s.
So, I guess what falls out of all my rambling are a few questions:
Does this sound like a good idea - purchasing 50s +M2s for this space?
How picky are the 50s regarding placement? I know that they have rear ports, too. Would they be OK 8 inches from the wall? I could possibly squeeze a bit more room, but probably not a lot.
Can M2s be wall mounted? If I'm putting them in the kitchen I'd have to - speaker stands in the kitchen or dining room would be impossible.
Or, would I just be happier buying the fuller output of the 60s and maybe adding bookshelves later if I feel the need? And of course, paying the hefty price of dealing with the wife's wrath if she finds them too big or dominating? (yeah, I know, you can't answer that for me!)
Anyway, thanks for any thoughts
Bill
