I have been perusing through many m80/m60 posts the last couple of days but felt the need to post a new one. (Sorry!)

After an audition of the epic 80/600 system last weekend, (Thanks Haylo!) I am debating over the m80's or m60's. (look back a couple of months and you will see me debating over m22's and m60's... go back even further and you will see me debating Klipsch or Axiom... at least I am comming to my senses!)

Let me say that I was absolutely 100% impressed with all of the axiom speakers. The QS8's were especially nice sounding. I was surprised at the amount of bass they were able to put out.

anyway, I really liked the sound of the M80's for most of the music we listened too. I absolutley loved the clarity and detail of the M80's during movie scenes and when listening to a couple of tracks from Dave Matthew's band 'Stand Up' album. I did think that the M80's were a bit bright for some of the music at LOUD volumes (Tool for example) but this is probably a function of the recording quality. I do have a lot of poorly recorded music so this will be somewhat of an issue.

If I go with the M60's I just wonder how much detail I will be missing for movies and well recorded music. On the other hand I kind of like the idea of a speaker that is a little more laid back for some of the poorer recordings I own. BUT, I don't think it is right to 'trap' the sound of a great recording into the speaker just to cover up a poor recording during a different listening session.


M80's are only $300 more per pair through the factory outlet, but amplification may play an issue. Haylo had a bad experience with his onkyo 805 and purchased the axiom amp, which I definitely can not afford.

I read on the boards that denon AVR's can typically drive the m80's with no problem.

I am looking at the Denon AVR 888 which is priced at $750,
link here:
avr 888

The only thing i don't like is this receiver does not have pre-outs if I wanted to add a seperate amp at a later date.
Does anyone here use a similar denon model (a sub $1,000 version) to drive their m80's?

So basically the questions I have are:

Do you think a $750 100wpc Denon AVR could play the M80s loud without problems or do you need a separate amp to play the M80's at loud volumes?

Do you have any other recomendations on receivers that would work for either the m80 or m60?

for those that have heard both m60's and m80's: Do you feel like the m60 is SERIOUSLY lacking in clarity and detail in comparison to the m80? Or is it more of a subtle difference as alan has described in one of the posts i read?

If you had never heard the m60's, but have heard and liked the sound ofthe m80's, would you be dissapointed if you purchased the m60?

any comments will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

-David