M22 mains +EP500 subwoofer. These little things totally blow me away. I can barely tell the difference between the M22s+EP500 and the M80s+EP500 all crossed over at 80Hz. The only difference was that the M80s sounded a little “fuller” on some things like male vocals and bass guitar, but if I wasn’t A/B comparing them I don’t think I would have noticed the difference. However, my friend Fred (a part time audio engineer) could tell them apart instantly every time. We both felt the M80s sounded better at the lower end while the M22s sounded better from the mid to higher end.
With pop and rock music the M80s+sub sounded a little, I mean little better. For movies I couldn’t tell the difference when both were crossed over at 80Hz. However, when the M80s were crossed over at 60Hz they took command of the front soundstage during action scenes. While you may not be able to hear the direction of sounds below 80Hz you sure can feel them in the real world and I sit close enough to my M80s to feel the cannon blasts coming from each side of the screen in “Master and Commander” or the Balrog’s breath in LOTR FOTR.
The one place I think the M22s+sub beat out the M80s+sub was with classical music. The M22s just sounded more detailed and accurate.
95dB was the loudest I listened and usually it was around 75dB but got the feeling that in a larger room the M80s would have come out a little stronger over the M22s than they did here.
When I A/B tested them I put the M22s upside down on top of the M80s. One of the first things I noticed was that they had a wider more enveloping sound field than the M80s. To make sure it wasn’t the higher placement I moved the M80s each up a foot and noticed the same thing with them. This puts the tweeters just a little higher than ear level but it sounds better. Not sure why they sound more spacious higher up but for now they are staying on the milk crates until I grab a couple cinder blocks from my dad.
M80 center upside down above the TV. After moving my mains up a foot (their tweeters are still about 1/2 foot below the center) and angling the center M80 down I now feel that this configuration sounds better than all 3 M80s upright on the same level. Not sure it sounds as natural but better.
For movies the “wall of sound” this makes is captivating. However it never draws my attention up above the screen the way the single VP150 sometimes did, and pans are seamless. Music sounds like it’s coming from a stage and I’m sitting in one of the front rows. Classical concerts definitely sound better this way but I’m still not sure about other genres with discretely placed musicians and singers.
So for now the front will consist of 2 M80 mains about 1 foot off the ground and 1 M80 center upside down above the TV all crossed over at 60Hz and angled slight in.
More listening to do for the single/dual M22 centers and M22 rears before posting about them.
I just have to repeat how impressed I am with the M22s + EP500. I think it gives me about 95%+ of what the M80s +EP500 do in my medium size room at moderate volumes. On a pure bang-for-the-buck analysis I think it would be hard to beat the M22s +sub. One of these days I’d like to take my M80s into a big room and hook them up to a powerful amp to see what they can really do.
