Hi Lee. Since music including SACD seems to be the main focus of your system I thought you might find this helpful in deciding between tower or bookshelf speakers and a subwoofer.
http://www.soundstage.com/surrounded/surrounded200307.htmA few personal observations. The M80s are fantastic w/o a subwoofer. However, since you already have a subwoofer getting a couple M22s will in my opinion work almost as well. In my opinion the extra cost of the M80 is not worth it unless you have a really big room and want to fill it with loud sound.
Besides cost saving (for use elsewhere in your system) bookshelf speakers are often easier to place due to size. Using the subwoofer for lower bass allows you to place the subwoofer for the best bass response while your bookshelf speakers can be placed for best imaging.
I have both M80s and M22s and have compared them closely. While I doubt I’d get rid of my M80s I know that I would be perfectly happy if all I had were my M22s and subwoofer. The only thing the M80s give me that the M22s can’t is the directional feel of bass impacting on me from the front speakers which makes for more realistic explosions in movies. In my opinion for music the M22s and subwoofer actually sound better due to freedom of placement than the M80s in my last listening room, your mileage may vary.
Since you already have a subwoofer, if you got M22s you could put the money you save into getting 2 or 3 additional M22s for a 4.1 or 5.1 setup for your multi-channel SACD and DVD-A discs.
You might also consider using QS4s or QS8s as surrounds. While they are technically a compromise for multi-channel music I find that most of the surround tracks on my 5.1 SACDs are carrying ambient/reflected sounds from the venue recorded in, and the QS speakers are ideal for reproducing this.
Cheers,
Dean
