Hi Justin,
You’ve already gotten some great advice so I figured I drop by and try to really confuse you, so here’s a couple more options.
Consider the M2v2 speakers which just got this excellent review:
http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=258892#Post258892They won’t go as low as the M22s or M3s but might save you some money to put toward a small subwoofer which I agree with John will significantly add to overall effect especially with any bookshelf speakers.
I just moved my system out of a small room that was about 10x10. I tried it in several different configurations using some M22s, QS8s and EP500 and found that the subwoofer added more to the mix than the surround speakers. My listening position was my bed which was up against the wall so there was no room for a rear sound field and little room for the side surround field to develop. Pulling the bed out off the wall helped the surround effect some but made it difficult to get around the room.
Should you choose to use surround speakers and plan on only listening to music then I would suggest getting matching bookshelf speakers to your mains. For multi-channel music matching speakers all the way around is the gold standard. Commonly this means matching full-range tower speakers but matching bookshelf speakers and a small subwoofer is a great compromise because of the flexibility of placement options as discussed below:
http://www.soundstage.com/surrounded/surrounded200307.htmAnother option is that if you can’t decide on which speakers to get you could always order a pair of say M22s and M3s or M2s and try them out, keeping the pair you like the most and eat the return shipping which is about $30.00/pair of bookshelf speakers or even upgrading as jakewash suggested. This would also give you a chance to demo two different speakers and also try out a 4 speaker system using two as mains and two as surrounds which would give you an idea if going with more than 2 main speakers will be worth it in that room.
Finally, the best speaker system I found in the small bedroom I just moved from was a good pair of headphones. Full range and no one else in adjacent rooms was being bothered. Just another option if you plan on listening alone.
Cheers,
Dean
