Because of fhw's original post, I decided to audition the m40's, because 95% of my listening is stereo music, with the other 5% watching DVD's. The m40's seemed like the perfect size, and I thought they sounded good, but I wanted to be sure I wasn't missing out on anything. I ordered a set of m22's and m60's, and A/B'd them with the m40's (no sub).
I must be one of the few people who has auditioned m22's, m40's and m60's at the same time. I'll spare the excruciating details, and just give the highlights:
1. I found the m40 to be a great speaker for playing DVD movies. I can't imagine needing more than this for the two mains of a 5.1 home theatre system. Several of my friends have a "home-theatre-in-a-box" 5.1 system, so I'm quite familiar with their performance. Watching movies with the pair of m40's alone puts these HTIAB systems to shame. I can only imagine how much better they sound as part of the Epic 40 system. For me, these speakers have more than enough bass output - especially for stereo listening. The m40's have the added benefit of not requiring stands.
What do they lack? Clarity in the midrange and vocals. At first I thought the m40's to be pretty decent, and was ready to keep them. Unfortunately, I complicated my life by doing an A/B comparison against the m22's, and in comparison to the m22's, I found the midrange of the m40's to be noticeably recessed, and the vocals sound a bit off compared to the m22's. If Axiom would put the drivers of the m60 on the cabinet of the m40 and still arrive at a decent tonal balance, I think that would be the ideal speaker for me (more on that later).
2. The m22 is a good bookshelf speaker, with wonderful clarity. I recently listened to a pair of Energy Connoisseur C-3's, and I thought the m22's to be more clear in the midrange. With a smaller living space, I might have been satisfied with the m22's - especially if I could have placed them on top of a shelf. I could have even lived without a subwoofer. Unfortunately, my living space is large, and the layout necessitates stands and a sub. With the cost of stands and a decent sub bringing the total for the m22's higher than a pair of m60's, there was only one thing I could do...
3. The m60's are huge, by my standards. I auditioned some Energy Connoisseur C-7's a few months ago, which are of similar size, and thought them to be too large. I think the same of the m60's, and would be happy to take a hit on bass output in exchange for a smaller cabinet. I much prefer the size of the m40's. Despite my misgivings, the improved clarity of the m60's when compared to the m40's was undeniable, and of course they crank out just as much or more bass. Advantage: m60's.
It seems like the m60's lose just a touch of midrange clarity when compared to the m22's, but that is possibly because with the m60's the added low frequencies are superimposed. A proper comparison using a sub would have helped. I have a basic understanding of the frequency response plots, but I'm no audio engineer. However, I still wonder why the m60's don't have two 5 1/4" drivers, and one 6 1/2" driver, so that the mids are boosted. Maybe that would make them too forward sounding?
For the record, I kept the m60's and shipped back the m22's and m40's. They do everything I want, albeit in a larger package than I'd like. Still, it's a more compact arrangement than stands and a sub.
I listen to a bit of classical and jazz, but mostly folk, alt-country, alternative pop, and electronica. I guess with classic 70's and 80's rock the m60's may sound bright to some. I can't say, as I don't listen to that kind of music. I find them anything but bright, and at the risk of being crucified on these boards, I would actually love to find a speaker that reveals even more midrange detail. Unfortunately, nothing I listened to in the price range of the m60's could beat them for clarity, so I'm keeping them. I'm sure that a $2000+ pair of speakers could best the m60's, but I can buy a pile of CD's with the money I saved!
I'd also like to compliment the level of discussion on this board. It's (mostly) technical, polite and people seem well-informed and avoid delving into hocus-pocus arguments. I've learned a great deal from reading everyone's posts!
