I got a set of M80 speakers and I really do like them. They sound incredible.
The room that they ultimately would be houses in is not yet finished and won't be for about another 7-8 months.
Part of me however wonders, as the plan was to get a set of speakers and that is it. Done as there is no plans to replace or change anything sort of break repair. I wanted a room setup that I can go into and listen to music and watch movies and simply just be happy.
Now I am pondering, as there was a thread in the HT section where an owner in asia was left unhappy about the sound of his M80 I believe and traded up to the VFR1100. They are quite a bit more money, but when I was looking at speakers I was around that level of cost as I was considering the Paradigm Studio 100 speakers.
The gist of the upgrade by iloveturbo was that his M80 didn't feel full enough on tracks. Well, I do have quite a bit of music and some of it does feel lacking in the dynamic, but other recordings are full and perfect. I don't know if that is due to the recording, the room treatment (as I am trying out the M80 in an untreated/un decorated room that has furniture just hap hazzardly put in it). I am sure that the VFR speakers will sound amazing. The price difference will pretty much kill off the chances of getting a Sub like the EP500 for me.
As I am getting down to the wire on testing and the 30 day return policy, do I pull the plug and return the M80 and move to the VFR1100? (it's about $90 for fedex to ship them back)
The rest of the speaker setup is the V180 center and the QS8 surrounds. Would you upgrade the M80 for a VFR1100 or get a EP500 sub?
Hi Matt,
Glad to hear that you like your M80's! I myself started with those though I now also have a set of the LFR1100.
I think I remember some of your other postings but please refresh my memory. Do you have the M80HP or regular? Based on them being new within the last month, is it correct that they are the v4 rather than v3?
Finally, do you mainly want to listen to stereo music, movies with surround sound, or both?
I can tell you that for music I don't really miss having a sub. My LFR's are amazing on their own! However with bad recordings there's only so much that they can do and in fact they probably make the deficiencies in bad recordings even more obvious. So anything that already sounds bad on your M80's is probably still going to sound bad on LFR's.
From a price perspective, based on current Axiom list prices, the difference in price between a stock finish on M80's and the equivalent LFR1100's is about the price of an EP800 subwoofer. Then again the LFR's will require two additional channels of amplification. Can your current system provide them?
If so, I personally would not hesitate to get the LFR's instead of the subwoofer. In fact, I did that already! To me, the main speakers are much more important than a sub, especially for music. Also, a sub can more easily be added later.
In case you want to think about it some more, the Axiom Upgrade Program can be used to trade in your M80's for LFR's later. I'd guess that you won't get a full credit for your M80's though.
If listening to my new LFR's would help in your decision, please feel free to PM me and we can set something up sometime.
Good luck in your decision!
Mike
