I am late to the discussion; but it sounds like there have been some finish quality issues? I recently received an M80 custom made in size to use as a center speaker. It is made with knotty pine and natural satin finish. Other than the scrapes across the front panel due to FedEx puncturing the shipping container in three places, it looks just fine to me. The natural satin is very even, smooth and very well done. It matches my QS10HP surrounds which were made this way. I cannot comment on the weight factor as I don't have any earlier versions. I will say that they all feel very hefty to me.
My Bryston Model T's are extremely heavy as is my Bryston Model T sub. All produced by Axiom too.
