My good buddy was over two days ago. He's the one who, slowly over the years, has converted from a neophyte to a more critical listener. He started off with my Bose 601s Series II, then Klipsches (he says that was a big mistake), then KEFs and now to M100s. He also couldn't resist the QS10s.
Anyway, like me, he's always enjoyed the M2OW/dual crappy sub system in my living room. He also really liked it with the EP125s which, as he says, really cleaned up the bass and added even more emotion. He has never vocalized a comparison between my living room system and the actives downstairs.
As I said above, I've replaced the M2OW with the M5OW. I also added two more sealed subs downstairs and got rid of a bunch of furniture down there. I had two large leather couches that I knew were mucking with my bass and other bands. As Trevor has said, acoustically reflective leather can be problematic; cushy fabrics may be better. By the way, I don't want anyone to think the sound was crappy. Far from it but I knew it could be better. And indeed when I got rid of the two couches, the already terrific imaging improved. We're sitting on Costco lawn chairs now which look comical but are actually far more comfortable.
So I found it very interesting, when I was examining my notes this morning, that he, for the first time ever, while listening to the actives, drew a comparison between the living room and basement systems. As he was listening, he turned to me and said in a very matter-of-fact way, "Wow. The quality of the bass compared to upstairs is remarkable. And the clarity is astounding." And of course indeed both are true. But the living room system is no slouch.
I do wonder though what caused him to make this comparison. The bass down there was always better than upstairs. Maybe he's just getting more critical. It's a dangerous path to walk down for sure.
