What I think of my new setup ... well .. read on
Setup:
For music (for now, movies in the next couple of weeks)
Room 16' x 11'6" x 7'8" carpeted
Rotel RSX-1065 Surround Receiver 120w x 2 (100w x 5)
M22Ti
QS4
B&W CC6
Toshiba DVD 3750 Progressive scan
Audioquest Sidewinder interconnects
Monster 12ga clear housing ~ ft 2 x 5 feet @ $3.00/sq
After 4 weeks of listening to the speakers I definitely liked it playing Jazz, Latin type acoustical music, and bossa nova stuff.
The imaging is good HORIZONTALLY and DEPTH. The mids are very tight but sometimes almost seemingly boxed in. The bass is definitely lacking so I went and got the Mirage bipolar sub. I had an issue with the sound staging. That was fixed by moving the speakers at least 2-3 feet from the wall. The speakers do not do well close to the wall. Try it if you haven't already. You will notice better sound staging appear as you pull it away from the wall. A little toed in also helps. What I noticed missing though is the imaging or staging upwards. It maybe good horizontal in the sitting position but I did not see much height. In comparison the B&W CM2 (~$1150 CDN) has a big sound stage both horizontally and vertically. The mids and high are even more defined. It seemed that the M22Ti had a soundstage that was almost like a low but deep rectangle sound stage maybe only a 1-2 feet above my head in the listening position. The stage seemed also deep behind the speakers. The B&W CM2 had a soundstage that was more circular like an clamshell shaped amphitheater. Remember the B&W CM2 is 2 times the price. The CM2 also had better 3D than the M22Ti. You can definitely tell where each player was stading. The M22Ti also did a good job but not as defined.
I compared them also to the Paradigm Studio 20's (~$780 CDN). The Paradigm definitely more powerful in the mids and bass department. The staging is also a little better vertically but not horizontally. The M22Ti had more depth horizontally to the sound stage. I just though the M22Ti did a better job in the 3D department. I could tell separations better in the M22Ti than in the Paradigm (but only a tad bit, hardly noticeable). The Mirage FRx-7 floorstander (~$900 CDN) speakers I had it compared to, had a nice horizontal and vertical imaging but I could not clearly define the images of the players as with the M22Ti. Since it was a floorstander it had better bass and low mids.
The M22Ti definitely sounded better to me than the B&W600 series. The mid was definitely busy and muddy. If you want dance and pop I think you would definitely enjoy B&W's due to its bass performance. Jazz, acoustical music and vocals definitely are key in playing the M22Ti. What I noticed those that the playing Jazz from the local radio seemed to have better soundstaging specially in height department. Could it be that my DVD was not meant to play Cd's as great sounding quality as the radio? I don't know. But the missing vertical height sound stage can be heard playing Jazz music from the radio.
To compensate for the lack of bass of the M22Ti I purchased the Mirage BPS-150i dual 8 inch bi polar sub. With the sub on it definitely helped with the Dance, Pop, Electronica and Trance CD's I have. But...there's a but...I still prefered the B&W to play this type of music. Where definition of instruments is not key I enjoy an enveloping sound that this type of music is good in. Specially trance tracks by DJ Tiesto and Trance nation. The M22Ti was just a little too stiff and boxy for this. It may still need time to break in, but who knows.
One thing with a sub with the M22Ti. I was having difficulty dialing in a proper crossover frequency and sound level for the sub. In the very beggining I found the sub having really low low low frequencies that did not blend in with the M22Ti specially if I use the crossover bypass of the sub. Maybe my Rotels handling for the crossover is not that good. I just used the standard sub low level input and moved the frequency crossover and level to the level that the transition was clean. I only got the sub yesterday so I still will do location changes and crossover, sound level changes.
All in all the M22Ti has strenghts and faults. You definitely will need a sub for a mix of music unless you are only going to use the M22Ti strictly for Jazz, instrumentals and vocals.
Over time maybe the speakers will open up. (cross my fingers)
On hindsite I think I might have been happier with a M50, M60 or M80 so I do not have to compensate for the lack of bass for the M22Ti. But I usually do not like floorstanders due to size. I still think a sweet bookshelf with a sexy mettalic stand will aestetically look better in a room that will have concrete floors, 16.5' floor to ceiling glass windows. At $550 I can not complain. Only time will tell if this will be my main speakers or if it will be shifted to the back as surrounds.
After mulling over the build of the M22Ti. It is definitely sexy. I just wish they made a metalic or silver color. Make the black rubber on the maple or white version match the silver aluminum. Even better yet if they could faceplate the whole front with some aluminum or metal. One reason for the success of B&W and Mission is they look really good. People buy these type of speakers sometime just because it blends into there furniture very easily and it almosts disappears.
http://www.bwspeakers.com/images/SpeakerModel/images/CM_2/detail_large_one.jpg
http://www.mission.co.uk/product/m5/m51.jpg
http://www.mission.co.uk/product/m5/m53.jpg
My favorite look below.
http://www.aadsound.com/Products%20Page/E%20Series%20Product/E48%20product%20page.html
I will get back to you guys in a couple of weeks with respect to movies.
