OK, it's official. I would have saved a LOT of money if I had just bought M3s instead of M2s at the start. Did I listen to the reviews ? No...
To my ears, in a room setup which minimizes the effect of off-axis frequency response, the M3s give me all the things I like about the M2s plus what seems to be decent bass response and a sufficiently full sound that I can enjoy them without a sub. This is not a revelation, I realize.
In hindsight, here were my options :
Option 1 :
Buy M2s. Beautiful sound but a bit thin on the bottom end. Buy a sub. Move the speakers downstairs. Make the mistake of playing a DVD through the new speakers. Discover HT on good speakers. Continue to complain about sub-to-main matching with a stereo receiver. Buy M60s for music. Buy more DVDs. Get curious about surround. Buy an AV receiver (HK630), hook up the crappy old speakers as surrounds. Imagine how much better 5.1 would sound. Buy a VP100. Hook the M2s up as surrounds. Discover how 5 channel audio is supposed to sound. Still no music system in my bedroom. Buy QS8s, freeing up M2s or M60s for bedroom system. Lend the sub out to family so I have to keep the M60s downstairs and use the M2s upstairs. Lament about the lack of bass upstairs.
Option 2 :
Buy M3s. Listen and enjoy.
