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M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48691 06/09/04 06:12 AM
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Ken.C Offline OP
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This evening, Peter and Adam (pmbuko & adamp88) came over to my place to compare Peter's M22's and my M50s.

The M50s were wired to the main jacks on my H/K 525, while the M22s were wired to the Multiroom speaker jacks. Switching between the two was a pain, requiring 4 button presses (minimum), but we finally figured it out. The subwoofer was not used at all in teh testing, due to the difficulty of melding it with both speakers, and the fact that you can't set the sub to play with Multiroom.

We listened to a variety of music, including Rush, Alison Krause, Metallica, Alice in Chains, Bela Fleck, Buena Vista Social Club, some Gregorian chant that I don't remember the name of, and probably some other stuff I don't remember right now.

General impressions:
M22s=more airy, broader soundstage
M50s=fuller, "fatter" sound
Both speakers are excellent.
Unless you switch in the middle of the song, the two can sound very similar. If you do switch quickly in the middle, then they sound extremely different for a few seconds, then the difference seems less dramatic.
Played together, they sound really good!

More detailed stuff:
No, I didn't take notes...
It is a very broad generalization to say that the more electric/electronic instruments playing, the more that we preferred the M50s. The M22s were more detailed, but sometimes this could play against them (as usual, if the recording was bright, the M22s were less preferred.) This was especially dramatic on Dust for Life, where the M22s were veyr close to painful. However, Ozzy Osbourne-Blizzard of Ozz was better on the M22s. The Gregorian chant was better on the M22s by virtue of their wider soundstage. However, I think some of this may be remedied by placement on the M50s, which are probably not optimal. The M22s have AMAZING bass for their size. However, the M50's bass is extremely prodigious. In general, we preferred male voices on the M50s, except for Ozzy. I felt that female voices were better on the M50s most of the time, but I'm also biased.

Conclusion:
The speakers are more different than some have said, but also less different than others have said. (helpful, ain't I?) Actually, this was pretty much how the comparison went, with each of us noting good things about both speakers. It is probably impossible to pick a winner.

Especial thanks to my lovely wife, who put up with loud music for the last 4 hours, and made a fantastic peach cobbler.


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48692 06/09/04 06:47 AM
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I just finished putting my M22s back in their places and am now ready to do a massive brain dump. The M22 and M50 showdown was not as conclusive as I thought it might be. Ken did a good of describing the setup, but he forgot to mention that we level-matched the two pairs of speakers with an SPL meter prior to doing our in-depth listening. We also had the speakers stacked atop one another with the front baffles lined up. My M22s were upside-down so that the tweeters were at similar levels.

In general, I found the M22s to be more articulate/airy/detailed in the high-end than the M50s, expecially with well-mastered instrumental/acoustic material. Buena Vista Social Club was the best example of this. While doing a switch from the M22s to the M50s while the music was playing, it was immediately obvious that a fine level of detail was no longer resolving as clearly. The soundstage also seemed to suffer slightly. I described my impression to Ken as a series of concentric rings, where the further out you get from the center, the wider the soundstage and the more detailed the sound. Switching from the M22 to the M50 was like removing the outermost circle or two. In all fairness in regards to soundstage, the M22s seem to be much easier to place than the M50s.

Also in general, I found the M50s to have a fuller/broader sound, cleary due to their ability to produce a great amount of tight bass. I have a feeling the bass could improve further with some positioning tweaks, but as they were the bass was never boomy.

An area where the M50s were clearly preferable to the M22s was with older recordings and more poorly mastered material. Dust for Life a rock band bordering on metal (at times). Their debut album is mastered pretty hot, and it was quite harsh on the M22s. Switching to the M50s tamed down the brightness to a very listenable level. Switching back to the M22s was like hearing nails on a chalkboard. Perhaps this is the sort of stuff people listen to when they label the m22s as metallic?

What I need to stress is that I really enjoyed both speakers greatly, even though the differences between the two became more and more apparent as the listening session went on. It was refreshing hearing two different interpretations of the same music. Often we would switch back and forth unable to pick a favorite. It's also important to note that the differences between the two speakers would fade the longer we listed without switching between them -- psychoacoustics at work!

So, was there a clear winner? I left with my speakers, and Ken kept his. Neither of us seems to be jealous of the other's speakers. And that's a good thing. I think I speak for both of us when I say that upgraditis is not something I need right now.

Oh, and that cobbler/bread pudding was excellent!

Last edited by pmbuko; 06/09/04 06:51 AM.
Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48693 06/09/04 06:49 AM
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Okay, Ken, we read your review with interest, but what many will want to know is if Peter was able to resist fooling around with the M50 gorilla ports; or was Jen watching him too closely?


-----------------------------------

Enjoy the music, not the equipment.


Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48694 06/09/04 06:51 AM
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Ken.C Offline OP
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Hell, I was watching him too closely for that. Jen was retreating from the loud noise into the other room...

Adam, you're up...

{edit} oh yeah, it was bread pudding. Dur.

Last edited by kcarlile; 06/09/04 06:53 AM.

I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48695 06/09/04 06:53 AM
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I did discover that the vortex ports on the M22s double as very convenient carrying handles. Thumb goes on top of the speaker, and the rest of your fingers go in the port. It makes for a very secure grip.

Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48696 06/09/04 07:36 AM
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Alrighty, time for me to give this a shot. Both Peter and Ken put down their thoughts quite well, so I'll just add a few comments.

I think the consensus we all came away with is that there is no clear winner between the two speakers. As Ken and Peter said, on some material we preferred the M22s, on some the M50s. On some tracks (Alison Krauss), we clearly preferred the vocals on the M50s, but then on others (Ozzy & Alice In Chains) we preferred the M22s. On more instrumental tracks, it was much harder to pick out differences (besides bass, of course). In fact, I walked out of the room to take a quick bathroom break, and when I came back in I assumed the M50s were playing because I heard some nice bass coming out - but it was the M22s (goes to show you how accurate memory can be!). Overall the M22's had more precise imaging and a wider soundstage, but the differences were hardly dramatic.

That said, I get the feeling that with the inclusion of a subwoofer I might prefer the M22s overall for there more precise and wider soundstage, and the overall airyness (new word!). In this setup they were obviously lacking bass and were missing quite a lot of the low material that the M50s covered with ease (easily apparent on the Rush drum solo). At home with the SVS I don't find myself wanting anything more from the sound (other than maybe a tiny bit more midrange warmth). Maybe we should do a second round down the road where we compare the two with a sub - if we can somehow rig it together. I get the feeling that the tracks where the M22 sounded a bit thin or bright might come across differently if there was a sub filling in the lower end for it.

Anyway, both are fine speakers. I'd actually really like to hear the M60s now, as I think my ideal speaker might be somewhere in between the M50 and M22, and the M60 might be close to (or better than) that speaker. Although, as Ken noted when Peter set up the M22s on the M50s, we had the same driver complement as an M80, for $100 less than the real deal.

Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48697 06/09/04 07:44 AM
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In reply to:

However, the M50's bass is extremely prodigious.



Prod - what?

Bren R.

Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48698 06/09/04 01:06 PM
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hey ya'll, thanks for the review.. its obvious you guys aint professionals or nothing, but a good review none the less.

it still surprises me everytime when i read that the M22's can stand up to the tower spoeakers(in performance). i just always assumed that the 'tower' design was superior, and that no 'bookshelf' could ever come close to producing the same/better sound as a tower..

and it was good to see that both parties went away feeling good about their speaker choice, and with full bellies. sounds like a good night to me.

bigjohn


EXCUSE ME, ARE YOU THE SINGING BUSH??
Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48699 06/09/04 09:50 PM
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This sounds a lot like the way the M3's and M22's compare (Except for more difficult placement).

Owning both I find this :

The M3's are ever so slightly tipped up in bass and the M22's are just a bit more airy and open with some of the best midrange and treble this side of $2-3000 .

With a good sub .... the M22's are simply amazing .

The M3's are fantastic (and less needy of a sub)

The bottom line is they are all VERY good speakers indeed .

Re: M50 vs. M22 comparison
#48700 06/10/04 01:44 AM
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In reply to:

I think my ideal speaker might be somewhere in between the M50 and M22, and the M60 might be close to (or better than) that speaker.




Dang! I was just thinking that I wished you guys had the 60s in the mix about 1 post before you said that.


M- M60s/VP150/QS8s/SVS PC-Ultra/HK630 Sit down. Shut up. Listen.
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