Mojak, three things

first is that I’ve compared all of these speaker side by side … so I’m providing a first hand opinion. (Its of course is my opinion because it’s colored by my perception of what I heard at the time)

The 2nd is that frequency response is relative: so a poor low end could effect what the mids sound like. If you haven’t already I’d listen without the sub.

The third is that the fundamental frequency is the note we hear but the harmonics are what defines what it sounds like … so the crispness, detail is probably a loss in the frequencies much higher then perceived. You probably already knew this but it’s worth pointing out … just in case …

That all said the M5 is a very nice speaker … it’s an upgrade over the M3 as long as $ is not an issue.