High-gloss M80s, MA Silver 8s, or ? for "upgrade"

I've been toying with the idea of "upgrading" my mains from M60s.
High gloss M80s (maybe in piano black) would look awesome, sound awesome, blend perectly with the rest of my HT, cost about $1450 US. The main improvement in sound would be the high volume capabilities, right?
Monitor Audio Silver 8s wouldn't look nearly as sharp, may not blend perfectly with my HT, but will likely have superior bass response, a little more forgiving top end and can be had for ~$1250.
I didn't care for the B&Ws that much and really can't afford stuff like that anyways.
Any other suggestions?
I could also stick with my 2 yr old M60s which are available for $0.

BigWill, what kind of sub are you running with your M60s?

will,ive never heard the 60s ,or the moniter audio speakers but the m80s really have great bass.my last speakers were klipsch epic 3s with dual 10s in each,and they had bass that would give you a good punch in the chest and the m80 are right there with them.i dont know if its my room or the placement or whatever ,but more than once,ive found myself checking to see if my subs were on when i wanted them off..what im saying is,the bass is awesome from the 80s.....legairre,who will be buying the 80s,came over for a demo and was amazed with the amount of quality bass coming from theese speakers...he also said he was going to post his thoughts on them but maybe he didnt have the time yet...but im sure he will......good luck with your choice...ron

Thanks for the quick feedback guys.
I'm running dual subs - an EP350 and a 10" Energy sub (don't know the model). The deep bass is no problem - maybe I should be working on integrating the subs better with the M60s for music. Actually there is no problem at all. System sounds pretty incredible, if a little bass-heavy.
But I scrapped the idea of a new mega-sub and the idea of a high-dollar amp... I guess I just have the itch to spend some cash.

Mark, I'll suggest that you scratch that itch by using that cash for more CDs(preferably classical, of course)and DVDs. More enjoyment per dollar will result.

I think NeverHappy has some Monitor Audio's. May be the one to bounce this one off of.

JohnK, you may be right. I haven't added much to my CD collection recently (except a couple of awesome discs another forum member mailed me

). Some new tunes will make old speakers new again, eh?

BigWill, my position on Monitor Audio is well documented in these parts. I had the M80's, M50's, M22's and M3's etc etc etc and now have Monitor Audio Silver 9i's. I also have Silver 5i's as my surrounds and 2 Silver 3i's as dual centers. I listened to the new S6's, S8's and S10's also. Can't say much about the S6's other then they are a nice speaker but lacked a little bottom end. The 8's on the other hand are freaken awesome and the 10's do everything the 8's do but a little better.

The only reason I went with the older Silver line was because after spending a lot of time with the 8's I heard very little difference between the Silver 9's and the new S8's. The 8's add a little more midrange then my current Silver 9i's but I'm not in love with midrange so it was a no brainer for me.

At the end of the day it comes down to this, If someone offered me a set of M80's plus cash for my Silver 9i's, I would walk away from that deal in a heartbeat. I vastly prefer the Monitor's. By a long stretch................

If you go the S8 route, I feel more then confident in saying that you will be happy at the end of the day!

Mark, how are your viewing appliances? Maybe you need a new TV?

How about going whole-hog into SACD/DVD-A? Tivo will change your life, too.

NeverHappy, thanks for the reply. I was under the impression that you were running MA fronts and Axiom surrounds. I am not going to replace my QS8s or VP150.

I wonder if the MAs would blend OK with my center and surrounds.

Tom, I have a 60" HD Phillips that is just over a year old. I won't be upgrading there for a while. And judging by the old lady's reaction to the prospect of M80s or S8s, I may not be doing that either.

In reply to:
NeverHappy, thanks for the reply. I was under the impression that you were running MA fronts and Axiom surrounds. I am not going to replace my QS8s or VP150. I wonder if the MAs would blend OK with my center and surrounds.

I was for a time running a VP100 as a center with M3's as surrounds. I then ditched the VP100 and went with M3's up front as dual centers. Although not a true timber match they blended far better then I thought they would with the MA's. If you go with the S8's I doubt you will feel the need to swap anything else.

I did it only because I had the chance to buy my Silver 5i's and Silver 3i's from someone in one shot who was upgrading to MA Golds. Price was right and in one shot I switched everything over to MA.

Ron sorry I didn't post the review yet. I planned on doing it Friday night but the whole weekend was just too busy. I'did get part of it finished Friday night but I'm not done yet.

As for the bass that the m80s produce, I can say that the m80s bass is INCREDIBLY strong and tight. I was amazed at the amount of clean bass that the m80s produced. It's just like Ron says. When I was over his house I asked him several times to check the pre-amp to see if the subs were on(by the way he has two REALLY nice Velos). The bass from the m80s is also very fast. I brought music that I was very familar with and I know the bass notes in these songs very well. At one point Ron put in Finding Nemo and I would have swore that by the way the whole room was shaking that the dual subs were on, but they weren't.

OK I have to finish writing the review. Hey Ron thanks for the demo. The m80s will definately be my next set of speakers.

Anyone want to buy a pair of JBL HLS820 and an HLS Center. I know this guy named Legairre whose selling them and picking up some m80s.