For various asthetic and waf reasons, I am contemplating a move from m60s which I have had for a couple of years to m22+ep175. This will be in a room 20X10 with me on the sofa on the long wall and the speakers opposite ( god knows where the sub will be).

Will it just be different or might it be inferior ( its prob too subjective to say inferior - but has anyone tried it and been underwhelmed )
Peter

Ray's not here at the moment, so I'll say it.

Sell the wife.

It depends upon your listening habits (loudness as well as content). If you've never had a sub before AND you watch movies a lot, it might just be better. OTOH, if your primary use is music and/or you listen at high volumes, I would be concerned that the "difference" might not be something you'll enjoy.

I agree with Tom, you don't mention your music versus movie %? If you like cranking things up from time to time, I think the 60's will server you better. For HT watching in that room, I would consider the EP350, it is an awesome sub that will fill that room, the 175 may not move enough air.

To answer your question, I don't know anyone with downgradeitis.

The M22 + sub sounds very good but the floorstanders sound that much warmer/fuller. I have listened to M22+EP600 and the M60 and M80s, all with in minutes of each other...no contest M60s or M80s wins out; to downgrade would not be unliveable, but noticably a downgrade in sound,IMO. If you never compare the 2, you most likely won't know what you were missing though.

I had the opportunity to a/b the M22+EP350 vs the M60 and the M80.

Comparing the M22+sub to the M60 I was not sure which I liked more. They were different, but not as different as I would have expected. The vocals on the M22 are slightly more forward, and the sub gives more bass. The bass opened up with the M22/sub combo. I would have to agree with Jake that the M60 is a little fuller.

I would not consider anything less than the EP350 with the M22. The 175 is very weak. At almost full volume in a 12x20x8 room it barely had any rumble on some very rumbley ROTR scenes.

The m22's have to sit on stands(unless you are wall mounting them) so they take up nearly the same space as the m60's. I would prefer looking at the m60's compared to speakers sitting on a metal tower. As others have noted the sound quality would be a step down also.

- Nick

I wonder if anyone makes brackets to raise up a pair of M22s to each ear while I drive my lawn tractor?

hmmmm..my bias is towards music and I suspect that only re-enforces the general sentiment expressed here.

fyi - the plan was to buy a long low media unit along the lines of http://www.bdiusa.com/avfurniture/avion_8529.shtml, buying a flat screen tv which was medium rather than super large, and put the m22s either side of it - ie avoiding the speaker stand issue altogether.

The existing media unit is a big bulky armoire which restricts size of flatscreen and gives poor access to components - its got to go so I can get a flat sceen.

Given all the feedback I am now thinking of investigating whether I can trade up my speakers to a custom wood finish - better co-ordination with the other wood in the room might
lessen the impact of the size. The boston cherry clashes with the 'expreso' color of the rest of the furniture.

Thanks for all the great posts as always

Narrower media unit and upgrade to VaSSallo M80's.

I had my M22s on top of a TV/fireplace mantle to allow the kids more floor space whenthey were babies, Now that my youngest is 4 I felt comfortable going to floorstanders and I don't regret it at all.

I second going for the Vassallo series. You should be able to find a very complementary shade. IIRC, Axiom will even stain them to your sample if you send them one.

I dunno. Don't you think a unit with more girth has a higher WAF?

Yep, check the custom wood shop. They charge you $150 for the service, but they claim to be able to match the stain very accurately, which sounds like it'd be worth it if aesthetics are a driving factor.

Here is a review of the m60's that discusses the differences between the m60's and the m22's. Hope this helps.

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speak...-and-conclusion

- Nick

You should know that it's not about total mass but how you utilize it's space.

Here's my review...

http://axiomaudio.com/boards/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=190290#Post190290

My take on this, having auditioned the M22's (but not the EP175, so take this for what it's worth), is that they are very neutral, musical speakers. I was able to blend them (with some effort) with a much larger sub than the EP175 and get good results. For movies, I think you're far better off with monitors and a sub, than just towers and no sub. Music is a bit trickier, though.

The frequency chart on the M60's is quite flat, as speakers go. You will get neutral (accurate) sound from it's entire rated frequency range. While that range doesn't go down to the nether regions that a good sub will bring to the table, it goes down far enough for most music, and will be a better balanced sound overall, in my experience (with different high quality, full range towers).

I still have the same struggle between towers and sub/sat setup. In the end, I chose towers because I plan to listen to a lot of music in bypass mode on my pre-pro.

Another potential advantage to full range towers is that if you do add a sub for movies, you can still run the front L+R in full range mode which can help smooth out the bass response in your room. One problem with a single sub is that you can't escape the "hot" and "dead" areas.