Does anyone have any power recommendations for the M22s? I purchased a pair in December and am using a new 120 watt per channel integrated Harmon Kardon HK3490 stereo receiver. It was built for stereo listening, as opposed to home theater. It feels like I could use more power, though. Any suggestions?

Do you have a sub? That amp should be more than adequate.

Right now, I'm driving 2 sets of M22's on the same L/R channels, plus a center channel, of a Pioneer Elite (cheapest one from last years models) and it still has plenty of power to spare. It's rated at 110 watts per channel.

I run my M80s, QS8s, and VP100 with an H/K AVR525. 75wpc.

I ran my M22's with Axiom's A1400-8 and that beast did make them sound a little more open/airy but for that cost I think I can live with out it, well, for awhile longer anyway.

It could be you are just prefering your friends Dali's over the M22's. It could also be his room is better for acoustics than yours.

It could be the lack of an over emphasized bottom end that makes you feel the M22's are lacking and need more power, adding a sub to them will cure this or you can try turning up the bass control by 2-3 db.

Thanks for everyone's helpful comments and suggestions. You're right Jakewash, it could be I was a little 'overly' impressed by the friend's Dalis, which admittedly do cost 3 - 4 times more new. He has an NAD 400 watts a channel preamp, too, and other components in the signal chain that are better than mine, so I imagine it all adds up. I do have a sub-woofer which I think adds a lot and is nearly mandatory with the M22s. One thing I did notice, though, is that the M22s seem to be a more 'coherent' speaker, or project a unified sound. So on ensemble stuff, acoustic music, jazz, etc., and vocal ensembles, for example, the music sounds more 'together' and of a piece than on many speakers, and I like that a lot. I think that's a real tribute to the Axiom designers. The human voice sounds remarkable! I do wonder If I'd get a bit more punch if I added a power amp to the HK. Right now I'm running it at about -25 to get some volume before it starts getting loud. I'm from the old school of still trying to adjust to the numbers getting louder as they get smaller!

That is what is called a neutral speaker when all the sounds are in the proper place/together etc.

You should get a cleaner sound as the volume goes up by adding the amp, which in turn will give you more feel of the midrange and highs. I would say punch as that is usually for midbass and the small M22's are not capable of much punch and the sub is too busy looking after the lower end for effective punch as well. A good tower with lots of power behind it and the right room with no 50-60hz nulls would work well for some good chest punch bass.

Count, these things can't be decided on "feels". The numbers say that the 3490 can drive the M22s to beyond safe(to your hearing)listening levels.