Hello all.
As a terribly pleased owner of a new EP350, I'm a little conflicted about my next purchase.
Initially I plan on a stereo setup, but if pleased will give a shot at a surround system.
My question is, at twice the price of the M22's will the M50's be that noticeably superior with a 350 taking care of the lows quite nicely?
Of course the floor standing's will be better, but as a golden oldies listener, will I notice that much more of an improvement, of course keeping in mind that the money saved could be used to move to the surround setup.

Thanks.

M, welcome. The M50s(or any other floor standing speaker)don't necessarily have an advantage over speakers such as the M22s except in the lowest bass range. With your EP350 handling that responsibility, you should be very pleased with the performance of the M22s unless your listening room is very large and you play them at a very high sound level.

The M50s have a different sound as well compared to the M22s. The M22s project the mid and high frequencies much better than the M50(from what others have said as I have not heard the M50). I can say that the M60/M80 are a much fuller sound than the M22s and adding a sub to these makes for an incredible audio experience. The M22s and a good sub sounds great but not as full as the M60/M80. Are the M60s worth the extra money compared to the M22/sub combo not on there own, IMO, but M60/sub is worht the extra money.

So Jason, in essence, you are suggesting that JohnK upgrade to M80s .

Yep. Last time I was demo-ing my system we switched from M60+sub to M2+sub and the difference was surprisingly small within the loudness limits of the M2s -- the M60s sounded "bigger" ("bigness" being something which nobody on this board has bothered to quantify yet ;)) but the sound quality was very similar.

The difference between M22s and M50s would be even smaller.

As JohnK said -- it depends mostly on how loud you want to go. The M50s have two benefits over the 22s -- better bass handling as JohnK mentioned, and larger drivers which move more air and therefore can play a bit more loudly or fill a larger room while still sounding clean.

The only other think to consider is that if you are buying stands as well the price diff between 22s and 50s isn't as big as it first steams. Having said that, based on the info you have posted so far I would stay with the M22s.

Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR from GMT+5.

>>I can say that the M60/M80 are a much fuller sound than the M22s

Perhaps you could define "fuller" sound as a first step towards a working definition for "bigger" sound

"Bigger" to me means that you are "in the zone". How's that ?

Bigger means that you feel as part of the action instead of removed from it. I presently sit 8 feet away from my 80s. If I move one foot behind my couch, I no longer feel immersed. The action is happening in front of me rather than all around me in 3-D.

"Fuller" means not as thin . I can't find the right words to describe this right now but let me get two beers in me like Eric and I'm sure I'll do a wonderful job .

When comparing the M22s and M60/M80, the 22s lack of lower end presence leaves you feeling like you are missing something, they sound thin(rectified a bit by tweaking bass settings but still not the same). The M60/M80 produce that missing part the M22/sub doesn't produce well enough, IMO, so I term that as Full sounding.

Thanks for the advice. So if I'm understanding right, at reasonable levels, there's little difference between the 22/sub combo and the 50's. But with the 60's I'll notice a marked difference. Makes sense. But if I could bother you all with one more question....
Hoping to purchase the 60's in a year or so when it's more feasible, would it be wise to pick up a pair of M3's rather then the 22's; the idea being once I purchase the 60's, I could relegate the 3's to surrounds. My reasoning being the 22's would be overkill for surrounds in a relatively small space (15x20). Or would I notice a marked difference between the 22's and the 3's, keeping in mind the 350 is taking care of the lows?
Again, thanks for your suggestions.

I think the M60s and M3 would work very well, but I prefer the enveloping and more difuse sound of the QS series for surround duty.

The unfortunate thing about temporarily using the M3s as stereo mains is that you are unlikely to be happy demoting them to surrounds once you get the M60s. If you don't have Room 2 capability now then I see a second receiver purchase in your future!

The M3s are pretty big too, I wouldn't go past the M2s for surround duties...just my personal opinion on the size of the speakers (I own all 3 bookshelf models).