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The M5OW can go louder with greater bass and mid-range detail. They sound more like real music.

An M5OW/good sub combo sounds better than an M2OW/good sub combo. And M2OW/good sub combo sounds better than just an M5OW.

There is a caveat. You may not be able to control the bass from the M5OW. If all you have is a legacy-style stereo receiver, you may be better off with the M2OW.

Another thing I noticed is the muted shimmer of highs with the M5OW. I don't know why. It could be the larger bass and mid-range presence in my room. It is by no means bad and some may prefer it. Treble adjustment works well for an added touch of airyness/shimmer.

it's a weird thing that even though the M5OW sound better, I miss the M2OW.

I just got my M5OW's mounted and am loving them so far. ARC Genesis had no issue taming the bass from them. Haven't really cranked them yet, but hope to do that the minute I have the house to myself (a rare occurrence these days).

It sounds like you finally have some stability with your fronts, bman. It's been an evolving process for you.

I am curious if ARC did anything to the highs.

Haha "evolving" is putting it nicely, but I think I can finally stop fussing about speakers and TV's and just enjoy the setup. Also happy to report that my marriage is still going strong.

ARC was set to only apply corrections below 5000Hz, but I can set that limit to whatever I'd like (need to play with it). I've previously tried setting it to 500Hz and below, but found that movies sounded less detailed.

Yes, I can see how setting to 500Hz and below would take detail out in your reflective room. Imaging is the result of 700Hz and above. Reflections that are too strong mess with image perception because they persist too long.

Regarding your marriage, you obviously are not listening loud enough.

Love to hear more on your ARC xp Bman.

ARC makes a massive improvement in my room, and does a far better job than Audyssey XT32. I'm sure I could improve things further if I had the time to experiment and tweak, but the default 20-minute setup sounds great to me. Anthem is releasing a new line of receivers/processors in December, and I'm sure those will do an even better job of utilizing ARC (new calibration mic for one).