birchoak

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I have read almost all of the reviews here on the M80 and feel compelled to mention a few important things:

1) These speakers are meant to be bi-wired. This is a feature found on high-end speakers and should be taken advantage of. It will clear up any 'muddy' bass issues.
2) The amp you use is very important, for any speakers, and will color the sound of music almost as much as the speakers will! These speakers do best with clean power, I'd say at least 50 honest watts.
3) Any new speaker will need to be broken in before it sounds its best; times will vary but I'd guestimate about 20 hrs. of listening for the M80s.
4) Pick the speaker up, or try to. Feel the finish. Look at the binding posts on the rear. These are extremely well-made pieces with sufficient rigidity for chest-thumping bass. I don't care where they were made, and I can tell you this: if they were assembled in America they would sell for $1200 a pair, maybe more.
5) How good is your source? If you're listening to FM it's not a fair test. FM can sound great, but usually it's not a reliable source for judging speaker sound. How well-engineered was the album/recording? A poor home-made tape will sound equally poor on even the best stereo system.

Ok, that said, I ran a plain-Jane Alesis RA-100 studio amp with these. 75 clean watts, paid $100 for it at Daddy's Junky Music. I played CDs off my laptop and from a Salvation Army Sony CD player ($10). The M80s delivered tight, muscular bass, splendid mids and celestial highs. Did they go low enough to make all the dogs in the neighborhood howl? No. Did they go low enough to make me grin like a fool and shake my head? Yes! At times I would hear things on CDs that made me jump because I had never heard them on the passage before. These speakers are accurate enough to reveal deficiencies in the source material.

Fast-forward to February 2009. I'm running 160 watts (160 TRUE, RMS watts with dynamic peaks of 400 watts) into them. Radio Shack wire. No speaker stands, no special placement of speakers. I'm playing a tape (that's right, a TAPE) of Bob Seger's "Nutbush City Limits" I made from his 'Live Bullet' album and so help me God, it feels like the drummer is in my living room. I can feel the drumbeats in my body, through my chair (and it's a big chair), and I know I've got that sheepish grin on my face again. The speakers never sound like they've reached their limits (although 160 watts IS pretty much the limit before going with giant DJ speakers). The icing on the cake is that these speakers stand head and shoulders above virtually all other speakers in their physical beauty and understated elegance. They look nice in any room. They don't take over the living space. And they perform the 'ten-clowns-in-a-car' trick of sounding much, much bigger than they really are. I will never sell them and feel that $500 for the pair was a bargain.

K_MANN

Overall Rating
 3 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.07 of 5, 15.00 votes

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Cambridge Soundworks

Summary:
I'm no audiophile but these really don't sound good to me. The bass is just not there and overall the sound is very washy. I was really hoping to like these but when I compared them directly to my Klipshe SB-2 speakers I was shocked by how much better the klipshe sounded. The mid range is very good on the CSW and thats were I see their strength. You have to crank these things to here the bass. Thank gawd there is a good return policy. Considering they only cost me $200.00 and I'm still bringing them back should tell you my opinion on them. These things look much better than they sound!

Strengths:
Great look Great mids and highs

Weaknesses:
No low bass responce washy sound

Similar Products Used:
I compared these to my Klipshe SB-2 bookshelf speakers.

Mark111867

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Visitors rate this review
4.00 of 5, 5.00 votes

Price Paid:  $399.00 from Cambridge Soundworks

Summary:
I was looking for a pair of larger bookshelf speakers to put in my living room. I listened to a bunch of different speakers. I decided to take a chance on the M80's. I'm happy with them. Classical & folk music sounds good through them. Can't really comment on how rock sounds, as I don't listen to it all that often. The speakers sound clean and have acceptable bass response. The build quality & cosmetics are excellent. If you are looking for a good set of bookshelf speakers, they are worth looking into. All in all, I'm very happy with my purchase and have absolutely no regrets purchasing these.

Strengths:
Nice treble response. Good bass. Great build quality. 10 year warranty.

Weaknesses:
Could sound a bit warmer. They sound great in my living room with wall to wall carpeting. Tried them in place of my Mirage M-290's in the den, and they did not sound as "warm" as the M-290's.

Similar Products Used:
Mirage M-290's. Polk Monitor 4A's.

Price Paid:  $300.00 from cambridgesoundworks.

Summary:
Great company.Great service.Great radios.I'm sorry,But this is a lousy speaker.

Strengths:
Imaging.Built like a tank.Georgeous to look at.Warranty and customer service.

Weaknesses:
Was very good on some music.Lousy on most.No bass on some music and plenty of bass on others.Muddled bass at times.The top end was very distorted at times.

Similar Products Used:
Nht.celestion,pinnacle,polk speakers.Parasound and acurus power amps and preamps.

Price Paid:  $33900.00 from hifi.com

Summary:
I recently purchased the M80s and they are a wonderful sound that filled the entire room. I started with just placing them on some old speaker they were replacing for stands and only running one pair of wire to each speaker and even at that I was amazed. They were replacing some KLH 15s and what a difference they were so much more accurate. I could here things in my music that I never heard before. they work great with my home theater I also purchased a mc 400 center and with adding those three speakers my movies came alive. I eventually custom built some 22" stands and filled them with lead shot at the same time I biwired them and again I was blowen away I did not think it was going to make as big of a difference as it did I would suggest this to anyone looking to optimize there sound. My overall review of these speakers is an unmatchable sound at an affordable price. 5 stars in my book.

Strengths:
great styling and overall performance

Weaknesses:
none

Similar Products Used:
infinty. onkyo