I have been blessed to listen to and own a lot of great speakers. Some were expensive and some were not. Right now, I kick myself for not keeping the B&W 801s from the early 1990s. Why, because they had a 15-inch bass speaker, the crossover was exceptional for its time, and the actual construction of the overall speaker was very cutting edge with a bass cabinet and separate enclosures for the mid-range and tweeter.
The sound that I have missed since then was that 15-inch bass speaker. Think about it, when you go to a live concert what size bass will you probably hear? The 15-inch IMHO. The 12-inch bass speakers come close but finish second.
Another thing I have to say, is a lot of folks have suggested I buy subs to help some other speakers I have owned. I believe the research is rather split on how well even the most expensive subs blend with other speakers. In my world, subs became prominent when home theatres started sprouting up. The two main disadvantages of subs are more power connections and size. Again, I would have to choose 15-inch for me.
So where am I going with this? In searching the internet for a suitable speaker, I stumbled across a good old JBL 4349 and a new to me, an M2!5 from PBN. I ordered the JBL for my office and the PBN for home.
I received the JBLs and am very happy with them, Yes, I would tell you if I did not like them. They weigh 83 pounds and replaced Magnepan 3.7is. The Magges were very nice but not involved enough for all genres of music. They were exceptional with most acoustic instruments and vocals but lacked the 15-inch bass presence.
The M2!5s are not here yet, stay seated in the magic triangle and hang on.
