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I didn’t know the price of the M-Audio M3-8 when I first started listening, I just assumed it was $900 to $1,000 for the pair of speakers. No, the street price is closer to $600 for a pair, around the same price as for one of the reigning wireless champions, such as the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin Air or Bose SoundDock 10. And the M3-8s deliver so much more of the sound of your music than those two wireless models, it’s not even close. For one thing a pair of M3-8s produce stereo, and the sort of room-filling sound that a single wireless speaker can only hint at. In bass prowess, dynamic range, midrange clarity, treble detail, and volume capability the M3-8s exceed the comparably priced wireless competition by a wide margin. You could hook the self-powered M3-8s up, with the right wire, to your phone, Blu-ray player, stereo preamp, or any source with a volume control.
The M3-8 is a large, three-way bookshelf speaker. It has an 8-inch Kevlar woofer, a 5-inch Kevlar midrange, and a 1-inch tweeter, and each driver has its own built-in amplifier. The woofer is driven by a 150-watt amp, while the midrange and tweeter each get their own 35-watt amp (all three amps are Class A/B designs). The cabinet measures 10.6×17.1×11.2 inches and it weighs 28.2 pounds. Connectivity options include RCA, 6.3mm, and XLR input jacks, and the rear panel also features low, mid, and high tone controls, a volume control, and a “high-pass” switch to allow the speaker to be used with a subwoofer. A bass slot/port runs along the top of the rear panel, and while handling the M3-8s I was impressed with their rock-solid build quality.
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The M3-8 was designed primarily for use in recording studios, but I had no trouble hooking it up to my stereo and two-channel home theater systems. You could build an awesome multichannel home theater setup with three M3-8s for the front left, center, and right channels, and M-Audio BX5-D2 speakers for the surround channels ($299/pair), and an Oppo BDP-105 Blu-ray player. The M3-8s’ abundant bass power might preclude the need to add a subwoofer, but sure, you could add one at any time. The Emotiva UMC-200 ($599) surround processor will also be worth considering for those of you interested in building a multichannel home theater around M-Audio speakers.
Vocal sound was spot-on; there was a terrific sense of body and clear articulation to voices, things that you can’t always count on in speakers in the M3-8s’ price class. The M3-8s like to play loud and reward the listener with lifelike dynamics, but they sound nearly as good at more moderate volume levels. The M3-8s threw an impressively deep soundstage when I popped on Aphex Twin’s “Selected Ambient Works Volume 2.” Image focus and precision were excellent. Large-scale classical music sounded appropriately massive, and string tone was rich and full.
Low-end gusto is excellent; the M3-8 is a seriously powerful speaker. In my home listening room with the M3-8s 4 feet away from the rear wall I had to turn the speakers’ bass EQ down a couple of notches from the “flat” setting, that’s how strong it is. Electric bass instruments’ snap, punch, dynamics, and power are all superb — I know of no other speaker than can touch the M3-8 in this regard for the money. The other recent self-powered speakers I’ve tested were all desktop, nearfield monitors, and the M3-8 is too large to work in that setting, so I didn’t directly compare it with any desktop speakers.
I really enjoyed my time with the M3-8s, but they’re not for everybody. The Magnepan MMG and Tekton M-Lore speakers are more refined, more open, less boxy, and clearer-sounding speakers. Ah, but those two floor-standing speakers aren’t powered, so once you add the expense of buying a receiver or power amp, the $600 MMG and $650 M-Lore wind up costing more than the M3-8s. The MMGs and M-Lores are no match for the M3-8’s bass prowess and room-filling power. Alas, the search for perfection continues, but for now the M3-8 is a mighty attractive speaker for budget-minded audiophiles who like to fill fairly large rooms with high-volume sound. Of course, the M3-8 is ideal for use as a studio monitor.
One nitpick: the M3-8s’ drivers, like those of a few other powered speakers I’ve tested, emit a small amount of hiss. You probably won’t notice it when music is playing, but otherwise the noise is audible from a few feet away.
