M&K K-5

By price and size these speakers compete directly with the more modest Energy and Cambridge Soundworks products. Sonically they are in a somewhat higher performance league. The best way to describe their character (for me) is comparrison to the above mentioned competitors. First the highs are very smooth, there is no tendency to grate on the nerves or sound shrill and harsh when the volume when pushed. Imagining is superior especially when moved a couple of feet from the wall on stands. (The makers claims to minimize vertical dispersion to reduce reflections from the floor and ceiling.) I think I can detect this if I stand a couple of feet away and move my head up and down by a few feet then compare it to doing the same right and left. There appears to be much less sound 3-4 feet above the speakers as there is 3-4 feet to the side.

The bass is limited by design. The matching sub is pretty pricy compared to these two speakers although not by the standards of a true deep bass sub. This point needs to be clear the matching sub just fills in the 40hz to 100Hz. It doesn't pretend to reach down to 20Hz. On the other hand if your listening does require much bass, just the 2 K-5's alone sound really nice.