All, thanks for the replies! I'm not familiar with Octave products, will check 'em out. Yes, the Merrill's are out of my price range - Merrill sent a pair of his Element 116s to our club (San Francisco Audiophile Society) to try out - they are amazing. Two folks in our club bought pairs of the 116s. (We also had Clayton on one of our Zoom events which was awesome). The M5 Sapphires replaced and outclassed a much more expensive pair of speakers and I haven't looked back - they do most everything very well. I have a bigger listening room now, so I kinda wish I had the M3s, but I have a nice sub that blends well, so it's not a priority.