I was looking to upgrade my Dunlavy SCIII's since after 17years I decided to bite the bullet and "downgrade" from the $4000 late 90's to the $2700 current day M3's. First impression were that the Dunlavy's imaged better and disappeared easier, and had a more detailed soundstage BUT, the M3's were more emotionally engaging, more like a live event, more palpable, meaning for instance when a snaredrum is hit, I get the sensation, more of a midrange fullness that feels more--real.
At first I found myself wanting a bit more fullness coming from outside the speakers--perhaps where box speakers can give an image coming a foot or two from outside the box. But then my VAC integrated EL34's warmed up after about 3 hours, and WHAM, I was not hearing any void outside the speakers or anywhere else. This is all WITH my subs, since to be fair, I ran the Dunlavy's that way, and would not miss the lowest notes. When listening to a jazz ensemble, WOW, it was more like being at a concert as the open baffles seem to energize the room, and, as I said there was more of a palpable, organic sensation. Whatever you call it, PRAT, etc., it seems that the M3's at this point mated with the tubes very very well. There was no sense of congestion from turning the volume up, but I could hear the cd player, whereas with the 91db Dunlavys it was dead quiet. BUT with the sound this good, I can forgive some of the noise I'm hearing when it's quiet--more the fault of the tightly packed integrated amp.
So, I bought these slightly used, from an owner who did not like the sound. I can only assume that his amp was not a good match, or perhaps the room or whatever, OR he really wants to hear the razor sharp imaging and hyper detail of many other speakers. As for me, these speakers will be staying put, perhaps for another 17 years.