Lots of constraints in this room. A long and narrow room (15 x 30) that doubles as a dining room and living room. Lots of openings, so speaker placement was limited. Original goal of this system was mostly for background music while dining or entertaining with guests - but it's continued to evolve into much more.
Very happy with the Bryston Mini T's. Only 23 inches tall, they have excellent base extension, and they sound good from just about anywhere in the room.
Scott is correct; subs are indispensable (unless you have big floor standing speakers of the close to state of the art variety) for improving not only frequency extension, but also soundstage. It's remarkable what those lower frequencies add to the experience, even with solo instrument or simple vocal pieces.
No pre outs, no problem! Simply double up the speaker cables at the EX-M1, putting one set to the Briston speakers and the other to the speaker level inputs (not all subs have this, so check on it). Easy! I have used two sets of spade termination cables on the EX-M1+ many times, but one set of spades and one set of banana terminations is an easy way to bi-wire. You could get upgraded speaker cable jumpers for the Mini T or use a set of shotgun speaker cables to use both sets of binding posts. If you haven't, dump the stock jumpers and get some upgrade wires for jumpers. Much better, regardless.
Before dumping the speakers, try different speaker cables for adjusting the tonality. There is a huge differential between speaker cables, with some having a more rolled off high end, so that might help satisfy you. You don't need to use the same speaker cable if you get subs, but I have found that usually my preferred cable is best for my ears on all frequencies top to bottom. Even trying 2 or 3 different brands/models of speaker cable as jumpers can bring enough of a change to the treble to satisfy.
Many options exist...
You may think differently about the treble if you add a subwoofer or two. Your ear is drawn to the treble now, but adding stronger and deeper LF will pull attention away from the treble, and as such it won't be as glaring. A good sub can partner well with nearly any speaker, but you may wish to try that first before reaching out for other speakers. Often the frequency spectrum balance is nicely influenced when I add subs to small speakers. The King Sound King Tower omni always struck me as having too strong a treble, but with the Perlisten subs and the extreme LF with good output, there is pleasing balance top to bottom.
Accepting the inevitability of changing and upgrading gear, I have not found limits to how much audio systems can be advanced. Every piece of gear that I have owned for about 5 years has been improved with various rigs perhaps 7-8 times, and I believe more improvements would be seen if I kept building new rigs and keep upgrading gear. Considering the range of speakers, components, and cables, in combination there are dozens of levels of sound quality available.
Nice, tidy system! If you haven't read my review of the Kinki Studio EX-M1+, I encourage you to do so. I discuss opamp rolling, and it makes a distinct difference in the unit's performance. Take your time, research opamp rolling, and have fun with it. The newer generation of opamps are better than several years ago. Like the electronics, they keep improving. It's not an expensive upgrade and well worth it. Some might think changing opamps in an integrated is undproductive. I checked, and it's very productive.
If you sometime wish to branch out, the integrated also works quite well as a dedicated power amp or dedicated preamp. I have used it as dedicated preamp with the Legacy Audio i.V4 Ultra Amplifier many times in reviews. I am currently using that setup with the PureAudioProject Quintet15 10" Coaxial Speakers and it is most gratifying.
An upgrade idea that would utilize one mode of the EX-M1; it has an "Out 1 + 2" mode that makes it work as an integrated, but also sends the line level signal from the preamp outputs. You could add a lovely subwoofer such as the smallest Perlisten D12s, which would transform your listening experience. That sub would have no problem keeping up with the Bryston speakers. See my review of the Perlisten D212s subs I wrote for Dagogo.com. It would be a great way to maximize what you have without having to change a lot of gear.
