Got the chance yesterday to audition some 801D5s at listen up audio on Pearl st in Denver. They’re knock your fucking socks off good- the soundstage, imaging, and finesse that they had even with very loud riddim was just otherworldly.
Being powered by the best class D amplification marantz offers, and in a purpose built incredibly treated listing room… I could have listened to these speakers for days.
Happy to answer questions or anything in the comments- just wanted to share some photos of such mega speakers!

I had a chance to attend an event at a local shop hosted with staff from Harman. On hand were the new B&W 801 D5 driven by an all McIntosh stack (monoblocks). These were apparently fresh speakers with less than 5 total hours on them.

Certainly they sounded impressive, but I'm not sure what I can add as I have no experience with the prior iterations of the current generation of 801. They have the typical B&W sound that is bright and forward, even though I was seated quite far to the side off axis. The bass was strong and clean and I doubt that anyone needs a subwoofer with these.

It was a well attended event and while they are impressive to behold, I ultimately found it to be a frustrating audition. It was difficult do any critical listening with crowded non-ideal seating and with a play list entirely controlled by Harman/B&W representatives who refused requests even as the crowd dispersed. The songs leaned towards sparse instrumentation rather than dense orchestrations and none plumbed the depths of what these speakers must be capable of.

Nevertheless, I greatly enjoyed a chance to audition these <checks price> $65,000 speakers!!!

I’ve owned my trusty original, non-Meta KEF LS50s for a couple of years. I bought them new on sale, so they represented excellent value. They’re attractive, work well in my nearfield setup, and image beautifully.

People sometimes describe the LS50 as bright, but that hasn’t really matched my experience. I find the upper treble fairly soft, without quite the air or fine detail I’d prefer. Perhaps what some listeners hear as brightness is closer to the forward presentation of vocals and the upper midrange. There’s also a slightly shimmery quality to voices that I find appealing, although I wouldn’t speculate about what causes it.

I’ve tried the LS50s with quite a range of equipment: a vintage Marantz integrated, a Bluesound Node, an Aurender N200, an SMSL flagship DAC/preamp, a Denafrips Athena preamp and Pontus DAC, Schiit DACs, and a Pass Labs X250.5.

Across those combinations, their basic character remained recognizable. The most significant improvement I heard came from introducing the Pontus. Nevertheless, I eventually wanted more resolution—particularly clearer separation of instruments and more information in the upper frequencies.

Auditioning the Voice 22 and Focal

That led me to the MOON Voice 22 from Canadian manufacturer Simaudio—a less familiar speaker from a company I primarily associate with electronics.

The Voice 22 is an attractive speaker, with aluminium detailing at the front and rear that gives it a particularly well-finished appearance. I also happened to find a substantial discount. I was told the model was being phased out, so the timing worked in my favour.

I compared it directly with the Focal Aria Evo X N°1, using an Accuphase integrated amplifier and a Simaudio DAC/streamer. Being able to switch between the two made their differences easy to hear.

In that system and room, I found the Voice 22 more neutral and more revealing. The Focal presented vocals more prominently and had more midbass weight. Its presentation reminded me more of my LS50s, although the Focal sounded fuller in the midbass than either the KEF or the MOON.

I can understand why someone might prefer the Focal’s fuller, more immediately engaging presentation, but the Voice 22 better matched what I was looking for. I also own a pair of ATCs and enjoy what I hear as their neutral balance, so perhaps my preference wasn’t surprising.

Voice 22 vs. my LS50s

The LS50 still has advantages. To my ears, it produces particularly convincing, tightly focused images, especially with voices, and it works well at shorter listening distances.

The Voice 22’s strength is different. I hear more air, clearer separation, and a wider presentation in which instruments are easier to follow individually. Vocals don’t dominate the picture to the same extent. Rather than simply placing a singer sharply in the centre, it gives me a better sense of the surrounding arrangement and recording space.

That doesn’t mean the LS50 images poorly outside the midrange, or that a wider soundstage necessarily proves greater resolution. It’s simply how the differences come across in my listening.

For my setup, the Voice 22 needs roughly 1.5 metres between the speakers and my ears to come together properly. The LS50 is more accommodating when I sit closer. Neither speaker escapes the low-frequency limitations of a compact bookshelf design.

Practical details

The Voice 22 includes bass-port plugs, although I haven’t needed them in my placement.

I also like its removable magnetic base. Removing it creates a recessed area underneath that can accommodate a suitably sized stand top plate—a thoughtful detail that contributes to the speaker’s clean appearance.

My verdict

For me, the Voice 22 is a worthwhile upgrade because it addresses the qualities I wanted to improve: air, separation, and the ability to follow detail across the musical arrangement.

The Focal and MOON were similarly priced before the discount, but I preferred the MOON even without considering the savings. My reasoning is that I’d rather start with the presentation I find clearer and more neutral, then adjust the tonal balance to taste if necessary. I wouldn’t assume that EQ could make the Focal reproduce everything I preferred about the MOON—or that the differences were entirely separate from tonal balance.

The LS50 remains excellent for focused imaging and close listening. The Focal offers a fuller midbass and more prominent vocals. But of these three, the Voice 22 gave me the most convincing balance of neutrality and detail in the audition.

I've lusted after B&W 801 ever since the original two cube Matrix design. They say you should never meet your heroes and that seems true for me.

There is no doubt that these sound fantastic, but that is happening at a time when the gap between flagship speakers and entry level speakers is smaller than ever and probably continuing to compress with technology.

While these are always meant as reference grade unobtainables for most audiophiles, the price has increased at a rate of approximately 8% a year from 1990 (when the 801 series 3 listed for $4500) to 2026 (the 801 D5 lists for $65000). Granted, most of that increase has been recent.

Speakers at this level are always about more than just performance and are now equally about being industrial art. But it feels like B&W has divorced sanity and escalated their prices in excess of their value.

What do you think is a fair, if not necessarily affordable, price for these flagship Bowers and Wilkins speakers?

Switched up some gear and the layout of my setup. Took some patience to put it together one piece at a time, but it was well worth it. Got into stereo stuff ~2 years ago and I’m really proud of how much my setup has improved, gained a lot of knowledge along the way as well

Snell type j iii (speakers): $82 total, $25 from goodwill and $57 for new surrounds from simply speakers

Quad 405-2 (power amps) converted to mono with Q41OMOD: FREE, saved from grandpas garage setup

Paradigm Servo 15a (subwoofer): $95 from Facebook marketplace

WiiM ultra (preamp/dac): $280 from Amazon on sale

Cubilux usbc>optical adapter: ~$25 from Amazon

Total: 82+95+280+25= $482

Before anyone mentions it, yes, I do have a record player 🤣. I plan to use it alongside an analog pre amp, ADCOM GFP-565, for full analog path. Only catch is my sub doesn’t have any crossover control so I’d be stuck 2.0, unless I can find the x-30 that came with it originally/something similar. Would like to make my own rack and speaker stands eventually so will have record player up top, and everything else below hooked up nice and neat (yeah right)

Lets see what was done with some help from AI 👌
I can say that the sound i have right now it is a lot better, detailed than i had in the past with 3x the price in amplification and speakers so…the components are not everything at all.

System Specifications and Setup Overview

Core Electronics & Speakers
Amplifier: Rogue Audio Sphinx MkI (Tube/Class-D hybrid, Hypex modules) upgraded with PSVANE Horizon 12AU7-AT tubes.
DAC: Audalytic DR70 (Discrete R-2R architecture) operating strictly in NOS (Non-OverSampling) mode.
Linear Power Supply: FiiO PL50 powering the DAC, set to a stable 15.1V.
Network Streamer: FiiO SR11 (Pure digital transport) running on 5V power supply.
CD Transport: Denon DVD-2900, utilized exclusively as a digital mechanical transport.
Loudspeakers: Neat Motive SX1 (2.5-way floorstanders with downward-firing ports).
Active Subwoofer: REL Strata II (Sealed enclosure, downward-firing driver).

Digital Isolation & Signal Cables
Network Isolation: Two Netlink Gigabit Media Converters placed on a mechanical wood block. They are connected via a 0.5-meter Elfcam OS2 single-mode simplex fiber patch cord (SC/APC connectors) to provide galvanic isolation from the router. A braided blue/black Ethernet cable connects the final converter to the DAC.
Digital Coaxial: IXOS 105 PC-OFC Digital Interconnect directional cable, terminated with WBT-0144 Midline locking RCA connectors (75 Ohm path from Denon to DAC).
Analog Interconnects: Belden 1694A double-shielded coaxial cables, cold-crimped with Canare RCAP plugs (DAC to Rogue Sphinx).
Speaker Cables: Straight Wire Encore multi-conductor cables.

Power Grid & Routing (Taga Harmony PF-1000 v.2)
All components are phase-checked with a mains tester, ensuring the Phase is locked on the Right Pin (L). The Taga conditioner is positioned 20 cm away from the wall outlet. AudioQuest NRG-Z3 (1.0m) cable with Solid PSC+ copper and ZERO-Tech powers the Taga strip from the wall.
Recent Adjustments & Acoustic Room Tuning
Speaker Geometry & Tilt: Raised the rear spikes of the Neat Motive SX1 to straighten the cabinets vertically, aligning the tweeter dispersion axis with ear height at the listening position.
Asymmetry Compensation: To balance room boundaries (wooden shutter door on the left, window alcove on the right), the left speaker is positioned 1 cm forward, and the right speaker has a 3 mm toe-out relative to the left.
Acoustic Treatment: Installed three vertical broadband absorber panels (120x60x8 cm) filled with high-density rockwool on the rear wall. The bottom edge drops 10 cm below the top line of the couch to eliminate immediate early reflections behind the head.
Sofa Displacement: Moved the couch 15 cm forward to fit a console table, creating a physical air gapunder the absorbers to assist low-frequency decompression.

Subwoofer Calibration: Moved the REL Strata II out of the narrow window recess and aligned it parallel to the right speaker on a cork base. The phase switch is set to REVERSE (180º) to prevent cancellation with the main speakers. The FINE crossover control is set to 30 Hz, and the GAIN (volume) is dialed down to match the output of the floorstanders.

I know it is much more convenient but….

So i'm moving to a new place, currently in my front room i have a pair of floor standing Mordaunt Short MS908's, from the tape loop out of the amp i run a cable to a Behringer HA400 mini headphone amp with 4 outputs, i take an output to another amp with a pair of Mordaunt Short MS902 bookshelf speakers, essentially giving me a double stereo setup in my front room, i also run a pair of Rel Tzero subs for a bit more beef.

My question is, in my new home, if i get 2 of the same amps(Marantz PM8003) and 2 new pairs of speakers(not yet chosen) does anyone see any problem in this kind of setup? and is there another way of doing it?

Also, currently i take the other channels from the Behringer and run more mini class D amps in other rooms of my home, essentially having music throughout my home from the one source, i don't have to have the volume blasting in the front room to hear it, and i can run sources from each mini amp if i choose.

The Room is 4.75m length with a 2.4m chimney wall. 4.2m width from alcove to back wall 3.7m from chimney wall to back wall - plus a 220 x 90cm bay. Ceilings 3.5M high.

Bay window will be heavy velvet curtains, new tv console will be 1.9M long, new fabric sofa & chairs and a few art canvas’s should help sound but I still need treatment as the room is echo’y. thinking to do 3 Gik art acoustic panels behind sofa, 2 freestanding bass traps for first reflections that can be put away when not listening to music, & a few corner bass traps. Maybe acoustic panelling on the chimney? I guess firing towards or from the bay acoustically makes the most sense but I’m struggling to accept the aesthetic of it.
Right now the speakers are 2.2m away firing width ways, I’ve had them 1.8m space until now and struggle to hear much difference.

Any tips on treatment, placement ect greatly appreciated!

Me and my husband have always wanted to own a turntable but we’ve never been able to afford one.. we finally bought this Sony PS-LX5 turntable, fully automatic with quartz locked BSL direct drive, we’re not even sure it was the right choice but we could finally afford it!

Now we don’t know exactly what comes next.. we’ve gathered that we need an amplifier and speakers but that’s as far as we’ve come. We’re lost with all the options out there and all this new audio lingo.

Can anyone guide a couple beginners in the right direction? We are eager to finally start playing some of the awesome vinyls we’ve collected for this moment 🤩

I have been building my system brick by brick over the past 12 months. Which is right about the time I started thinking specifically about building a system that does some of the songwriters and musicians I admire proper justice.

For the previous decade preceding that, I rocked a ProJect DC TT, Sansui AU101 and Tannoy C8’s. It did the job of allowing me to intentionally listen to my favourite albums. But it was pretty basic and left me wondering what could be?

Today, my system took its biggest leap yet, revealing some upgrades I have been making to get my system sounding more like music actually being played in my living room for me.

Current sources are Technics SL1500C with Nagaoka MP200, Shanling EC3, WiiM Ultra.
Darlington MP7B Phono.
Willsenton R8.
Klipsch Forte IV.

Got the Forte’s used off a very cool dude who is upgrading to Cornwall IV’s. We chatted gear and tunes, listened to Colter Wall (who he introduced me to), Cameron Winter, Ezra Collective and Sufjan Stevens. Round trip was an eight hour day and worth every mile driven. I am wowed by how incredible vocals sound. Especially singers with unique and intimate/raw deliveries.

I look forward to listening to my catalogue through this system. The pairings so far sound magical.

I had made a post questioning this seller a while back:

https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/1t4f1yw/anyone_deal_with_cjmaudio_in_germany/

After I did receive that order, I ordered another item thinking "OK, they got their crap together now" - well Since that payment in late July, I finally got a notice this morning of my refund via PayPal.

I literally got one email from CJM ~ 2 months after payment and sending them ~10 emails on 2 accounts, again with the "Sorry for the delay, it's all packed & will go out Thursday" crap. Never to hear from them again.

Even when contacted by PayPal, they said they never got a reply.

Sad as they do have nice stuff. Maybe it's just them dealing with anyone in the USA, and maybe they are fantastic in Germany/EU. They are great at emailing you up until payment is made... Then Crickets.

Will avoid them from now on.

Yesterday I was listening Musical Fidelity m2si for few hours and was shocked how easily Dynaudio emit 30 was playing on them. 137watts on 4ohms load.
Amp doesnt have DAC or phono, only 6 line inputs. I’m using Bluesound node 132 as DAC/streamer.
It has good current reserve and sinergy with dynaudio is amazing.

Wide soundstage, great dynamics with warm midrange and treble is little upfront but very smooth for long listening hours.

Damping factor is 36, but low end is so controlled and tight I couldnt believe it.
That damping factor is a joke marketing.
I listened to newer Hegel which had close to 1000 DF and amp was so anemic and boring with dynaudio. This MF is totally opposite.

Before I was having Rega elex and Arcam sa 20 and this MF tops them for mine ears and hearing. I also audiotioned some Simaudio moon but this was too agressive for me and didnt have finese.

I listened also m3si and didnt hear any difference only with m5si everything was better.

I fell in love with MF sound.for me the sound was close to Rega elex but better control and power.

I bought amp as ex-demo-mint condition in hifi store for 780€.

There is no text on bottom or top. I tried google lens, I didnt go straight to you.

Had some sheet left over from my sub build so I built a custom isolation platform with levelling feet. 38mm walnut veneered mdf, with sorbothane matched to the combined weight of the platform plus turntable.

Does anyone know or care about about the trend of integrated fewer box systems vs separates.

We have options to have either, from a speaker amp DAC all in one unit, to systems goodness knows how many boxes with DDCs, clocks, and all sorts all being seperated.

For example I know seperate sub -woofers were surprisingly quick to be invented and are much older than most people realise. However was wondering were the first amps integrated, or was it seperate pre/power amps.

While there will be a case by case argument, it would be interesting to see the history of audio equipment. If only cheap audio-man focused on his documentary work and have reviews of WiiM products or whatever he is given to push put more as an addition. Also I’d actually listen to those reviews if there more of a historical context rather than than some sort of which buyers guide.

Nothing wrong with making money or selling items but there is more to hifi than product reviews. It is the evolution of technology and how that technology influences culture id find much more interesting as opposed to which of these follow similarly priced, similar looking, similar (in the grand scheme of things) sounding products I ‘need’ to buy.

Perhaps I should have written a counter-claim in the title: "All DACs sound the same! End of story!" But the first claim alone is enough to provoke a slightly more heated debate.

Supporters of the claim that DACs sound different say that there are many parts in the DAC that support this claim.
First of all, there is the quality of the power supply circuit, then the operational amplifiers, digital filters, the type of chip (Delta Sigma vs R2R) and finally the important part; the analog output stage. So, according to them, the quality of the implementation of these parts could make a difference in the sound.

The other side claims that all today's DACs are "a solved problem", i.e. that they are sufficiently transparent and precise.
Noise, distortion and jitter are reduced below the limit of human hearing.
The speakers and room acoustics have the greatest influence on the sound, while the influence of the electronics and the DAC is negligible.
They find support in the writings of the ASR forum and Amir who measures DACs (but hardly even listens to them).

What do you think about all this?

I know that the brand is Radiotechnika, but I cannot find the exact model.

pic 1

pic 2

I've got a Rega ELEX-R, and a new [ used ] Arcam FMJ CD37 but the Arcam remote won't work with it's own CD/SACD player despite me attempting to reset it.

Can anyone recommend a decent looking programmable remote that i could use for both these units?

I actually like the Rega simple remote, but that's not programmable; apparently.

I dropped a stereo off for repair at Just Audio in MD about 8mo ago. Google says they are permanently closed? Does anyone know is this is true or know how to get my stereo back?

Some audiophiles who have the knowledge make their own HIFi components (mostly proven Clone projects).
Those who buy such DIY devices from others are much rarer, especially if they were not made by a proven craftsman.
However, such a DIY component (no matter how good it is) is much harder to sell later than an original product.

The original is the original.

Such clone DIY products can be made very well (by experts).
And sometimes they can surpass the original product in terms of workmanship and sound (if they contain top-quality parts, better than the original).

I have had a few DIY components (some just for testing) and I was mostly satisfied. Currently I only have a DIY Quad 405.

What do you think about it?

I've been working on this for a bit and decided to release it completely free open source Apache 2.0.

When I first started EQing all the current UIs were pretty bad so I decided to add my own. Three things that were painpoints were history, AB testing, and getting presets. So I've included a user-friendly complete edit history. Imagine ctrl-z, but if you kept all the branches. There's AB testing with equal loudness for external audio as well as an internal clip creator. There's integration with AutoEQ for you to search through their list of 5000+ headphones and add it.

There's tons more features I wouldn't be able to include in such a short time so please check it out.

Note that this is the first release so it may be a little buggy in the sense of "it works on my machine" make an issue and I'll fix it as soon as possible.

Also, if there are an features you want to add, consider this a fresh slate for you to make this EQ as your own. Just mention it, and if it makes sense to add I'll 100% add it.

Long-time lurker, first real system post. This took most of 2026 and a couple of wrong turns, so here's the whole journey.

Before anyone says it: yes, I know this room is acoustically a nightmare. That big window is basically an echo machine. I did what I could with curtains over the window, a ceiling cloud and side panels on the walls, and honestly I haven't noticed any bass buildup or major issues. It could be better, but it's temporary. I'm moving soon, and this time I'm choosing the house for the audio system haha.

WHERE I STARTED

The old living room was a mixed bag that kept growing:

• AVR: Denon AVR-X3800H
• Fronts: Margules Magenta Master (pair, on stands), Mexican-made and gorgeous, driven straight off the Denon
• Center + surrounds: Margules SA-L3 (loaners)
• Sub: Klipsch R-121SW
• Heights: 4x Polk OWM3

Then I went down the tube rabbit hole: a Margules I-240 tube integrated and a ProPhono phono stage for the turntable. The plan was a dedicated tube stereo room. Turns out I'm not a stereo guy. Every time I sat down it was for a movie, not an album. So the tube gear, the Masters and the ProPhono got sold this month, along with the Denon, the Klipsch and the Polks.

WHERE I ENDED UP (5.1.4)

• Processor: Marantz Cinema 30
• Fronts: B&W 702 S3
• Center: B&W HTM71 S3
• Surrounds: B&W M-1
• Heights: 4x B&W M-1 (front + rear)
• Sub: B&W ASW610
• Sources: Apple TV 4K, PS5, Switch, and a Pro-Ject Debut EVO 2 into the Marantz's built-in phono stage, played in stereo mode

I'm 90% movies, but every now and then I like putting on a good record and listening start to finish.

Big shoutout to Ale at TecnoAudio HiFi here in CDMX, who handled install, mounting and setup. He was patient through a LOT of back-and-forth.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The first thing I put on was Dune: Part Two, and the sandworm scene genuinely made me sit back in my seat. But what actually got me wasn't the bass, it was how quiet and controlled everything felt around it. The old setup got busy and smeared when things got loud. This one just stays composed.

The front stage is the real star. The HTM71 matched with the 702s means dialogue sits locked in the middle of the screen, and pans across the front are seamless. I used to ride the volume during movies to catch dialogue and then dive for the remote during explosions. Haven't touched it once since the install.

The M-1 heights surprised me. I expected them to be the weak link, but they disappear completely. Rain and flyovers just happen above you with no sense of where the speakers are.

The Cinema 30 is noticeably more effortless than the Denon was. Not "night and day" like people say, but the system never sounds like it's working hard, even at reference-ish levels.

And honestly, I was worried about B&W treble being bright since I'm sensitive to fatigue. Not an issue at all. I've done three-movie nights and walked away fine.

WHAT'S NEXT

Probably the sub. The ASW610 is clean and integrates well, but it's the least ambitious piece in the chain, so dual subs or something bigger is the most likely next move. Otherwise I think I've hit my stopping point... famous last words.

Happy to answer questions. Roast me gently.