B&W, Dynaudio, Dali or what else?

I like your Dalis a lot, and easily preferred them over the 802Ds... That said, I also preferred them over the more expensive MS5s you are looking at too... So my tastes may be different than yours.

In the MS5s price range, I would take a look at the VonSchweikert DB99s (tremendous top to bottom sound, combined with high efficiency), the Tyler Acoustics Woodmeres (big sound, and big bang for the buck), the already mentioned Merlins are an excellent choice (not as much low-end extension as the other choices or the 800s, but super-high resolution 2-ways), and possibly the Legacy Audio Whispers might make a good change (they sound very different from the others on the list though). If you want detailed information as to my impressions about any of the above please feel free to email me.

Good luck,

---Dave

It was a year and a half ago, so I don't know how well my memory can be trusted with the details (as I was on vacation in AZ when I heard both and did not take notes)...

But with that said... I remember listening first to a pair of McIntosh XT-28s that I just was truly impressed by. Then right afterwards in the same room, the dealer setup the MS5s and played the same tracks from "Allison Krauss Live" and I remember commenting that the MS5s sounded flat compared to the McIntoshes by a long stretch. Pretty much I felt the female vocals did not sound right to my ears on the MS5s... I also was not particularly impressed with the bass extension (although it could have been the music played on them).

Next up was the Helicon 800s, and a saxiphone track played that was absolutely phenominal... I thought the Helicons were the next step up in the Dali line until the dealer informed me of the various price tags of the speakers I had heard so far. When I heard the price of the 800s, I thought that they were a great value for the money, whereas the MS5s just had me shaking my head. I finally rounded out the session hearing the Megalines that were superb, but way out of my price range. Still it was worth a listen, as they were remarkable speakers, IMO. All electronics were solid state top-of-the-line McIntosh solid state, BTW.

Bottom line is the Helicon 800s drew me into the music, and really had me tapping my feet, enjoying what I was hearing... the MS5s left me cold, just not interesting me. *Maybe* they were more accurate... If so, I'll take "less accurate" in this instance any day, as it sounded more like I would expect at a live performance. Oh, and they also did the Allison Krauss album better too...

---Dave

>>One thing I want to add is that my 800's sounded kind of edgy and analytical for the first 100-200 hours of playing. Maybe the MS 5's you've listened to were brand new out of the box (my guess). This is sometimes the issue with demoes. The speakers have not been broken in (sometimes on purpose)and that gives listeners the totally wrong impression of how they really sound.>>

I can't say for certain that this was not the case, as I forgot to mention that the dealer had just received a pair of high-end ML speakers that were unboxed right in front of me, and setup for break-in as I listened (and those definitely sounded edgy and analytical), but I just wrote off my impressions to them being brand new without break-in.

I can't say for sure whether the dealer had unboxed the MS5s earlier that day or around that time and did not tell me... But what I *can* say is that this was a private show room (all custom built and insulated to maximize the sound of the speakers in each room), and the dealer (owner/installer really) was super-knowledgeable and it would go against the grain to think he would make a critical error as to demo a pair of speakers that was not in its best light. Quite frankly, it was the best experience I have had at a "dealer." Still, can't be 100% sure, I guess...

---Dave