Update on the M5/Pioneer/Chromecast Audio/external amp system in the living room:

I've been listening with what Pioneer calls the Sound Retriever mode. This system offers much higher fidelity than my Onk/M100/800 system in my main space. It can't beat the wide and deep soundstage and image holography of my main system though and I attribute that to the room, the distance between the speakers, the distance to the walls, the distance to the MLP and Audyssey XT32.

In Lee Ritenour's Pappa was a Rolling Stone, I can hear every bass note including all the microdynamics. You don't need a golden ear to hear how much better the living room system is with dynamics compared to the bigger and more expensive system. I don't have a sub in the living room system. Everything is better frankly except for the soundstage and imaging as I described above. The holography is still there but it's not nearly as pronounced. Maybe with better electronics in the main system, those images behind the M100s would be even more eerie!

Recall I started with a 17 year old low end Denon and I was very happy with that. Now I am elated. The more I give the M5s, the better they sound. Others have reported this too. And that's really the only downside to the M5s - sensitivity. These speakers are already floor-standing speaker killers; I can't imagine how much better they'd be with an 8" woofer like the Braxiom Mini-T or maybe even a 10" woofer...LOL!

I can't wait to give them a full helping of the ADA-1500.