Have you ever had four religious experiences in a weekend? OK, that might be hyperbole, but if you had the weekend I just had at Audio Advice Live in Raleigh, then you can relate. Disregarding audiophiles’ apparent love of Steely Dan, I was enthralled and impressed time after time at what I was hearing.
Just about every audiophile adjacent brand (and some more budget friendly enthusiast ones) was there showing off its best stereo speakers. Bowers & Wilkins showcased its flagship 801 D5 , Focal had its all-in-one active Diva Alta Utopia, Klipsch went back to one of its original speaker designs with the Klipschorn, and JBL had its new Summit Series on display including the almost flagship K-2 (the flagship Everest model didn’t make it to the show).
All in all, it was an exciting time to get acquainted with these speakers. Of course, some of them cost the equivalent of a small house in the Midwest, but that’s the deal when a team of audio engineers put their best ear forward.
1. Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5
Though the company’s original version of the Diamond Series (what the D stands for) came out in 1979, a lot has changed since then. Specifically, 2026 brings with it the Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5, an update that doesn’t look much different to the D4 but sure sounds it.
The model keeps the same design principles in that every driver has its own casing, but comes with a number of improvements. Externally, there are three noticeable changes from the 801 D4: the more open tweeter grille design introduced on the 801 D4 Signature, the stronger and stiffer aluminum spine that’s fully incorporated into the cabinet, and an upgraded plinth that reduces vibrations via tuned mass and constrained layer damping.
More importantly, the internal matrix bracing has been completely redesigned so that the 801 D5’s cabinet is as stiff as can be. This means that the signal is less affected by internal vibrations and reflections.
All of these changes result in a speaker that sounds incredibly detailed yet warm, with a resolution worthy of a studio. They basically disappear so that you’re just focused on the music and reveal things you’ve never heard in your favorite tracks. The Bowers & Wilkins 801 D5 might possibly be the best pair of speakers I’ve heard. Just be ready to drop $65,000 (£43,000, or around AU$81,900) on a pair…
2. Focal Diva Alta Utopia
Going into this event, I was excited to hear the Focal Diva Alta Utopia, the newest iteration in Focal’s first active speaker series. I almost didn’t get to hear them. Held hostage in customs during the first half of Audio Advice Live, their fashionably late entrance only made me want to hear them more. And oh, were they worth the wait.
There’s a lot going on here. The Focal Diva Alta Utopia speakers use Adapt, a DSP technology that can adjust listening position for imperfect rooms or placement. It also adds an additional driver per cabinet over the Focal Diva Mezza Utopia (the previous generation of this speaker line), making it a four-way speaker. And Focal added an additional Class A/B amp per cabinet for a total five per 600 watts per cabinet or 1200 watts total.
The Focal Diva Alta Utopia also features the company's new PRISM tweeter that’s only available on this model and the company’s Scala Utopia Evo M. This tweeter is essentially a carbon-coated composite material that offers more detail and more aural flexibility over the beryllium drivers that the company has leaned on previously.
Looks are important too, so Focal has made the accessory panels removable, so you can change out the color of the speakers if you get tired of a colorway by ordering additional ones in a different finish.
When I got to listen to these, the first thing I wrote down was “energetic.” These speakers, which retail for a cool $210,000 (£165,000, or around AU$296,800 and FYI, I don’t think you can take a mortgage out to finance these) are in your face in the best way. Room-filling with plenty of mid-bass, they offer that flagship audiophile experience without needing any additional amps or streamers. This is as good as it gets when it comes to active speakers.
3. Klipsch Klipschorn 80th Anniversary Limited Edition
People love vinyl for that analog sound. And if there’s anything that most resembles the feel of vinyl in speaker form, it’s the Klipsch Klipschorn, specifically the 80th Anniversary Limited Edition. Based on Paul Wilbur Klipsch’s original design from 1946, it comes with a few updates to bring it into the modern era.
Since only 280 of the 80th Anniversary Limited Editions will be built, Klipsch has pulled out all the stops visually. From its tigerwood veneer to the brass inlay adorning the front of the cabinet meant to emulate the folding that’s happening inside the cabinet, it’s stunning in a very mid-century modern kind-of way.
As far as its actual design, it has an active crossover and a two-way speaker design, composed of the K-5-K high-frequency horn with a 2-inch throat and four-way compression driver that takes care of everything above 350Hz and a 15-inch woofer hidden behind those brass inlays responsible everything under.
The resulting sound is one that’s a little softer around the edges than the other speakers I’ve mentioned here (hence the vinyl comparison). This makes them less ideal for reference-level use, yet they still work wonderfully with all sorts of music.
In terms of flagship speakers, the Klipsch Klipschorn 80th Anniversary Limited Edition are downright reasonable, a word I never would have expected to use for a pair of speakers costing $24,998 (so around £18,485 or AU$35,329).
4. JBL Summit Series K-2
If you’re not familiar with JBL’s project series, let me give you a brief definition. A project series for JBL is one in which the lead engineers have been given a no-expense-spared, carte-blanche approach to making the best speaker they possibly can.
There have been five of these series since the company’s inception, and the Summit Series is the newest. Not only are they named after a series of mountains that have struck fear in many an expeditioner’s heart, but they have 12 US patents that have come about just from the creation of this series.
The penultimate of this series is the JBL Summit Series K-2 ($99,990 per pair, or £71,998, which is roughly AU$141,300), featuring a single 15-inch woofer, a 10-inch woofer, and three 1-½-inch dual-diaphragm, dual-motor compression drivers going into a 3-into-1 expansion manifold. That manifold has been designed in a way that requires it to be 3D printed instead of a more traditional construction method. The woofers themselves also use a rigid carbon fiber (HC4) material.
Also worthy of mention is the fact that they have decoupled isoacoustic isolation feet and come with the ability to tri-wire /tri-amp – a feature that only the more expensive Everest can do. The rest of the line can bi-amp.
When I had the opportunity to listen to the K-2s, it was in a large hall, bigger than any of the other spaces, yet these speakers filled out the space with seemingly plenty of headroom to spare. Despite the large room, these speakers had one of the cleanest sounds I heard over the weekend. And that 15-inch woofer kicked like a mule.
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Honorable Mentions
While I was most impressed with this set of speakers, there were quite a few other towers of power that impressed me more than enough to be worth a quick mention. The three-way ported Sonus Faber Olympica V, powered by McIntosh amps, sounded almost as good as the speakers listed above, as they should since they’re about $30k a pair.
Wharfedale impressed with its Elysian R and is probably one of the best representations of a speaker using an AMT speaker. And the new old kid on the block, French brand Cabasse (the company is actually 77 years old), just starting to make inroads into the US is one to watch out for. Cabasse makes some really unique looking and functioning active speakers, but also some great-sounding floorstanders. This time next year, you might be looking at a set of Cabasse speakers with the same amount of interest and deliberation as any of the other brands mentioned here.
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