The DAC idea is a good one. I'll certainly bear that one in mind.

I am going to have a listen - no commitment!

I agree with Soundproof about the BL3s. I am very sceptical about running in speakers but in the case of the BL3s, it certainly was my experience as well.

I'll report back! 

Peter:

I agree with Soundproof about the BL3s. I am very sceptical about running in speakers but in the case of the BL3s, it certainly was my experience as well.

I am sceptical as well although I have never had a new pair!

Is there not an arguement that after 250 hours the listener just gets used to the sound!!!

Hi Joey,

I put it to the test by running in a pair of new ones, and then taking another pair, fresh out of the box, and comparing the two. Definite difference between the speakers - with the bass becoming more precise and the tweeter rounding off, being better part of the overall blend of sound, while not losing its edge.
I also have a pair of Dynaudio Focus 140 speakers that both the manufacturer and Stereophile recommended a long run-in for; and the sound did change. I had pieces of music I couldn't listen to during the first hour of play, that became more than just right when the run-in was over.

(I was once in a B&O store where the BL5s were both set to right channel, and no one had noticed, for weeks.)

===

And I agree on the B&W 805s, excellent speakers. The person who owns the store where I buy my classical music has a pair, and swears by them for his musical needs. He has them together with a subwoofer, to fill out the orchestral sound.

I use my BL3s as headphones ...
 

I think the BL3s are good with jazz and even chamber music. That is, where a small number of instruments are played, they cope well. They also are good with voice. It is with orchestral music that they struggle. As I said in my previous post, they don't come near matching the sound of my other system, both in terms of depth and sound-staging. Direct comparison when listening to the sound of a violin or a piano is also enlightening. My B&W805s speakers sound much closer to the sound of these instruments when heard in a concert hall. 

My previous post was in order to recommend Musical Fidelity products to Peter. I did not intend to embark on B&O bashing or to upset anyone who is happy with their BL3s. I still have several other B&O products which I am very happy with.

Cheers, djs

Perfectly reasonable post and clearly how you have found them. I would not recommend them for playing loud as I think they become confused sounding at higher volumes. As near field monitors, I think they are excellent though.

Will report back tonight! Thanks for the advice all of you!

Well I am back!!

And I did not buy a new CD player! The CDX performed very well although I thought the MF A5 had better control of the bass generally. The differences were pretty marginal  so I was not going to swap!

The listening was done in the dedicated listening room and we used a top of the range Naim system and Spendor S9e speakers. Excellent service from Lintone Audio and from David Baker who was everything a Hi-Fi salesman is not expected to be! Informative, friendly, not pushy in the slightest and just happy to help. I cannot recommend this store highly enough. The equipment was well set up and sited and not a loudness button on or treble knob cranked up to be seen. I listened to 3 CDs I had taken along - DSOTM - because I know it backwards - Pachelbel Canon as it has good interplay between string instruments and Arrival of the Queen of Sheba by Handel  as it has a nice complex piece with plenty of instruments. Also Court and Spark by Joni Mitchell.

There were places where the A5 seemed more revealing - but at other times I had to check which player I was using. Both performed well. I did then listen to the Naim CD player (the CD555) - which blew the other two away! I suppose that is what I was wanting to hear from the A5 and didn't. The Naim was £17,000 if anyone is interested! Decided against it!!

The A5 had a very poor user interface  with the CD draw being particularly cheap feeling. I realise this makes no difference to the sound but it made me less likely to buy it. For the sake of a few pounds of engineering, it seemed an oversight. The CDX was much better in this respect and had big control surfaces as opposed to the tiny buttons.

I had a chat about DACs and will be going back. I will also be auditioning the Naim CD5x (I think!). Still looking for a Beogram CD5500 though!

Only issue with the DAC route is that if you do ever land the BL5's then it either becomes redundant or you end up converting the signal twice.

Ideally need a switchable digital "patchbay" with the output connected to the Lab5's. This would allow all digital sources to use the Lab5's, using their internal DAC and be converted only once.