I ended up buying the Ref 5SE (a used one). Living with it now for just a few days, it's clear that it is easily lives up to all the praise. Within the first 30 seconds of listening to it for the first time, I could hear the depth and 3-dimensionality is a leap beyond the LS27. The midrange has more body and the low-level resolution is astounding. It is very fast and detailed without bring harsh. Massed strings are so sweet sounding. I didn't think it was possible to make this much improvement on the LS27 but the Ref 5SE does it.
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