I guess Clayton is pretty busy since he hasn't been that responsive, so I thought I would ask here. M3 or X5. Room is 35x18x8. The speakers would go the short way, so sound travels about 10 feet to my seating positioning near the back wall on the 18 foot section. The long parts of the room have cabinets on one side and windows with shades on the other end.
Amplification is Schitt Aegir Monoblocks but not tied to it, and a Freya+ preamp. I haven't gotten into the deep end of DACs and will likely avoid it so assume a transparent DAC that adds nothing, cheap, and measures well. SMSL M200 right now.
I'm not happy with my Zu Audio's. They sound good at times, with certain types of music, but they do get quite harsh at times.