Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5 Speakers

Audience ClairAudient 1+1 V5 Personal Reference Monitors

The Most Unique Small-Footprint Loudspeaker in the World

Some speakers need a long listening session before they reveal what they are. The 1+1 V5 reveals itself in minutes — sometimes seconds. The soundstage that opens up, the coherence through the midrange, the absence of the subtle discontinuity that crossovers introduce at precisely the frequency range where your ears are most sensitive. It sounds like music because it works the way music does: a single voice, telling a single story, without interruption.

The Absolute Sound's Robert Harley, who has reviewed every version of this speaker since its introduction, said it plainly about the 1+1 V2+: there is no speaker he knows of that's designed like this — or that sounds like it. HiFi+'s Alan Sircom, after reviewing the V5, called it one of the best loudspeakers money can buy. Those aren't casual observations from people who haven't heard much. They're the considered judgments of reviewers who have spent careers comparing speakers at every price level.

The 1+1 V5 is 8 inches tall. It weighs 7 pounds. And it produces a soundstage, a midrange purity, and a musical coherence that speakers costing twenty times the price struggle to match.

The Design Philosophy — and Why It Matters

Most loudspeakers are built around a fundamental compromise: different frequency ranges are assigned to different driver types — tweeters, midrange cones, woofers — connected by crossover networks that filter and redirect the signal between them. Those crossovers introduce phase distortion, timing errors, and tonal discontinuities in precisely the frequency range where human hearing is most sensitive. The result is a speaker that is approximating the original sound rather than reproducing it.

Audience has pursued a different path since the company's founding. The 1+1 V5 uses a single proprietary full-range driver — the A3S2-16 — to handle the complete audible frequency range from 55 Hz through 22 kHz. Above the bass, there is no crossover. No tweeter. No handoff between drivers. No phase error introduced at the transition point. What you hear from the midrange through the top of the frequency range is what came in — reproduced by a single voice, in perfect phase, exactly as recorded.

The A3S2-16 driver is a dual gap motor design with ultra long-throw excursion, producing surprising dynamic range and SPL levels from a 3-inch diaphragm. The small diaphragm mass contributes to exceptional transient response — the ability to start and stop precisely as the signal demands, which is what gives the 1+1 V5 its characteristic speed and imaging precision.

The Bipole Architecture

The 1+1 V5 is a bipole design: full-range active drivers on both front and rear baffles, operating in phase, complemented by passive radiators on each side. This configuration accomplishes three things simultaneously.

It expands the soundstage beyond what a conventional forward-firing design can produce. Listeners consistently describe the 1+1's sound as filling the room rather than emanating from two point sources — a quality that makes the SweetSpace listening arrangement (speakers toed in at 45 degrees) possible, where multiple people can enjoy a coherent soundstage simultaneously.

It extends low-frequency output meaningfully beyond what the driver could achieve alone. The passive radiators on the sides work in concert with the bipole arrangement to push bass extension lower than a conventional sealed or ported enclosure of similar size.

And it increases power handling — allowing the 1+1 V5 to play at genuine listening levels, including demanding dynamic passages, without the strain or compression that limits most speakers of this size.

The V5 — What Changed

The V5 is the most significant update in the 1+1's history. Jack Roberts at The Audio Beatnik, who has reviewed every version, called the V5 a bigger leap forward than all the changes made in previous versions combined. That's a meaningful statement from someone who described the V3 as having improvements that were not subtle.

The V5 features a significantly refined version of Audience's proprietary A3S2-16 full-range driver — the same philosophy and architecture as before, taken further in resolution, dynamic expression, and treble refinement. Internal wiring uses Au24 SX-level materials throughout. The passive radiators are retuned to work optimally with the updated driver, and the binding posts are Audience's custom tellurium solderless design — the same connection philosophy applied to the cables.

The jewel-like enclosure is handcrafted and available in finishes that make it genuinely beautiful as a room object — easy to live with in spaces where a full-sized speaker would be intrusive.

Placement Flexibility

The 1+1 V5 performs exceptionally well in situations that defeat most conventional speakers. It images well close to the back wall. It can be used in nearfield or desktop configurations at distances where conventional dynamic speakers sound congested. And the SweetSpace arrangement — speakers angled inward at 45 degrees — casts a holographic soundstage into the room that more than one listener can share simultaneously.

Recommended stand height is 28 inches for the optimal listening axis. Bass response can be adjusted by moving the speakers closer to or further from the rear wall. Audience recommends amplifiers in the 15 to 60 watt range — the 1+1 V5's 87 dB sensitivity and 8-ohm impedance make it genuinely compatible with quality low-power amplifiers, including single-ended triode designs.

Press Recognition

• HiFi+ — Editor's Choice Award, Issue 253, March 2026 "One of the best loudspeakers money can buy." — Alan Sircom, Editor Read the award review (PDF)
• HiFi+ — Full review, July 2024 "One of the best loudspeakers money can buy." — Alan Sircom Read the review (PDF)
• TONE Publications — Full review, December 2024 "This is a must-experience speaker." — Jeff Dorgay, Publisher/Editor Read the review
• Enjoy the Music — Full review & Blue Note Best of 2024 Award, August 2024 "They are moreover a lifestyle solution, offering exceptional, highly resolved music through a transducer so small, yet revealing life-like music ten times their size." — Michael Bump Read the review
• Tracking Angle — Full review, September 2024 "When I listened to the 1+1 V5s during the audition, it felt like I was a student attending a master class in sound reproduction." — Ken Redmond Read the review
• Audiophile Heaven — Hall of Fame Award & full review, October 2024 "The ClairAudient 1+1 V5 is one of the most interesting speaker sets in the world." — George Dobrescu, Editor Read the review
• The Audio Beatnik — Full review, September 2023 "Without a doubt, the V5 is a bigger leap forward than any of the other updated versions. In my opinion, it is bigger than all of the changes made in previous versions put together." — Jack Roberts, Editor Read the review
• Part-Time Audiophile — Full review, June 2024 "They are remarkable — I don't remember any LS3/5as I've heard manage to sound this unflappable while moving between near listening and a more conventional placement." — Marc Phillips Read the review
• The Absolute Sound — Editor's Choice Award 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023; State of the Art designation "There is no speaker that I know of that's designed like the 1+1 V2+ — or that sounds like it." — Robert Harley "The state of the art for desktop listening, and a terrific choice as a main speaker in smaller rooms." — Robert Harley

Specifications

• System: Dual full-range drivers in bipole configuration; two side-firing passive radiators
• Driver: Proprietary A3S2-16 — dual gap motor, ultra long-throw excursion
• Frequency response: 55 Hz to 20 kHz, ±3 dB (F3: 55 Hz, F6: 50 Hz, F10: 46 Hz)
• Impedance: 8 ohms
• Sensitivity: 87 dB (in room, 1W/1m)
• Recommended amplifier power: 15 to 60 watts
• Input terminals: 5-way binding posts (tellurium, solderless)
• Dimensions: 8" H × 6" W × 9.75" D
• Weight: 7 lbs. 4 oz.
• Recommended stand height: 28 inches
• Price: [PLACEHOLDER — contact us for current pricing]

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