I live in a tiny apartment with three other people and work from home. Most of the day I’m at my desk with headphones on, because speakers would bother my wife also working from home in the next room. On top of that the space where I work (which is basically a hallway) has irredeemable acoustics, so while I do have speakers there for when I’m alone they’re cheap because basically no speaker will sound good in this space.

Magni+ is an obvious choice. Also the Valhalla (a little pricier) is supposed to pair well with the 800S

There’s nothing about balanced design that should sound different. However, individual products, especially on the low end of cost, often put more effort into their balanced output than their SE and consequently the balanced does sound better. It’s an engineering issue. And it’s well known.