Magico Q5
 

I just heard the Magico Q5 demo by Alon Wolf at Goodwin's High End. Very impressive. Ancillary equipment: Spectral DMC-30SS pre, DMA-360 Series 2 power amps, and SDR-4000 Pro CD, along with music server feeding a Pacific Microsonics Model 2 AD/DA converter. Cabling was MIT (naturally with the Spectral amplification).

Very linear and balanced across the frequency spectrum. Noise floor is super low resulting in a highly resolving speaker but while some speakers that are highly resolving throw the detail at you, in this case you get a coherent whole from which all the detail emerges but not at the expense of musical enjoyment. Macro dynamics were impressive. As was the quantity and quality of the bass. Soundstaging and layering of images within the soundstage was also very nice. All in all a very impressive piece of engineering. Enjoyed the demo. Recommended for those interested in a speaker at this price point.

Specs: Nominal 4ohm impedance (with a dip down to 3.2ohms at 2KHz) and sensitivity rated at 87/88dB. Frequency range: 25Hz-50KHz. The low frequency output in an anechoic chamber measured -6dB at 25Hz. Alon said in the Magico listening room, the speaker can go to down to 16Hz. So certainly the speaker can produce useful low end output in most rooms. Certainly enough to satisfy most low frequency buffs. What was also surprising was the form factor (12" W, 24" deep, and 47.5" tall) but weighs 400lbs! Don't quote me exactly on the size and weight as I am going from memory but I am not too far off.

I am going to have to make a point of hearing these. Did they say what the MSRP was?
Jim

I believe they are $54K at list.

Me too ..... Wilson Sasha, Maxx3, Magico Q5, are on the list. Not that I will buy them for sure, but definitely, I would love to go hear them. :D

My guesstimate is they probably would be priced between the Sasha and the Maxx 3 over here .... most likely about S$60k. I could be wrong altogether though! :smoking:

Cheers!

I wonder why Goodwins (who sells about every brand known to man) uses Spectral Equipment to demo the Magico speakers? (Being a Spectral owner, it does make me kinda proud!)

Not too much about Spectral on AA, but it is really good stuff!! :tresbon:

Julian
As you well know Spectral makes great gear but does very little advertising so it is not well known. Unless you are a company willing and able to spend big bucks for advertising or you happen to get a great review in one of the audio magazines, you will be limited to a niche markets.
Jim

Spectral ARE great stuff! I have seen their latest models at The Adelphi and I must say both their pricing and build are "reasonable" as compared to the previous dealer/agent.

However, story was that while Spectral gears are great, their back up service is not - and one cant tell for sure if gears will NOT fail right? Thats why over here, Spectral had a small little following. I sure hope the current dealer/agent would re-write this bit of negative history! :thumbsup:

As far back as the 80's, Spectral are already on the SAME mention with Levinson, Krells, ... In fact, the Wilson dealer here used to demo the Witt & Witt 2 with them when he was the then dealer. Come to think of it, the Witt 2 was them selling for a RRP of S$10k back then ...... :smoking:

Cheers! :banana:

I'm wondering how the Grateful Dead would sound through the Magico Q5's.

I think The Dead would be very, very Alive.