Magico S5

[jazzman]

they sound great with Devialet, Constellation, Vitus, Dartzeel, MSB, soulution... a lot of good choices for amps.
But for sure I wouldn't use them with a McIntosh, I am not surprised by your poor experience.
Yes, both the Q3 and the S5 are amazing speakers. For me the top 2 speakers in the price bracket at the moment

[jrsystems]

I am a huge McIntosh fan and owner. I heard Q5's with MC501s and they were indeed pretty bad. I listened to the Q5 versus ML CLXes with the Mac gear and the CLXes blew away the far more expensive Q5s. I ended up buying the CLXes.

I have heard Mini's with VAC, amps and M5s with Soulution. Both were excellent. The S5 looks interesting, perhaps some nice Spectrals...

Hi JR, I also like the transparency & immediacy of electrostatics (and true ribbons). My current speakers (Marten Alto's) use Accuton drivers & a sophisticated carbon/kevlar cabinet which i've found offer the same kind of sound with the dynamics of a dynamic speaker.

I think choice of amp is pretty important with the S5's as with all Magico speakers. Vitus & Magico have excellent synergy. I've also heard the below set up with Dartzeel amps in my Dealer's showroom which sounded quite impressive for speakers straight out of the box. My Dealer has also had the S5's set up with Boulder 1050 mono blocks, a 1010 pre & a Vitus SCD-025 front end which apparently sounded excellent!

[ame=http://youtu.be/RXKWKy74NQI]Magico S5 DarTZeel Pre / Power Micromega ARIA Crystal Cable at Absolute Hi End - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://youtu.be/GVdNLprTu1w]Boulder 1050 Mono amps 1010 Pre Vitus Audio SCD-025 and Magico S5 at Absolute Hi End - YouTube[/ame]

[jrsystems]

Cool videos. Your dealer sounds great.

Your system is quite impressive. I have never heard Marten or Boulder, but have read great things about both. How do you think the Magicos compare to your Martens?

Thanks JR, yes Boris is a terrific guy & always seems to assemble some interesting systems. I have heard both the Magico Q1's & S5's. The S5's aren't really comparable to my Coltrane Alto's as they're completely different speakers. I think the S5's would make superb home theater speakers from the point of view they're one of the few speakers i've heard which surely don't need a sub. The bass is awesome! I was more interested however to compare the Q1's to my Coltrane Alto's (both being stand mounts). Here are my listening notes from my audition of the Q1's -

"I really like the Q1's which have lovely midrange & a smooth sounding tweeter. Magico have done a great job with the internal bracing of the Q1 which at good volume barely caused any resonance on the outside of the cabinet...quite impressive! The Q1's are also anchored by a heavy granite plinth. I thought my Coltrane Altos were overall superior to the Q1's and have a more full range sound with greater resolution and purity, though I really love the Magico's seductive midrange...paired with the Vitus SIA-025, that combination is absolutely magical."

I could happily live with the Q1's in a smaller apartment, especially paired with Vitus gear Overall I would say the Magico's are the more seductive speaker, and Marten the more sophisticated. In my room, and based on my tastes I would choose my Coltrane Alto's every time.

Cheers,
Bodhi

[rlacoste]

Originally Posted by Bodhisattva

Thanks JR, yes Boris is a terrific guy & always seems to assemble some interesting systems. I have heard both the Magico Q1's & S5's. The S5's aren't really comparable to my Coltrane Alto's as they're completely different speakers. I think the S5's would make superb home theater speakers from the point of view they're one of the few speakers i've heard which surely don't need a sub. The bass is awesome! I was more interested however to compare the Q1's to my Coltrane Alto's (both being stand mounts). Here are my listening notes from my audition of the Q1's -

"I really like the Q1's which have lovely midrange & a smooth sounding tweeter. Magico have done a great job with the internal bracing of the Q1 which at good volume barely caused any resonance on the outside of the cabinet...quite impressive! The Q1's are also anchored by a heavy granite plinth. I thought my Coltrane Altos were overall superior to the Q1's and have a more full range sound with greater resolution and purity, though I really love the Magico's seductive midrange...paired with the Vitus SIA-025, that combination is absolutely magical."

I could happily live with the Q1's in a smaller apartment, especially paired with Vitus gear Overall I would say the Magico's are the more seductive speaker, and Marten the more sophisticated. In my room, and based on my tastes I would choose my Coltrane Alto's every time.

Cheers,
Bodhi

Interesting observation. I find the S5 to be a much better value and better sounding than even the big Marten Coltrane. The Marten are nice indeed, but are not much different than just about any other ceramic drivers based loudspeakers. What you refer to as “sophistication” and “pure”, some may view as “etched” and “brittle” ( JA has actually commented on “ slight mid-treble hash in the speaker's cumulative spectral-decay plot” when measuring the Coltrane). Both great loudspeakers, however, as you said, will appeal to different people.

[joeinid]

Bodhi,

Thanks for the video showing the Dartzeel setup on the S5's. Pretty awesome indeed. I really love my Dart amp.

Originally Posted by rlacoste

Interesting observation. I find the S5 to be a much better value and better sounding than even the big Marten Coltrane. The Marten are nice indeed, but are not much different than just about any other ceramic drivers based loudspeakers. What you refer to as “sophistication” and “pure”, some may view as “etched” and “brittle” ( JA has actually commented on “ slight mid-treble hash in the speaker's cumulative spectral-decay plot” when measuring the Coltrane). Both great loudspeakers, however, as you said, will appeal to different people.

That's fine RL. Horses for courses as they say. I can see the value and appeal of the S5's and absolutely understand how they would appeal to a wide audience. I don't agree however with your observation that Marten speakers sound more or less the same as other speakers using ceramic drivers. To my ears, Marten sound quite different to Kharma & Avalon systems employing Accutons. Even within Marten's own Coltrane line there are differences. Leif Olofsson had this to say about the Alto's compared to the bigger Coltrane -

"Compared to the original Coltrane the sound is slightly warmer and actually the midrange resolution is as good or better than the Coltranes. In my opinion the Alto's are very coherent and natural. The soundstage is very exact and the loudspeakers “disappear”, because of the extremely good cabinet construction. The frequency response is actually very flat compared to many other loudspeakers. It’s within +-2.5 dB, that is very good. The tendency for a little lower level between 1-3 KHz is intentional and gives just a slightly more forgiving sound to not extremely good recordings"

I don't know about "etched" and "brittle". That's not what I hear from my speakers. As always, it's all about achieving room & system synergy. In my room & set up, the Alto's sound lovely and are staying

Originally Posted by joeinid

Bodhi,

Thanks for the video showing the Dartzeel setup on the S5's. Pretty awesome indeed. I really love my Dart amp.

You're welcome Joe. I really liked that combination, though I suspect the big S5's could benefit from even more power. I would have loved to have heard the 1050 mono's driving them, but the amps sold before I could get into the showroom My favorite Dartzeel amp is the lovely CTH-8550. That is a real sweety

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by Bodhisattva

You're welcome Joe. I really liked that combination, though I suspect the big S5's could benefit from even more power. I would have loved to have heard the 1050 mono's driving them, but the amps sold before I could get into the showroom My favorite Dartzeel amp is the lovely CTH-8550. That is a real sweety

Hmmmmm. I'll have to check it out. I've wanted one, but always gravitated towards the 108, assuming it was better.