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  #21  
Old 12-23-2013, 03:36 PM
PLK PLK is offline
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A recent quote from Alon Wolf:

"The S is voiced with a tiny bit more efficiency in the bass," he said. "Its bass has more heft than its comparative Q model, but is not as refined."
  #22  
Old 12-23-2013, 04:10 PM
Elberoth Elberoth is offline
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That well may be true. The problem with the Q series, is that not many systems can handle their utter transparency.
  #23  
Old 12-23-2013, 05:22 PM
Espen L Espen L is offline
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Hi
I have listen to S5 and Q3 and i did buy Q3, may ears think they sound quit more natural. I think it is little to much bass in the S3, i think you have to have big room to get the sound in S5 good.
I did ask Alon Wolf in the Munich mess what he did think about Q3 V/S S5 and he said : Q3 are better they are much better! And after listen to them both i agree

Espen L
  #24  
Old 12-23-2013, 06:32 PM
Bodhisattva
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Espen, i'm in no way dismissing what you heard in your demo's of the two speakers in Munich, but there are a few things to consider. Firstly, I was told Magico improved the S5 since they debuted the speaker in Munich (not long after the first examples were produced). Secondly, I respect Alon, but also remember he is running a business and wants to make money. If he is speaking to a potential customer, it is in his and Magico's interests to talk up the Q3 over the S5. A wise person once told me "The truth is usually in the middle". And thirdly, my own listening tests a-b comparing the two speakers suggest, yes the Q3 is a bit more refined and transparent definitely comparative to the price difference (atleast in 2013). But unless you just like to listen to small band jazz and classical, I would not say the Q3 is "much better". To me, the S5's are better "all rounders". They suit modern pop, rock, big band jazz, blues etc & given the right amps and front end, can sound delicate and intimate with small ensembles, jazz and classical.

Also i've seen several systems with Q3's where the owners have cut corners with amplification, front end or cables. Without optimizing these things, you will never exploit the full potential of the speakers anyway. And the Q3's will brutally reveal any chinks. I also agree with Adam's comment that the S5's have a slightly more relaxed presentation than the Q3's & are more forgiving of less than perfect recordings and upstream equipment. I always say your system needs to be balanced (and by that I don't mean having a balanced topology).

To me, the S5's bass is better than the Q3. The S5's have solid and lifelike bass energy and depth which you can feel (as in live music). Kick drums feel like a kick drum and Timpani has proper scale and depth. The Q3's show their limitations with such instruments. The S5's are also outstanding in a 2 channel home theater; definitely no subs needed! It's all how you optimize them. I have a medium size room and am finding the S5's fit in well. I have my speakers set up in a near field listening position as per the Cardas room setup guide & find I am able to achieve a coherent image, good sound staging and am not having any issues with boominess. But I accept this is room dependent as no two rooms are alike. In practice, the speakers will be further improved once we install the Stillpoints Ultra 5's & Ultra bases.

Cheers,

Last edited by Bodhisattva; 12-23-2013 at 06:47 PM.
  #25  
Old 12-23-2013, 07:17 PM
S1chen S1chen is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodhisattva View Post
Espen, i'm in no way dismissing what you heard in your demo's of the two speakers in Munich, but there are a few things to consider. Firstly, I was told Magico improved the S5 since they debuted the speaker in Munich (not long after the first examples were produced). Secondly, I respect Alon, but also remember he is running a business and wants to make money. If he is speaking to a potential customer, it is in his and Magico's interests to talk up the Q3 over the S5. A wise person once told me "The truth is usually in the middle". And thirdly, my own listening tests a-b comparing the two speakers suggest, yes the Q3 is a bit more refined and transparent definitely comparative to the price difference (atleast in 2013). But unless you just like to listen to small band jazz and classical, I would not say the Q3 is "much better". To me, the S5's are better "all rounders". They suit modern pop, rock, big band jazz, blues etc & given the right amps and front end, can sound delicate and intimate with small ensembles, jazz and classical. Also i've seen several systems with Q3's where the owners have cut corners with amplification, front end or cables. Without optimizing these things, you will never exploit the full potential of the speakers anyway. And the Q3's will brutally reveal any chinks. I also agree with Adam's comment that the S5's have a slightly more relaxed presentation than the Q3's & are more forgiving of less than perfect recordings and upstream equipment. I always say your system needs to be balanced (and by that I don't mean having a balanced topology). To me, the S5's bass is better than the Q3. The S5's have solid and lifelike bass energy and depth which you can feel (as in live music). Kick drums feel like a kick drum and Timpani has proper scale and depth. The Q3's show their limitations with such instruments. The S5's are also outstanding in a 2 channel home theater; definitely no subs needed! It's all how you optimize them. I have a medium size room and am finding the S5's fit in well. I have my speakers set up in a near field listening position as per the Cardas room setup guide & find I am able to achieve a coherent image, good sound staging and am not having any issues with boominess. But I accept this is room dependent as no two rooms are alike. In practice, the speakers will be further improved once we install the Stillpoints Ultra 5's & Ultra bases. Cheers,
Can u advise what gear like amp, pre and source and maybe cable are setup at the time you are auditioning the Q3 or many occasional your heard them. I am curious why the Q3 would end up sounding not as good as the S5.
  #26  
Old 12-23-2013, 07:58 PM
Bodhisattva
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Quote:
Originally Posted by S1chen View Post
Can u advise what gear like amp, pre and source and maybe cable are setup at the time you are auditioning the Q3 or many occasional your heard them. I am curious why the Q3 would end up sounding not as good as the S5.
S1, in regard to amplification, I have heard the Q3's in the same room with the same amps and front end equipment as the S5's (ie: Dart, Soulution & Vitus). To clarify, I think the Q3 is the better sounding speaker in technical terms. It uses all-Nano-Tec drivers, a better crossover, better cabinet etc. I was making 3 main points. Firstly that imho the Q3 is not "much better" than the S5 as Alon described. My second main point was that, imho the S5's are better "all rounders" with a wider variety of music, applications, systems, and rooms (being easier to place than Q3). And thirdly, that I believe the S5's have better (deeper, more solid) low & mid bass (which is so important in creating a foundation in music). Though remember ultimately it comes down to musical preferences and system synergy. I can understand why some customers would prefer the Q3, and others would prefer the S5. They are quite different, but in technical terms not that far apart.

Last edited by Bodhisattva; 12-23-2013 at 08:03 PM.
  #27  
Old 12-24-2013, 12:23 AM
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PlanarSpeakerFan PlanarSpeakerFan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bodhisattva View Post
S1, in regard to amplification, I have heard the Q3's in the same room with the same amps and front end equipment as the S5's (ie: Dart, Soulution & Vitus). To clarify, I think the Q3 is the better sounding speaker in technical terms. It uses all-Nano-Tec drivers, a better crossover, better cabinet etc. I was making 3 main points. Firstly that imho the Q3 is not "much better" than the S5 as Alon described. My second main point was that, imho the S5's are better "all rounders" with a wider variety of music, applications, systems, and rooms (being easier to place than Q3). And thirdly, that I believe the S5's have better (deeper, more solid) low & mid bass (which is so important in creating a foundation in music). Though remember ultimately it comes down to musical preferences and system synergy. I can understand why some customers would prefer the Q3, and others would prefer the S5. They are quite different, but in technical terms not that far apart.
Hi David,

Just to satisfy my curiosity, I'm thinking of auditioning the S5 and Q3. As you know, I'm primarily a jazz guy, preferring jazz vocals, jazz piano and small jazz combos. However, I do enjoy cranking up the Eagles or Santana every now and then.

Out of the following preamp/amp combinations, which would recommend most for my audition with the S5 and Q3?

Arcam
ADA
Cary
Classe
HD Micromega
Heed
Integra
Hegel
Lexicon
Marantz
McIntosh
Rotel
Spectral

Thanks,
Ken
  #28  
Old 12-24-2013, 02:01 AM
PLK PLK is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PlanarSpeakerFan View Post
Hi David,

Just to satisfy my curiosity, I'm thinking of auditioning the S5 and Q3. As you know, I'm primarily a jazz guy, preferring jazz vocals, jazz piano and small jazz combos. However, I do enjoy cranking up the Eagles or Santana every now and then.

Out of the following preamp/amp combinations, which would recommend most for my audition with the S5 and Q3?

Arcam
ADA
Cary
Classe
HD Micromega
Heed
Integra
Hegel
Lexicon
Marantz
McIntosh
Rotel
Spectral

Thanks,
Ken
The Aesthetix Atlas Signature or Monos are a great match for the Magicos.

If you don't need an analog input, a Romulus or Pandora with VC driving amps
would work great. Signature Versions Romulus/Pandora will be shown at CES.
  #29  
Old 12-24-2013, 02:42 AM
Bodhisattva
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Hi Ken,

Based on those options, your front end and musical preferences i'd recommend auditioning the Hegel amps. They are well engineered, have a lot of power, sound natural, are on the warm side & punch well above their weight. Though not on your list, other options to consider with the S5's in my order of preference would be the Vitus SIA-025, RS-100/RL-101 combo and RI-100 integrated.

I suspect however given your musical preferences you may prefer the Q3. Good options (again in my order of preference) would be the Vitus SIA-025, Dartzeel NHB-108/NHB-18NS or Vitus Reference series. Soulution also has good synergy with Magico. Pressed to choose an option I would personally lean toward Vitus with the Q3's. The Reference series is very good, though the SIA-025 is the sweet spot in their lineup imho. Fyi I recently posted a review of the SIA-025 in the Pre-amps and Amplifiers forum. Hope that helps

Last edited by Bodhisattva; 12-24-2013 at 04:42 AM. Reason: brain fade!
  #30  
Old 12-24-2013, 02:51 AM
Bodhisattva
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PLK View Post
The Aesthetix Atlas Signature or Monos are a great match for the Magicos.

If you don't need an analog input, a Romulus or Pandora with VC driving amps
would work great. Signature Versions Romulus/Pandora will be shown at CES.
Yeah I've been hearing really good things about the Atlas & Janus Signature amps, though I didn't mention them as I haven't heard them with Magico. My current front end is a Romulus cdp which is natural sounding and excellent value imho. Definitely worth adding to your audition list Ken

Last edited by Bodhisattva; 12-24-2013 at 04:30 AM.
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