Magico Synergy

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by jazzman

I am not surprised you hear so much difference between amps. the Q5 are very fast and transparent... the limiting factor is often the amp, not the Magico speakers. I don't believe the McIntosh were not working well with Magico because the Magico are difficult to drive. it is more than McIntosh are very sluggish amps: slow, fat bass, muddy. They enjoy great brand equity, but far from what you can achieve with more modern amps. Of course, there are still a lot of McIntosh fans, like there are also a lot of big Wilson fans.... this is the weight of history, even if a lot of newer brands are doing much better products these days.
I am a bit surprised that you find the Pass as working great. My experience of the Pass with Magico speakers has been nothing to mention. For example, I heard the S5 at Tokyo audio show last weekend, driven in the same room by both the Hegel amp and a pair of big Pass. The Hegel sounded so much better I was shocked.
From my experience, amps which work great with Magico are amps which work great with any great speakers: Constellation audio, Vitus Reference serie, the big Dartzeel, Soulution (but a bit too cold to my taste), Balabo, and in a cheaper category: Devialet and Hegel.

I disagree with your inclusion of BaLabo on your list. Now the only time I have heard that pairing was at RMAF and the room sounded very poor and the previous year the pairing with Spectral was even worse.

I think Pass would have much better synergy with Magico than either of the above.

[Penthouse-D]

Firstly, Jazzman, you are quite correct in your assesment of the McIntosh amps and brand loyalty. Remember, people were buying Saabs up until the end regardless of how lousy they were. I appreciate the amp recomendations,but these choices are out of my price range. I feel the Pass Labs have offered me the biggest bang for the buck. I also feel Nelson Pass is comitted to building the best he can for the prices he charges, rather than squeezing every last dime out of a brand. I haven't seen many Pass Labs beach towels.

[VT Skier]

Constellation/Magico is the best combo I've heard in a long time, although that new Sony speaker at RMAF with Pass was pretty darn good. I'm not so sure about Hegel -- in that price range I think I'd be looking at Pass, Plinius, ARC or maybe Cary.

I know the Cary 500.1s work well with Q1s.

[jazzman]

ARC.. you make me remember that I heard also the Reference 250 with Magico. It works extremely well. Much better than the other ARC I heard in the past. ARC really improved a lot with this amp, a must audition. I personally think that the ARC ref 250 or a Hegel sound much better than the Pass in this price band... and that the Pass sounds itself much better than any McIntosh. Not sure however about the Q5, it requires more power than the other Magico.

Agree with you that Nelson Pass is a great guy, passionate about his work... I still remember emailing him as a teenager when I was building my own amp, surprised he answered me with technical advices. Unfortunately I was always disappointed by the amps I listened from him recently.

Agree on Spectral: very transparent, but too cold and analytical to my taste.
Agree that Constellation sounds very good with Magico. If I had to chose, would put it in my short list with the big Dartzeel and with Vitus. Then Hegel and ARC 250 at a lower price point.
Would be interested to hear the latest Plinius, have not heard them for 15 years but always heard good things about them.
Balabo is a good amp, even if a bit too soft and slow ("romantic") to my taste.

[jzeitune]

Originally Posted by jazzman

ARC.. you make me remember that I heard also the Reference 250 with Magico. It works extremely well. Much better than the other ARC I heard in the past. ARC really improved a lot with this amp, a must audition.

ARC Ref 250 and Magico S5: a great combination

[Car commander]

I had a 250.5 and it did sound great. I now have a Dartzeel NHB108. It sounds better but it should it 3 times the price.

[joeinid]

Originally Posted by Car commander

I had a 250.5 and it did sound great. I now have a Dartzeel NHB108. It sounds better but it should it 3 times the price.

What speakers are you using? Karma 3.2FE speakers ?

Originally Posted by jazzman

I am not surprised you hear so much difference between amps. the Q5 are very fast and transparent... the limiting factor is often the amp, not the Magico speakers...

From my experience, amps which work great with Magico are amps which work great with any great speakers: Constellation audio, Vitus Reference serie, the big Dartzeel, Soulution (but a bit too cold to my taste), Balabo, and in a cheaper category: Devialet and Hegel.

Agreed, the Q5's are very fast & transparent, and eat current like a City skyscraper. I've found Vitus & Magico have great synergy, but i've also heard a pair of S5's sound great with a combination of Boulder amps, Vitus front end & Crystal cables. Have posted a video in another thread...check it out. The Boulder amps sound very natural, supply the huge amount of current the Q5's need & wholy match them for speed & resolution

Cheers,

[Car commander]

Originally Posted by joeinid

What speakers are you using? Karma 3.2FE speakers ?

Yes.

[imprezap2]

Hello,

I am Olaf from the Netherlands and just registered on this forum.
Wondering if there are any other Magico V3 owners here.

My set up

Accuphase E-560
Wadia 381i
Magico V3
Pioneer BDP-LX91

NBS Omega Extreme I speaker cable
NBS Black label, powercord CD player
Cardas Golden Cross XLR
Jena Labs Powercord, amplifier
NBS Active II, powercord Blu ray player

Basically very happy with my setup, but sometimes wondering if a bigger amp would improve a lot?

Olaf