MAGICO S1 speakers ....

[CLEE]

Originally Posted by jazzman

I was invited by the Paris dealer to a demo in his new showroom two weeks ago: S5 driven by Constellation Centaur, in an untreated room but with very good acoustic. Sound was stellar, very dynamic, better than last time I heard the Centaur. Must be also the fact that power amps are often sounding much better in 220V version than 110V. Had the same experience with Spectral....
Unfortunately I live in a 110V country :-(

Lucky you to have such opportunities. Must have been fun.

The larger Boulder amps call for 220 - 240 V even when used in the States. Depending on the feed to you house, it may be possible to (re)wire some circuits to 220V.

[asiufy]

jazzman,

My city is 110V as well (actually, 127V), but I've asked the electrician to run two circuits with 220V. Now my NHB-108 runs on 220V, and it's considerably better!

If you can, get someone to look into that option for you...


alexandre

[jazzman]

Originally Posted by asiufy

jazzman,

My city is 110V as well (actually, 127V), but I've asked the electrician to run two circuits with 220V. Now my NHB-108 runs on 220V, and it's considerably better!

If you can, get someone to look into that option for you...


alexandre

Actually in Taiwan we use both 110 and 220V. But 220V is used only for air conditioning, that means it is a very polluted line with all these AC switching on and off all the time.
When I built the room, I hesitated a lot to use the 110V or 220V. I ended up using a dedicated 110V line supplying an equi=tech 10kW balanced power panel (a 400lbs+ monster....). Large gauge power cables are directly plugged into the panel breaker to eliminate losses due to bad contact.
Still not sure if I wouldn't have been better off using the noisy 220V as a basis, but now too late to worry ;-)

[mulveling]

Originally Posted by Bodhisattva

Reading your comments, in summary Mulveling you feel the S5 was "very nice" and the S1 is "a killer" and "special" and the S1's bass "is very well integrated (much more so than with the S5)". Is that correct? I commented as I have not before heard such contrasting comments about these two speakers in the same series, and am now left thinking I should have bought S1's instead of S5's...

The amp could be a big difference...changing output taps on the M180 certainly make a significant difference for the S5. I'm a longtime Tannoy fanboy, and in that context, picked up elements from the S1 that I really dug -- others may prioritize the S5's advantage in bass output and prefer those. Also keep in mind, my impressions are just from a few listening sessions with each speaker; long-term impressions are much more valuable.

The tweeter in both S1 and S5 is just incredible; ultra smooth, detailed and extended. Both also have an extremely neutral and detailed midrange. Neither could be considered sterile or analytical -- these are attributes that I don't enjoy in a speaker!

Originally Posted by CLEE

Lucky you to have such opportunities. Must have been fun.

The larger Boulder amps call for 220 - 240 V even when used in the States. Depending on the feed to you house, it may be possible to (re)wire some circuits to 220V.

I can vouch for that Clee. My Boulder 1060 sounds great running on 10a/240v power. Granted a dedicated 20a circuit would be better, but my sparky confirmed i'm getting strong, consistent 240v power in my location so i'm a happy camper.

Originally Posted by mulveling

The amp could be a big difference...changing output taps on the M180 certainly make a significant difference for the S5. I'm a longtime Tannoy fanboy, and in that context, picked up elements from the S1 that I really dug -- others may prioritize the S5's advantage in bass output and prefer those. Also keep in mind, my impressions are just from a few listening sessions with each speaker; long-term impressions are much more valuable.

The tweeter in both S1 and S5 is just incredible; ultra smooth, detailed and extended. Both also have an extremely neutral and detailed midrange. Neither could be considered sterile or analytical -- these are attributes that I don't enjoy in a speaker!

Hi Mulvering, thanks for clarifying the results of your listening session. I think you're right that the choice of amp, and even the amp's settings could make a big difference, especially given the larger power requirements of the S5. And those big 10" bass drivers likely would open up and integrate a lot better after 400hrs.

[CLEE]

Originally Posted by Bodhisattva

I can vouch for that Clee. My Boulder 1060 sounds great running on 10a/240v power. Granted a dedicated 20a circuit would be better, but my sparky confirmed i'm getting strong, consistent 240v power in my location so i'm a happy camper.

The 1060 is an excellent amp. A friend is using the 2060. He said it uses 240V 30 A plugs. For a couple years he fed it with 220 V 15 A circuit which is common norm in Hong Kong household. Last year, he rewired for 30 A

Originally Posted by CLEE

The 1060 is an excellent amp. A friend is using the 2060. He said it uses 240V 30 A plugs. For a couple years he fed it with 220 V 15 A circuit which is common norm in Hong Kong household. Last year, he rewired for 30 A

The 2060 is amazing, though I couldn't phyically fit a 2060 in my rack! The 1060 has all the power I need, and runs greener than the thirsty 2060 I re-terminated a Jorma Prime pc with a German 30a Walther connector which is running into an Oyaide R1 outlet.

[CLEE]

Sorry I didn't quite complete the last post. My friend claimed substantial improvement with the 30A circuit. Yes the 2060 is too big for most application. I am quite certain that the 1060 (300W?) can do full justice to a pair of S5, which I found was not difficult to drive.

Originally Posted by CLEE

Sorry I didn't quite complete the last post. My friend claimed substantial improvement with the 30A circuit. Yes the 2060 is too big for most application. I am quite certain that the 1060 (300W?) can do full justice to a pair of S5, which I found was not difficult to drive.

I suspect a 30a circuit would yield greater improvement in the US where you guys are operating on 15a/110v power than down under, and the improvements should be greater the further you go up the Boulder line. I agree the 1060 should take the S5's by the throat