Magico Q7 Mk II: First Listen

[imprezap2]

mk II prototype

[cmarin]

From Jonathan Valin (Absolute Sound) on the sound of the Magico Q7mkII w Soulution amps and source, and Vovox cables at the Munich 2015 high end show

"...this may have been the best I’ve ever heard a Magico loudspeaker sound at a trade show—which is to say that this may have been the best I’ve ever heard any loudspeaker sound at a trade show."

The rest of the article:

Magico Q7 Mk II
After its disappointing debut a few weeks ago at AXPONA Chicago, Magico’s $229,000 flagship—the massive, aluminum-enclosed, five-driver, four-way Q7 Mk II—performed a volte-face in München, where it sounded, well, great. Indeed, this may have been the best I’ve ever heard a Magico loudspeaker sound at a trade show—which is to say that this may have been the best I’ve ever heard any loudspeaker sound at a trade show. Sensationally beautiful, powerful, and lifelike on vocals and those wonderful brass and Hammond organ accents from Leonard Cohen’s “Slow,” the speaker was equally gorgeous, majestic, and fool-you realistic on Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dancesand Jaco Pastorius’ system-bustingly dynamic and wildly busy punk-jazz romp “Crisis” (off Rhino’s 180-gram Record Store Day release Anthology). Like Alon Wolf and Yair Tamman’s limited-production M-Project speaker (and for some of the same reasons—the new diamond-coated beryllium tweeter and improved graphene-carbon midrange driver both speakers share), the new Q7 boasts a marmoreal solidity in the bass and power range and an upper-midrange/treble sweetness that have eluded previous Qs, and yet the Q7 Mk II (like the M-Project) somehow achieves this more concert-hall-like balance without sucking out the presence and brilliance ranges and without sacrificing the speed, resolution, and transparency that Magicos are famous for. I hate to let the cat out of the bag this early in a show report, but as wonderful as the other contenders in Munich were (and, as noted, there were a whole bunch of wonderful speakers at the MOC), nothing else was quite this top-to-bottom beautiful, powerful, detailed, and lifelike. Congratulations to Wolf and Tammam, to Cyrill Hammer who provided the superb Soulutionelectronics (the 701 monoblock amplifiers, the 725 preamplifier, the 760 DAC, the brand-new 755phonostage) and the one-off turntable/tonearm (which he may soon be manufacturing), to the folks at Vovox for the excellent cabling, and to Joe Lavrencik for his (IMO) incomparable Critical Mass Maxxum amp and equipment stands. Take a collective bow, gents. Your exhibit was a good as hi-fi gets—at a show, or anywhere else.

[cmarin]

Quick update:

Last two weeks were pretty eventful.

Received the upgraded Magico Q7mkIIs, the 701 Soulution monos, Absolare Altius SET monos and preamp, Pacific Microsonics Model 2 DAC, and PC music server running Windows Server 2012/Audiophile Optimizer in core mode with internal SSDs.

System currently using all Vovox cabling, MIT power cords, MIT conditioners, Stillpoints, and PurePower battery power for the preamp (Robert Koda K15, Soulution 725, Absolare Altius).

Will be finalizing power combinations and speaker positioning next week; but so far, this is the best sound I've ever heard in my room. By far. Period.

Will provide updated details after next week.

[bart]

Carlos, that is a really fine system you are carefully building up there!

I'm looking forward to your comparisons between the solid state and the tube amps.

[imprezap2]

The Soulution 711/725 will be great for the Q7 mkII, imho the best combo at the moment.

[cmarin]

Originally Posted by bart

Carlos, that is a really fine system you are carefully building up there! I'm looking forward to your comparisons between the solid state and the tube amps.

Thank you Bart.

Just a quick note on the tube vs solid state comparison in my system.

For me it's like driving a well tuned Porsche or Ferrari. You can't drive them both at the same time, but you have a big smile on your face when you drive either one. They're both amazing amps without a doubt.

I'll have more to say after the next round of system optimization within the next two weeks (speaker placement, finalize cabling and power options, and source tweaking etc).

[cmarin]

Originally Posted by imprezap2

The Soulution 711/725 will be great for the Q7 mkII, imho the best combo at the moment.

Hi Imprezap2,

Without a doubt, the Soulution 701/725 amps and the Q7mkII are an amazing combo. The effortless power, control and refinement of the 701s in particular, match wonderfully with the Q7's bass and wonderful new midrange and tweeter. Just sublime.

But like any other system, you have to have a well optimized foundation (power, cabling, isolation, room acoustics, source) to get all the performance that the 701/725/Q7 combo can deliver.

[Tand]

Originally Posted by cmarin

Quick update:

Last two weeks were pretty eventful.

Received the upgraded Magico Q7mkIIs, the 701 Soulution monos, Absolare Altius SET monos and preamp, Pacific Microsonics Model 2 DAC, and PC music server running Windows Server 2012/Audiophile Optimizer in core mode with internal SSDs.

System currently using all Vovox cabling, MIT power cords, MIT conditioners, Stillpoints, and PurePower battery power for the preamp (Robert Koda K15, Soulution 725, Absolare Altius).

Will be finalizing power combinations and speaker positioning next week; but so far, this is the best sound I've ever heard in my room. By far. Period.

Will provide updated details after next week.

Congratulations! You will have stellar sound, no doubt about it!

Did you have a chance to compare the Pacific Microsonics Model 2 DAC with Berkeley Reference Dac?

Tommy

[cma29]

Off-the-charts system. Wow. Congratulations and enjoy!

[Charles]

Certainly sounds like the new Q7 is a very significant improvement over the old one. It is a testament to Magico that an upgrade path is available. If you have the older version it is great to have the option to upgrade. Wilson did not provide this with the Alexandria and I doubt that one will be provided when the Maxx3 is finally replaced.