Magico Q5

[cmalak]

I just heard the Magico Q5 demo by Alon Wolf at Goodwin's High End. Very impressive. Ancillary equipment: Spectral DMC-30SS pre, DMA-360 Series 2 power amps, and SDR-4000 Pro CD, along with music server feeding a Pacific Microsonics Model 2 AD/DA converter. Cabling was MIT (naturally with the Spectral amplification).

Very linear and balanced across the frequency spectrum. Noise floor is super low resulting in a highly resolving speaker but while some speakers that are highly resolving throw the detail at you, in this case you get a coherent whole from which all the detail emerges but not at the expense of musical enjoyment. Macro dynamics were impressive. As was the quantity and quality of the bass. Soundstaging and layering of images within the soundstage was also very nice. All in all a very impressive piece of engineering. Enjoyed the demo. Recommended for those interested in a speaker at this price point.

Specs: Nominal 4ohm impedance (with a dip down to 3.2ohms at 2KHz) and sensitivity rated at 87/88dB. Frequency range: 25Hz-50KHz. The low frequency output in an anechoic chamber measured -6dB at 25Hz. Alon said in the Magico listening room, the speaker can go to down to 16Hz. So certainly the speaker can produce useful low end output in most rooms. Certainly enough to satisfy most low frequency buffs. What was also surprising was the form factor (12" W, 24" deep, and 47.5" tall) but weighs 400lbs! Don't quote me exactly on the size and weight as I am going from memory but I am not too far off.