Some Magico questions

[Kingsrule]

Originally Posted by frequentflyer

Since I am already off topic here, what sold you on the Devaliets? What improvements did you notice going mono temporalily? Are you using the "Air" option?

My system is all digital so the Devaliet makes perfect sense. (Sooloos, DirecTV,Apple TV, dvr). Plus the ability to drive Sasha's. Plenty of inputs, great reviews, great looks and one set of speaker cables. No interconnects. And continuous software updates. It couldn't be any simpler!

The mono question is more interesting. My wife thinks it sounds worse. I'm not so sure. I'm feeling more body and substance to the music. Dimension is better. The question I have most is bass. I'll need to switch back to a single Devaliet before I can be more definitive.
BTW,not using AIR. I have a Sooloos

[Elberoth]

I have to second g997 regarding Sasha's sweet spot. IMO it is as wide as any speaker I had owned.

I have a desk and a chair in my listeninng room, which is around 7 feet off center, and which I often use when I have friends coming to listen to some tunes. I'm always amazed how good Sashas sound off center when I sit there. No tonal balance shifts, great soundstage.

[TOGA]

I have Wilson Sophia3 and Magico Q3, alternately used in the same system.
Actually like most speakers, the person who will get the best sound is one who is in the
center. I don't find sound of Wilson and Magico to be bad when listening offset, but it never be like listening in the correct position.
Besides, magico user manual stressed that to get best performance, listener must be exactly at equi distance from left and right speaker.
I have heard Q1 and Q3 side by side and also Q7. All have similar character or voice.
For some kind of music Q1 would sound the best due to simplicity of crossover. the more Q the more bass and loudness. I was almost trading Q3 for Q7 until I hear Q7 then I changed my mind. It was the same sound that is larger, louder and much better deep bass, not justify the extra (of my) $$$$$$$$. Q3 is loud enough, have good enough bass. Similarly, I've heard Sasha and Maxx3 and I think they made similar sound to my Sophia3, only grander and louder and more bass.
For YG I have heard the tallest one too, but I just don't like the idea of self powered woofer so i didn't pay any attention.
Hope this help.
Toga

[hce1]

Originally Posted by frequentflyer

1. Do the Q speakers have a small sweetspot like the Wilsons do? This is a biggie, everyone on the sofa should be able to experience the same soundstage.

2. We keep reading reviews about how boxless and transparent Magico speakers sound. Most of us audiophiles think of Martin Logans when it comes to these desciptions. Are Magicos truly as transparent and boxless sounding as Martin Logan Electrostatics?

3. To those who have YG Acoustic's speakers, what are the similarities and differences between the YG Acoustics and Magico sound? Both have aluminum enclosures.

Thank you in advance for answering my questions.

1) The sweet spot is wider but imaging is not as precise as Wilson. Magico's tonality does not change as much as Wilson as you move away from the sweet spot. The sweet spot is still always the best sound for either speaker.

2) Very little cabinet influence, but yes they have a distinct house sound that you will either like or not like. Every speaker has a house sound, but Magico does reduce cabinet and driver distortion far more than the majority of box speakers resulting in a very grain free and "ears hardwired to the music" type of sound.

3) YG and Magico sound very different despite the aluminum. However, they both are high resolution speakers. Generally, tonally Magico is sweeter and less forward than YG; dynamically both speakers can sound somewhat restrained but both are very accurate and even throughout the entire frequency range (Magicos suffer some restraint in the bass region whereas YG can be "adjusted" to a more pleasing bass response because of the active subwoofers); soundstaging is more precise and layered with YG. I'm not a fan of the active subwoofers, so again they sound different despite their similarities in construction, best to audition for yourself...

[hce1]

Originally Posted by TOGA

I have Wilson Sophia3 and Magico Q3, alternately used in the same system.
Actually like most speakers, the person who will get the best sound is one who is in the
center. I don't find sound of Wilson and Magico to be bad when listening offset, but it never be like listening in the correct position.
Besides, magico user manual stressed that to get best performance, listener must be exactly at equi distance from left and right speaker.
I have heard Q1 and Q3 side by side and also Q7. All have similar character or voice.
For some kind of music Q1 would sound the best due to simplicity of crossover. the more Q the more bass and loudness. I was almost trading Q3 for Q7 until I hear Q7 then I changed my mind. It was the same sound that is larger, louder and much better deep bass, not justify the extra (of my) $$$$$$$$. Q3 is loud enough, have good enough bass. Similarly, I've heard Sasha and Maxx3 and I think they made similar sound to my Sophia3, only grander and louder and more bass.
For YG I have heard the tallest one too, but I just don't like the idea of self powered woofer so i didn't pay any attention.
Hope this help.
Toga

Toga,

My experience generally mirrors your comments above. The Magico Q series sounds very similar, my favorite being the Q1 for a unique coherence not heard anywhere else, but at the end of the day the Q3 offer the highest value to performance. That being said, the Wilsons have more significant improvements as you go up the line in areas other than bass and dynamics. A Sasha is more coherent, transparent, phase correct, smooth, lower distortion, better imaging and soundstaging, better micro dynamic contrast (and of course deeper bass and macro dynamics) than a Sophia. This improvement carries through the line, comparing the Sasha to the Maxx will yeild similar results.

[rlacoste]

Originally Posted by hce4

Toga,

My experience generally mirrors your comments above. The Magico Q series sounds very similar, my favorite being the Q1 for a unique coherence not heard anywhere else, but at the end of the day the Q3 offer the highest value to performance. That being said, the Wilsons have more significant improvements as you go up the line in areas other than bass and dynamics. A Sasha is more coherent, transparent, phase correct, smooth, lower distortion, better imaging and soundstaging, better micro dynamic contrast (and of course deeper bass and macro dynamics) than a Sophia. This improvement carries through the line, comparing the Sasha to the Maxx will yeild similar results.

I respectfully disagree. I think that the Sophia is Wilson most coherent speaker. I would argue that you actually give up coherency as you step-up the Wilson ladder (You gain dynamics, mainly). You can actually see it in measurements as well. In the Magico line, you do step over to a 4-way design, once you get to the Q5, and do get lower bass and more dynamics. But I do feel that from a design perspective the Magicos are all equally 'sound', and therefore sound similar.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by g997

My system is all digital so the Devaliet makes perfect sense. (Sooloos, DirecTV,Apple TV, dvr). Plus the ability to drive Sasha's. Plenty of inputs, great reviews, great looks and one set of speaker cables. No interconnects. And continuous software updates. It couldn't be any simpler!

The mono question is more interesting. My wife thinks it sounds worse. I'm not so sure. I'm feeling more body and substance to the music. Dimension is better. The question I have most is bass. I'll need to switch back to a single Devaliet before I can be more definitive.
BTW,not using AIR. I have a Sooloos

I am really surprised that the DeValiet is able to handle the Sasha's. I had a dealer try it on a pair of 802 Diamond Series without success. That is an amazing piece of gear.

JIm

[Kingsrule]

Originally Posted by Still-One

I am really surprised that the DeValiet is able to handle the Sasha's. I had a dealer try it on a pair of 802 Diamond Series without success. That is an amazing piece of gear.

JIm

Yes the Devaliet is a pretty complete solution and handles difficult loads.
As far as mono Devaliet's vs. stereo Devaliet, the stereo set up is far superior to the mono set-up. Here I'm thinking the mono Devaliet cannot drive Sasha's like it can in stereo (single Devaliet). At first blush I thought mono's were better but in fact all they did was play louder.

[hce1]

Originally Posted by rlacoste

I respectfully disagree. I think that the Sophia is Wilson most coherent speaker. I would argue that you actually give up coherency as you step-up the Wilson ladder (You gain dynamics, mainly). You can actually see it in measurements as well. In the Magico line, you do step over to a 4-way design, once you get to the Q5, and do get lower bass and more dynamics. But I do feel that from a design perspective the Magicos are all equally 'sound', and therefore sound similar.

Point well taken rlacoste. Probably the Sophia's biggest hallmark is its coherency. The difference between a Sophia and a Sasha is quite apparent to my ears, so focusing on just coherency misses the bigger picture of how much better the Sashas are compared to Sophias. In addition, the coherency you may be referring to could actually be a fault of the speaker. Meaning, the Sophia is less extended in the treble and bass than the Sasha, and by comparison the sound is more vague and convoluted when following musical cues. This could be interpreted by some as coherency, but again, the Sophia is arguably top in it's class for real coherency between it's drivers and crossover so I'm not knocking the Sophias. It's just compared to the Sashas, there is a audible improvement across the board, coherency aside.

My main point was the Magico Q models sound more similar to each other than the Wilson models (which get noticeably better as you move up the line). For example, the Q1 may arguably have the highest resolution in the midrange out of all the Q models because of the simpler crossover, monitor configuration and resulting coherency, whereas the midrange of the Duette or Sophia is noticeably more vague in resolution compared to the Sasha, Maxx, Alexandria, XLF. For Wilson, it's like focusing a camera lense, clarity increases as you move up the line. On the positive side for each brand, Magico should be commended for having a well executed design to deliver a remarkably similar house sound for each respective Q model; and Wilson should be commended for improving each speaker as they move up the chain.

The Magico Q series is audibly better than the S5 and I'd assume the S1 as well. The difference is similar to a Wilson Duette versus a Wilson Sasha.

[VT Skier]

I'm not surprised you found the Q3s to be better than the S5, although I hope my ears can't tell. May I ask what electronics were used in your comparison? And have you decided on what you'll use for your Q3s?