Magico S5

[Penthouse-D]

Well guys, wait about a week. My S5s are showing up Saturday (finally). I sold my Q5s and Spectral gear because it was way too analytical and "in your face". I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm hoping for something more "musical". Not a science project. The Qs did not have much "slam" or "punch". I need to feel it in the couch.

[Mike1998]

Originally Posted by The Sandman

This!

I was torn between the two but leaning towards the Q3 but the Magico rep told my dealer that that the S5 plays louder and is better for rock music and the like, even if you plan to use subwoofers.

The S5 does pressurize a medium size room nicely, so you may find that the subwoofers are unnecessary. The Q3, however, could benefit from a little help, especially with any type of music that has loud drums or drum machines. I use JL subs and believe they would pair nicely with the Q3...

Both the S5 and Q3 are top notch speakers, you should be happy regardless of which you choose.

[Still-One]

Originally Posted by Penthouse-D

Well guys, wait about a week. My S5s are showing up Saturday (finally). I sold my Q5s and Spectral gear because it was way too analytical and "in your face". I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm hoping for something more "musical". Not a science project. The Qs did not have much "slam" or "punch". I need to feel it in the couch.

It will be interesting to see what you think when you get them set-up. I only heard the Q5's on a couple of occasion and they were not very involving. Now both the the Q3 and S5 with Constellation gear sounded very good with the S5 being a bit peppier with the Q3 being more musical. I would say a good comparison would be Sonus Faber's Futura and Strad's. The Futura's a bit quicker but not quite as musical.

[willyjack]

Originally Posted by rlacoste

Sorry, but this is nonsense. I own the Q3 and they don’t sound “really really bad” with anything. Anyone who tells you that they like the S5 but hate the Q3 is a fiction writer. They are close enough to be twins, albeit not identical, the S5 is more bombastic and slightly less refine, but that is it. What would sound bad on the Q3 will surly sound bad on the S5.

Well said. But S5 is anchored more in mid/lower range so etchy/bright recordings will sound worse on Q3

[willyjack]

Originally Posted by Penthouse-D

Well guys, wait about a week. My S5s are showing up Saturday (finally). I sold my Q5s and Spectral gear because it was way too analytical and "in your face". I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm hoping for something more "musical". Not a science project. The Qs did not have much "slam" or "punch". I need to feel it in the couch.

Great post.

Originally Posted by Penthouse-D

Well guys, wait about a week. My S5s are showing up Saturday (finally). I sold my Q5s and Spectral gear because it was way too analytical and "in your face". I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm hoping for something more "musical". Not a science project. The Qs did not have much "slam" or "punch". I need to feel it in the couch.

...oh, you will ps: Congrats on the S5's!!

[imprezap2]

Hi Penthouse,

Wow, you must be losing a fortune, hopefully you will find what you need with the S5's.
I have heared the Q5's twice with Spectral DMA360 monoblocks, never found it too analitycal. If you really want to feel the bass, maybe better to go for well designed ported speakers. (and I know the S5 will not be bass shy)

Olaf

Originally Posted by Orb

Also maybe the S model can be thought of being subtly more forgiving than the Q models, which works with a broader range of mass music genres such as pop/rock recordings due to the way they are generally mixed-mastered.

BTW Dave, hopefully you see my question to you in the Integrated forum section regarding the Vitus

Cheers
Orb

Hi Orb,

I found your post and replied

Cheers,

[gardener]

Originally Posted by Penthouse-D

Well guys, wait about a week. My S5s are showing up Saturday (finally). I sold my Q5s and Spectral gear because it was way too analytical and "in your face". I'll give you my honest opinion. I'm hoping for something more "musical". Not a science project. The Qs did not have much "slam" or "punch". I need to feel it in the couch.

penthouse
wonder how you can sell Q5 and go to S5
I love my S5 but have thought in future I would like to move to Q5 if I could afford amplification ARC ref250
Do you think that would work?

[Penthouse-D]

I'll address Olaf first. You need to buy right. I sold my Q's and lost 10% of what I paid. I sold my Spectral gear with all my MIT cables to one guy. Loss about 5%. Miracle. I actually made money on my power cords to offset my loss. In the end, my loss was quite minimal. My enjoyment is far more important. As far as my new gear, I bought "right". I ended up pocketing A LOT of money in the end and I used the gear for a year. I would NEVER pair the Q5's with ARC250s. I had difficulty getting bottom end out of them with Spectral DMA360IIs. The Q5s are INCREDIBLY difficult to drive and to be honest, quite sterile sounding. At high volumes, OK low to medium not so good. Ask my NYC co-op board. The S5s are more efficient, more musical with FAR more punch at lower levels. I feel the Magico line is an ongoing experiment since aluminum was introduced. The Q 3 and 5's were the first of an evolving line. How can the huge 7s be more efficient than the smaller earlier models??? Sorry, but I feel the S5s are the sweet spot of the new generation. I need speakers that have "fullness" and "punch" like music is meant to be. Thanks