Magico Q7:" most impressive product in 23 years of TAS reviews" (R. Harley)

[stereo]

the title of the thread says it all: the Q7 is an unique achievement in the history of audio, and I am glad that Robert Harley arrives at the same conclusion (check his review in another thread)
After 2 years auditioning pretty much everything on the market, listening to the Q7 in a good system was such a musical shock that I made the jump and ordered one. Finally a company which brings real innovation to the market! After listening to more than fifteen 100k+ super speakers, I started to believe ultra high end audio is more about good marketing and big boxes than real sound improvement vs. cheaper speakers.

The Q7 is so transparent that it deserves the best - not because it will not work well with "normal" upstream components, more because it is so good that it will never be the limiting factor. I am building a dedicated auditorium to host it. Very live room. 70 diffusers.... 27 Helmholtz resonators tuned on room nodes... Design by SMT in Sweden.
Here a simulation of the room:


The large glass wall is not a problem because I will have in front of it 3 large S-wing transparent diffusers.
I still need some time to finish the construction (need to build a box in box...). Room dimension is 23 feet x 19 feet. Height of ceiling is 9.2feet, with 3 feet of bass trap above the ceiling. the SMT diffusers used on side wall and back wall really make the walls disappear. You can position the speaker 30cm from the side wall without any negative effect.

Power supply is completely dedicated, from an Equi=tech 10kW wall cabinet. JPS lab in-wall AC wires. Furutech GTX power outlets.

Upstream components:
Source: I have right now an APL NWO-Master CD-SACD player. I will probably sell it when my Audeeva ComBrio arrives. I will use the Audeeva music server as single source.
DAC: still listening a lot. Nothing which fully convinces me so far. I still have an Alpha DAC or can use the APL as DAC as a short term solution....
Amplifiers: shortlisting the Big Dartzeel (I still have a Dart 108 which sounds fantastic), Constellation Centaur, various Vitus amps, and the next generation of Soulution to be launched pretty soon. I have not been convinced by any of the large tube amps. They always sound a bit sluggish on the Q7... like if they cannot follow the speed of the speaker, but I have not listened to all of them, of course.
Cables: boring topic... any suggestions welcomed!

Besides, I have also a pair of Q1 in my living room, to enjoy good music until my music room will be ready: I run it with a very simple system, with only a Devialet as upstream component. I could also use my NWO feeding the Dartzeel 108, but I want something as small as possible (WAF...). I don't regret a minute the Evolution acoustics MM3 I had before, the Q1 sounds great with the Devialet, more transparent and less colored than the MM3.

 

[MadFloyd]

Stereo, what type of music do you listen to?

 

[stereo]

Stereo, what type of music do you listen to?

70% jazz. 25% classical, mainly baroque. 5% rock and electronic

 

[Gregadd]

Congratulations and thank you for posting here.

 

[MadFloyd]

70% jazz. 25% classical, mainly baroque. 5% rock and electronic

How do the Q7s fare with rock?

 

[stereo]

How do the Q7s fare with rock?

amazing if recording quality is good, crap if you use a crappy CD.... same problem on all transparent and linear speakers.
Bass is great: effortless, extended, a lot of slam, a lot of micro-information, no distortion, woofers stop very fast as it is a closed design.
I listened to a lot of jazz Drums solos, or solos from marcus Miller on electric bass..... only danger with Q7 is that distortion is so low that you keep cranking up the volume!

 

[LL21]

amazing if recording quality is good, crap if you use a crappy CD.... same problem on all transparent and linear speakers.
Bass is great: effortless, extended, a lot of slam, a lot of micro-information, no distortion, woofers stop very fast as it is a closed design.
I listened to a lot of jazz Drums solos, or solos from marcus Miller on electric bass..... only danger with Q7 is that distortion is so low that you keep cranking up the volume!

Be VERY careful please on volume with these effortless, low distortion speakers. I have a good friend who listened for 3 straight hours in a small room at rock concert levels to a pair of Alexandria X2 Series 2s...he woke up the next morning and his hearing never really returned. He had to get earing aids which he now wears...shame.

 

[DaveyF]

Be VERY careful please on volume with these effortless, low distortion speakers. I have a good friend who listened for 3 straight hours in a small room at rock concert levels to a pair of Alexandria X2 Series 2s...he woke up the next morning and his hearing never really returned. He had to get earing aids which he now wears...shame.

Lloyd, listening on any speaker at rock concert levels is a great recipe for hearing damage.

 

[LL21]

Lloyd, listening on any speaker at rock concert levels is a great recipe for hearing damage.

true! true! I guess my point was that with 'regular' speakers, most people end up turning the volume down due to the distortion...whereas with some of these ultra-low distortion, limitless dynamics speakers, you dont realize exactly how loud it is in the room because there is so little distortion...untill you actually shout and cannot hear yourself. I am super serious about this...it was mind blowing when i first realized how loudly i could crank the big Wilsons without ever cringing from the normal distortion i expected to hear. It was thrilling, and after 30 seconds...i remembered my friends advice who now has hearing aids...and immediately turned it down.

 

[Gregadd]

When I listened to the Magico Q5 I was mightily impressed. However I thought this is exactly what I would
expect in a 60 thousand dollar speaker.

Where is $185k worth of innovation?

 

[ack]

Congratulations on the purchase and a very nice room. Yes, Harley has a great reputation around here.

 

[DaveyF]

When I listened to the Magico Q5 I was mightily impressed. However I thought this is exactly what I would
expect in a 60 thousand dollar speaker.

Where is $165k worth of innovation?

+1. It certainly doesn't appear to be in the cost of the cabinet or the drivers/ xover. For $165K, I expect the musicians to be with me in the room, making me a cup of tea. BUT that's just me..

 

[microstrip]

When I listened to the Magico Q5 I was mightily impressed. However I thought this is exactly what I would
expect in a 60 thousand dollar speaker.

Where is $165k worth of innovation?

I only listened to the Q7 for a few minutes in a non optimized system, taken from the boxes - surely not a representative audition. But these few minutes were enough to show me that the Q7 is not just a bigger Q5 - its resolution all over the bandwidth and holographic stability surpassed by far the best I heard from a Q5.

BTW, I do not care if a loudspeaker is innovative or not, for me what counts is the final result (and the price, although the Q7 are beyond my reach).

 

[microstrip]

+1. It certainly doesn't appear to be in the cost of the cabinet or the drivers/ xover. For $165K, I expect the musicians to be with me in the room, making me a cup of tea. BUT that's just me..

Do you have a room large enough to host a symphonic orchestra?

 

[Gregadd]

I only listened to the Q7 for a few minutes in a non optimized system, taken from the boxes - surely not a representative audition. But these few minutes were enough to show me that the Q7 is not just a bigger Q5 - its resolution all over the bandwidth and holographic stability surpassed by far the best I heard from a Q5.

BTW, I do not care if a loudspeaker is innovative or not, for me what counts is the final result (and the price, although the Q7 are beyond my reach).

microstrip I have the utmost admiration for Alon and his products. When you call a product the most "impressive product in 23 years of tas reviews" you gotta do more than put some drivers in a box. I assume he did. I want to know that it is.

 

[microstrip]

microstrip I have the utmost admiration for Alon and his products. When you call a product the most "impressive product in 23 years of tas reviews" you gotta do more than put some drivers in a box. I assume he did. I want to know that it is.

May be you should go through the TAS review. It says a lot about it. And perhaps listen to them ...

 

[rbbert]

Congratulations on the purchase and a very nice room. Yes, Harley has a great reputation around here.

Shouldn't there be a smiley with this statement?? IIRC many of Harley's opinions and actions have been hammered here (and rightly so). Whatever he may have done well in the past, in the last couple of years he seems to have lost his marbles (IMHO).

 

[rockitman]

The biggest issue for me is with the big weight of the speaker...each a 750lb. box. With Wilson, the modular design allows for 350lb as the heaviest piece to move. Ground level installs, no problem with the Q7, but can you imagine an upstairs or basement install ? Yikes !

 

[mep]

You have to be like Jack and have an elevator in your house. How cool.

 

[ack]

Shouldn't there be a smiley with this statement?? IIRC many of Harley's opinions and actions have been hammered here (and rightly so). Whatever he may have done well in the past, in the last couple of years he seems to have lost his marbles (IMHO).

Yes I was being sarcastic - a typical characteristic of many of my posts... and my personality