Does Magico have a "house sound", and if so, how would you describe it?

bonzo75

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You seem to be going Freudian on us today Graham have you been talking to Bob ?;)

What happened to Bob, he hasn't been around
 

the sound of Tao

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You are our teacher Tao. We are your students.
Very much figuring I’m just another learner Peter ;). I do love the conversations here as they are challenging and rich. I am sure I seem a bit random at times and hope I’m not too far off topic but I genuinely seek to understand. It’s the diversity of perspectives here that create so much opportunity to bust out and grow.
 

bonzo75

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Lagonda

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What happened to Bob, he hasn't been around
Bob is stuck in temporary digital limbo, because he let his google OCD take overhand by posting overly political satire. I hope the moderators will allow him back soon. He is a wonderful, positive person that got overstimulated by coronavirus and other current events :)
 

Lagonda

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caesar

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I think everyone is going to have a different perspective on "Magico Sound" once you hear A5s and future Magico offerings....betcha;)

Hi Bob,
You ever pair Magico with Jadis? Not sure of the bass prowess, but I'd bet it's one of the most natural combinations the speaker is capable of.
 

Rhapsody

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Hi Bob,
You ever pair Magico with Jadis? Not sure of the bass prowess, but I'd bet it's one of the most natural combinations the speaker is capable of.

Yes, for tube demos on Magico I use an I-88 90 Watt Class A integrated or the JP80/JA200's on any of the Magico models. Jadis and tubes sound REALLY GOOD. VERY dimensional with nice layering but with high resolution. Bass is full bodied with texture to the notes but holds together nicely with the sealed cabinets.
 

alvin1118

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Magico A3.jpg

If MAGICO has a 'house-sound', in my humble opinion, it's a good one! Gotta try different amps to find out the best match!
 

caesar

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Yes, for tube demos on Magico I use an I-88 90 Watt Class A integrated or the JP80/JA200's on any of the Magico models. Jadis and tubes sound REALLY GOOD. VERY dimensional with nice layering but with high resolution. Bass is full bodied with texture to the notes but holds together nicely with the sealed cabinets.


Bob,

Thanks. Great to hear that it’s a successful combination!

To me, anecdotally, Jadis is one of the most venerated, exclusive audio brands. A true timeless classic that communicates the soul of the music. I think of it as Hermès of audio, versus, say a trendy Gucci.

But unfortunately, it rarely gets media coverage. So newer information may be less available to those willing to do the research before a purchase.

As new SS brands have been released and hyped up for the popular hard-to-drive box speakers, are people still aware of Jadis ? Do people understand this brand and ask for it, or do you have to introduce it to people to awaken their interest ?
 
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microstrip

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Bob,

Thanks. Great to hear that it’s a successful combination!

To me, anecdotally, Jadis is one of the most venerated, exclusive audio brands. A true timeless classic that communicates the soul of the music. I think of it as Hermès of audio, versus, say a trendy Gucci.
(...)

Jadis are excellent amplifiers , I went though some of them. But curiously IMHO the best of the brand I owned was the JP80 preamplifer - I could happily live with a JP80 and a pair of JA200's, I have a feeling they would sound very good with the Q7mk2 ... ;)

Jadis ignored market trends - for example they did not have remotes for the preamplifiers, no easy adjustments of bias in amplifiers, obliging people to buy very expensive matched tube sets for their equipment, no handles to help moving them. Also they went though several distribution problems in several countries, something that severely affects brand reputation. There is no consistent discourse or technical information about the brand online from the factory - just rumors. See what happened with the last JA 200 Stereophile review ...

IMHO when a brand keeps the same model designations for 40 years the evolution must be very transparent. Unfortunately no one knows seems to know exactly what are the different mk's of Jadis models along the years.

Just to end the JA200 sounded delicious in vintage Soundlab A1's. Colored, the bass was too full and the combination lacked articulation, but a real pleasure to listen.
 

Rhapsody

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Bob,

Thanks. Great to hear that it’s a successful combination!

To me, anecdotally, Jadis is one of the most venerated, exclusive audio brands. A true timeless classic that communicates the soul of the music. I think of it as Hermès of audio, versus, say a trendy Gucci.

But unfortunately, it rarely gets media coverage. So newer information may be less available to those willing to do the research before a purchase.

As new SS brands have been released and hyped up for the popular hard-to-drive box speakers, are people still aware of Jadis ? Do people understand this brand and ask for it, or do you have to introduce it to people to awaken their interest ?

Hi Caeser,

Great questions. I think every dealer would have different answers from their experiences. I sell a lot of Kondo gear, which of course is all tube and contrary to many opinions the customers love their systems and enjoy their music via their Kondo systems.

Besides Kondo I have almost zero interest in tube purchases at this point. Whether it's Jadis, Zesto or a few used pieces I have from other manufacturers, which all sound great, pretty much very little interest.

I just saw Micros post and I agree with all he says specifically about Jadis. Lot's of history. I owned a Defy 7 in the early 80's.

I think for me, located in NYC it's more that the SS has become so good in my estimation that people that are buying are guys with lot's of $$$ and most of them just want good sounding systems. They are not obsessed audiophiles like us. They want good sound and zero hassle. SS now gives very good sound and zero hassle.

You will always have tube lovers, I understand how good they sound. Although my experience has been, besides Kondo, there are not that many tube buyers out there and actually it has been that way for a few years now in my world.
 

Rhapsody

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SS has always been good with zero hassles and good sound ...

Just saying :)

Agree, but I think it's gotten better over the years across the board, just like digital has. Golden age for audio imho, if any issue it's there's too many choices. I would have a really hard time picking one system. Look what happened to me:)

I will add that for most of my 50 years of listening up until recently I felt like I needed tubes somewhere in the system. I still like all tubes or at least some tubes in a system, BUT I primarily listen to all SS, without one tube in the system, for my personal listening. I never think about whether it's SS or tubes....it's just music.
 
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morricab

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Bob,

Thanks. Great to hear that it’s a successful combination!

To me, anecdotally, Jadis is one of the most venerated, exclusive audio brands. A true timeless classic that communicates the soul of the music. I think of it as Hermès of audio, versus, say a trendy Gucci.

But unfortunately, it rarely gets media coverage. So newer information may be less available to those willing to do the research before a purchase.

As new SS brands have been released and hyped up for the popular hard-to-drive box speakers, are people still aware of Jadis ? Do people understand this brand and ask for it, or do you have to introduce it to people to awaken their interest ?

I have often liked the sound of Jadis. I was at a friend in Richmond (UK) listening to a pair of Focal Mezzo Utopia Be speakers (not my usual preferred speaker but that is what he had setup at that time) and he had a Jadis Defy 7MkIII with special Siltech wiring. We were driving it directly from a Mark Levinson No. 390s cd player (at least I think so, I don't recall a preamp) and that sounded GOOD! This was about 10 years ago and I still remember it well. Never heard a Focal sound that good before or since.
 
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Rhapsody

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Jadis does sound very good. I love the 90 Watt Class A integrated, it even has a dac:) As good as the way the Jadis products sound almost as important to me is that now I would rate the Jadis products as very reliable. I haven't sold that many pieces, maybe 20 total, but they are all working and I never have anyone call with any issues other than if they want more tubes.
 
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Rhapsody

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Hate to disagree with you...but I will...

I didn't bother yesterday, but in years gone by I used to hear some dreadful sounding SS, ESPECIALLY vs tubes. I think it's over the last 5-10 years that SS has, across the board, improved sonically.

For the most part SS has been pretty reliable for me, but the sound in the last 5 years has become very good. Again, just from what I have personally experienced.
 

caesar

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Hate to disagree with you...but I will...

Yeah, we are getting into personal preference territory - which kind of is this hobby and 75% of all posts on web-boards and arguments, but it's hard to find good SS... But there is a handful of exceptions: Symphonic Line, Gryphon, Luxman (on easy to drive speakers), nothing else jumps into mind immediately... slim pickings. :) :) :)
 

caesar

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Hi Caeser,

Great questions. I think every dealer would have different answers from their experiences. I sell a lot of Kondo gear, which of course is all tube and contrary to many opinions the customers love their systems and enjoy their music via their Kondo systems.

Besides Kondo I have almost zero interest in tube purchases at this point. Whether it's Jadis, Zesto or a few used pieces I have from other manufacturers, which all sound great, pretty much very little interest.

I just saw Micros post and I agree with all he says specifically about Jadis. Lot's of history. I owned a Defy 7 in the early 80's.

I think for me, located in NYC it's more that the SS has become so good in my estimation that people that are buying are guys with lot's of $$$ and most of them just want good sounding systems. They are not obsessed audiophiles like us. They want good sound and zero hassle. SS now gives very good sound and zero hassle.

You will always have tube lovers, I understand how good they sound. Although my experience has been, besides Kondo, there are not that many tube buyers out there and actually it has been that way for a few years now in my world.

Hi Bob,
Thanks. Very interesting. Yeah, I am curious if this is specific to your clientele or whether it's a general trend in the industry.

We also hear about vinyl "coming back". But my gut is telling me that "Dad" or "Grandpa" buying this expensive gear is tired, fat, lazy, got bad knees or bad hips, and doesn't want to get up from his chair. Other than to grab his phone or ipad from the charger, so he can tap on the Roon playlist.

The good news is that people are interested in "good sound". Any young people or all alter cockers?
 

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