Chronosonic XVX.

[Steve Williams]

Can anyone describe how the sound of top Wilson, Magico and YG differ? What are different characteristic, sound preferences of Magico buyers vs Wilson vs YG? I am very curious how one choose Magico over Wilson or vice versa YG too, given same price level.

All boils down to personal preference IMHO

 

[asiufy]

i know everyone is biased toward Wilson here. Hahaha!

but stop interpreting the reviewer’s words in the way you want things to be. he said bad recordings sound bad! i know truth hurts, but if you can’t accept reality, you will never grow and improve.

I can't accept YOUR reality as MY reality. Did you read what I wrote? I listen 99% of the time to bad recordings, including Tidal streams.
The reviewer clearly did not meant to say that you can't listen to bad recordings on a Wilson, like you imply, only to say that they present bad recordings as bad recordings, like they should.

 

[Hi-FiGuy]

Once upon a time I heard a bad recording on a really amazing system and it kinda but a damper on my listening experience...at the time.
I then went home and listened to the same track on my system and it mad me realize how damn good the amazing system made the bad recording sound after all.
If that is what the Wilson is doing then rock on.

 

[howiebrou]

I had a lovely session at a friend's place a few days ago. These might be the first pair of Wilsons that I like.

 

[bonzo75]

Can anyone describe how the sound of top Wilson, Magico and YG differ? What are different characteristic, sound preferences of Magico buyers vs Wilson vs YG? I am very curious how one choose Magico over Wilson or vice versa YG too, given same price level.

I can try but not on a Wilson or Magico thread

Though by top which model. If you want someone who heard Chronosonic/WAMM, MPro, and Sonja you might have to wait. previously Alexandria, Q7 etc would be considered top. Since they all have a house sound hardly matters

 

[Tango]

I can try but not on a Wilson or Magico thread

Though by top which model. If you want someone who heard Chronosonic/WAMM, MPro, and Sonja you might have to wait. previously Alexandria, Q7 etc would be considered top. Since they all have a house sound hardly matters

Make it easy. Alexandria vs Q7 vs Sonja 1.3.

 

[bonzo75]

Wilson has much more bass weight than Magico. Magico sounds quite light compared to Wilson. Those who prefer Magico over Wilson in bass will find Magico's bass cleaner and faster and more detailed, and Wilson's muddier.

Magico disappear more easily than Wilson in a room. They are more coherent than Wilsons. In Wilson, once you go over Sasha 2, coherence becomes a challenge. They sound like separate speakers, you can hear the instruments through in separate sections.

Wilson is warmer than Magico. It is also more colored than Magico, though I also find Magico tonally grey. It has more density than Magico. Magico sounds more detailed than wilson.

If you listen to a Wilson room, the overall feeling will be off a larger sound, more density, warmth, weight. If you go to Magico room overall feeling will be cleaner, faster, more transparent and coherent, less room interaction. Those who prefer Wilson will find Magico colder. I have no real preference for one over the other. I find both not natural in tone and timbre, and they project sound to create artificial soundstages. I find them both quite slow though Magico is faster than Wilson. Tone, micro and macro dynamics, is quite poor by horn standards

The advantages of bass weight in Wilson is best felt using an amp like Dagostino. Using valves reduces this but adds decay which for me becomes too much colour. Those who like Wilson with valves seem more focused on midrange, but then I wonder why they simply don't buy Martin Logans. Many who buy Wilson get taken in by the bass, which I feel is a non-natural artefact designed to impress at shows. I remember one of the manufacturers of a competing cone telling me he wanted to make the next flagship to compete with Alexandria on bass. He really respected Alexandria's level of bass, and felt he was losing customers on that front though his speaker had better coherence and tone.

YG - I prefer YG to both, though some online discussions seem to suggest people finding similarities with both YG and Magico. I have no idea why, except they listen to YG at shows. YG is on Magico side of neutral rather than Wilson, and disappears easily as well. It feels more like an electrostat and has better decay than Magico and I find it more musical. At least at Hailey level, the bass is lighter than Magico and I feel subs are required.

Actually, Avalon if well set up has very good coherence through the drivers, very good bass, and timbre. Very natural. and disappears well. But requires a lot of room. In cones, B&W D3 series also has good weight, one that I like. Zellaton has possibly the best midrange, like a ribbon planar, at least when heard with FM. Stenheim is similar size to Magico with more bass and soundstage and efficiency.

 

[jdza]

Wilson has much more bass weight than Magico. Magico sounds quite light compared to Wilson. Those who prefer Magico over Wilson in bass will find Magico's bass cleaner and faster and more detailed, and Wilson's muddier.

Magico disappear more easily than Wilson in a room. They are more coherent than Wilsons. In Wilson, once you go over Sasha 2, coherence becomes a challenge. They sound like separate speakers, you can hear the instruments through in separate sections.

Wilson is warmer than Magico. It is also more colored than Magico. It has more density than Magico.

If you listen to a Wilson room, the overall feeling will be off a larger sound, more density, warmth, weight. If you go to Magico room overall feeling will be cleaner, faster, more transparent and coherent, less room interaction. Those who prefer Wilson will find Magico colder. I have no real preference for one over the other

The advantages of bass weight in Wilson is best felt using an amp like Dagostino. Using valves reduces this but adds decay which for me becomes too much colour. Those who like Wilson with valves seem more focused on midrange, but then I wonder why they simply don't buy Martin Logans. Many who buy Wilson get taken in by the bass, which I feel is a non-natural artefact designed to impress at shows. I remember one of the manufacturers of a competing cone telling me he wanted to make the next flagship to compete with Alexandria on bass. He really respected Alexandria's level of bass, and felt he was losing customers on that front though his speaker had better coherence and tone.

YG - I prefer YG to both, though some online discussions seem to suggest people finding similarities with both YG and Magico. I have no idea why, except they listen to YG at shows. YG is on Magico side of neutral rather than Wilson, and disappears easily as well. It feels more like an electrostat and has better decay than Magico and I find it more musical. At least at Hailey level, the bass is lighter than Magico and I feel subs are required.

Actually, Avalon if well set up has very good coherence through the drivers, very good bass, and timbre. Very natural. and disappears well. But requires a lot of room. In cones, B&W D3 series also has good weight, one that I like. Zellaton has possibly the best midrange, like a ribbon planar, at least when heard with FM. Stenheim is similar size to Magico with more bass and soundstage and efficiency.

Dear Kedar

To me this is the most valuable post you have ever written. I have not heard any of these speakers and have no reason to do so. Nevertheless between all the prose and flames one's interest does get piqued.

With these concise words of yours I now know exactly what to expect even if our personal tastes should differ (no idea if it does).

I am so tired of reports and reviews consisting of many pages of detail descriptions of music and how it does this and that,yet at the end not knowing if the bloody thing is bright or dull, bass loose or tight etc. In the end of those reviews I have a comprehesive idea of the mushrooms and little blue flowers in the forest but absolutely no idea how the forest itself looks.

Well done!

 

[Tango]

Wilson has much more bass weight than Magico. Magico sounds quite light compared to Wilson. Those who prefer Magico over Wilson in bass will find Magico's bass cleaner and faster and more detailed, and Wilson's muddier.

Magico disappear more easily than Wilson in a room. They are more coherent than Wilsons. In Wilson, once you go over Sasha 2, coherence becomes a challenge. They sound like separate speakers, you can hear the instruments through in separate sections.

Wilson is warmer than Magico. It is also more colored than Magico. It has more density than Magico.

If you listen to a Wilson room, the overall feeling will be off a larger sound, more density, warmth, weight. If you go to Magico room overall feeling will be cleaner, faster, more transparent and coherent, less room interaction. Those who prefer Wilson will find Magico colder. I have no real preference for one over the other

The advantages of bass weight in Wilson is best felt using an amp like Dagostino. Using valves reduces this but adds decay which for me becomes too much colour. Those who like Wilson with valves seem more focused on midrange, but then I wonder why they simply don't buy Martin Logans. Many who buy Wilson get taken in by the bass, which I feel is a non-natural artefact designed to impress at shows. I remember one of the manufacturers of a competing cone telling me he wanted to make the next flagship to compete with Alexandria on bass. He really respected Alexandria's level of bass, and felt he was losing customers on that front though his speaker had better coherence and tone.

YG - I prefer YG to both, though some online discussions seem to suggest people finding similarities with both YG and Magico. I have no idea why, except they listen to YG at shows. YG is on Magico side of neutral rather than Wilson, and disappears easily as well. It feels more like an electrostat and has better decay than Magico and I find it more musical. At least at Hailey level, the bass is lighter than Magico and I feel subs are required.

Actually, Avalon if well set up has very good coherence through the drivers, very good bass, and timbre. Very natural. and disappears well. But requires a lot of room. In cones, B&W D3 series also has good weight, one that I like. Zellaton has possibly the best midrange, like a ribbon planar, at least when heard with FM. Stenheim is similar size to Magico with more bass and soundstage and efficiency.

You write like this and you don't look too much like an ass my friend . Fascinating how well you described the differences in a minute. From what you described, I wonder why anyone would want to add subs to big Wilson. Magico and YG I could relate.

 

[bonzo75]

You write like this and you don't look too much like an ass my friend . Fascinating how well you described the differences in a minute. From what you described, I wonder why anyone would want to add subs to big Wilson. Magico and YG I could relate.

Because they love weight and bass, so they enhance it where possible. Also you do need subs below 40 or so for all three. Wilson has a fatter Midbass than the other two. Magico and YG are more easily fittable in a room than Wilson, and there might not be space for subs. Personally, most cones should be teamed with subs as it is easy to do it with them, you don't face similar challenges to panels

 

[bonzo75]

You write like this and you don't look too much like an ass my friend

I thought you liked ass. For Wilson Magico owners I might appear to be the other side

 

[bonzo75]

Just noticed something very interesting. If you read many of my posts on Altec, tad, Radian, etc, I talk about how AER and TAD are on violin and nuance compared to the Altec, how Altec is on cello and tympani, etc. I also used similar in a vdh post recently.

However, I reread my above description and realised that I had left out using instruments here. This is what automatically happened, unconsciously, as one just cannot think of these speakers in terms of reproduction for violin, cello, tympani, etc

 

[Tango]

I had a lovely session at a friend's place a few days ago. These might be the first pair of Wilsons that I like. View attachment 67156 View attachment 67154
View attachment 67155

I like too. Must be because of that MIT Articulation module.

 

[howiebrou]

I like too. Must be because of that MIT Articulation module.

Apparently the MIT cables blew the Siltech Triple Crown into the weeds...

 

[Tango]

Apparently the MIT cables blew the Siltech Triple Crown into the weeds...

And my Italian home made cable blew the MIT into muddy water.

 

[howiebrou]

And my Italian home made cable blew the MIT into muddy water.

I'll ask him to try!

 

[Al M.]

Wilson has much more bass weight than Magico. Magico sounds quite light compared to Wilson. Those who prefer Magico over Wilson in bass will find Magico's bass cleaner and faster and more detailed, and Wilson's muddier.

Magico disappear more easily than Wilson in a room. They are more coherent than Wilsons. In Wilson, once you go over Sasha 2, coherence becomes a challenge. They sound like separate speakers, you can hear the instruments through in separate sections.

Wilson is warmer than Magico. It is also more colored than Magico, though I also find Magico tonally grey. It has more density than Magico. Magico sounds more detailed than wilson.

If you listen to a Wilson room, the overall feeling will be off a larger sound, more density, warmth, weight. If you go to Magico room overall feeling will be cleaner, faster, more transparent and coherent, less room interaction. Those who prefer Wilson will find Magico colder. I have no real preference for one over the other. I find both not natural in tone and timbre, and they project sound to create artificial soundstages. I find them both quite slow though Magico is faster than Wilson

The advantages of bass weight in Wilson is best felt using an amp like Dagostino. Using valves reduces this but adds decay which for me becomes too much colour. Those who like Wilson with valves seem more focused on midrange, but then I wonder why they simply don't buy Martin Logans. Many who buy Wilson get taken in by the bass, which I feel is a non-natural artefact designed to impress at shows. I remember one of the manufacturers of a competing cone telling me he wanted to make the next flagship to compete with Alexandria on bass. He really respected Alexandria's level of bass, and felt he was losing customers on that front though his speaker had better coherence and tone.

YG - I prefer YG to both, though some online discussions seem to suggest people finding similarities with both YG and Magico. I have no idea why, except they listen to YG at shows. YG is on Magico side of neutral rather than Wilson, and disappears easily as well. It feels more like an electrostat and has better decay than Magico and I find it more musical. At least at Hailey level, the bass is lighter than Magico and I feel subs are required.

Actually, Avalon if well set up has very good coherence through the drivers, very good bass, and timbre. Very natural. and disappears well. But requires a lot of room. In cones, B&W D3 series also has good weight, one that I like. Zellaton has possibly the best midrange, like a ribbon planar, at least when heard with FM. Stenheim is similar size to Magico with more bass and soundstage and efficiency.

Magico can sound tonally grey, but does not necessarily so. In fact, it's tone can be very colorful and saturated. It critically depends on source, amplification, room acoustics, speaker setup. It's transparent to all those things.

But hey, I get it, as fascinating as your post is, it's not about inconvenient subtleties .

 

[bonzo75]

Magico can sound tonally grey, but does not necessarily so. In fact, it's tone can be very colorful and saturated. It critically depends on source, amplification, room acoustics, speaker setup. It's transparent to all those things.

But hey, I get it, as fascinating as your post is, it's not about inconvenient subtleties .

No it is. But we got your point when you took up half the Magico house sound thread

 

[andromedaaudio]

And my Italian home made cable blew the MIT into muddy water.

An my pure copper industrial cable crimp connectors dumped all other cable brands into the abyss

Ps i stole these out of the electricians workshop at work i didnt really pay for them

 

[andromedaaudio]

Regarding wilson s bass .
I think one has to make a clear distinction between their older designs with a 10 12,5 - 15 Inch woofer (focal ) and their newer designs ( paper membrane )which go up to max 12,5 or 13 inch and have this different membrane material and probably also a different motor/ efficiency

I have unfortunately not heard the newer designs yet , because i live to much in the past
I agree a lot with Bonzo ( i have never heard YG s though i think ) but for me most magicos simply not have enough high quality bass , because they dont cover the whole freq range audibly
What use is a 20- 30 hz tone if its at -10 - 15 db and or reproduced with a small size membrane