i think i could greatly enjoy a system with Magico's and darZTeel......with a good room and time to work it out. it would not be plug and play.
Does Magico have a "house sound", and if so, how would you describe it?
- Thread starter PeterA
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i think i could greatly enjoy a system with Magico's and darZTeel......with a good room and time to work it out. it would not be plug and play.
Really? Never heard anything close to that. I hear "detail" but not resolution, not the subtle stuff.
The Local Magico distributors are some of my closest friends in the industry. For years we've had rooms at our show across each other and beside two other groups we are close to. We have provided each other with gear and software and we have common clients as well. Thee most recent being an M3 owner who revamped his S5 Mk2 system almost completely for whom I provided the new table (AF 3 P), electronics (Andromeda, Pictor, Taurus Monos), MB cables, CMS amp stands and CS footers.
Peter asked for our personal impressions and that is all I provided. Can a Q3 sound warm sure. I never said it wasn't or could't be. If memory serves me right, I was the only one that voted Q3 when Peter was deciding on what to replace his Mini's with based on his Pass/SME/Matsudaira/Townshend/Vibraplane system while everybody else was shouting S5. Warmth is easy to add, speed not so much.
MY context is between the wood bodies, Q3, S5 Mks 1 and 2, S7 and M3 or roughly 12 years of Magico sound.
What thread was that Peter?
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The kind of stuff that is like the flavor of the studio it was recorded in, a sort of sound that comes with an entire album. I don't here serious character in the voices, I can hear their moisture level but not the essence of voice. Guitars lack that sort of goosebump factor of fuzzied but sharp edge to overdrive. Pianos sound really one noted, they don't have the right ring to the notes. It's a lot of stuff. I'd generally just say that maybe it's not the speakers fault entirely, but not combination of electronics have ever made them sound capable of really good resolution to me. And based on what I know about their box styles it makes perfect sense. The energy coming from the drivers can only reflect back into them because of the stoutness of their enclosures.
When I saw this thread I assumed it was an old one until I saw the date. Wow, Magico house sound. IMO it's changed drastically so many times. My first Magicos were V2s. They sounded wooden in the highs. Could not do cymbals convincingly (e.g. compared to Wilsons) and of course they lacked deep bass, but they were very musical in the midrange.
The Q series could easily sound sterile, thin and non-musical. I believe it takes effort to tame them as they fall on the lean side. Any mispositioning of the speaker and you get a very forward tipped up presentation. Get it right and they can sound spectacular.
The S series has been a favorite. Very robust and musical. My S5's, with two 10" woofers produced a lot more bass energy (think slam) than my M-Pros (three 10" woofers). I find my M-Pros tricky to balance out (compared to the S5) even though they are much better speakers in terms of transparency and resolution. I heard the S5 Mk II and was very impressed.
I've also heard the A3s a year and a half ago at a Florida show paired with Luxman integrated and setup exquisitely by Suncoast Audio and/or Magico's Peter McKay and I'll never forget how good they sounded.
I've heard the M3s a couple times and they didn't really move me. In some ways they sounded like a smaller version of my M-Pro but perhaps due to the electronics they didn't quite connect.
So much of the impression a speaker makes is due to setup and pairing of electronics. I remember hearing my M-Pros at an audio show; they sounded so bad that if I hadn't already owned a pair there's no way I would even consider them.
The Q series could easily sound sterile, thin and non-musical. I believe it takes effort to tame them as they fall on the lean side. Any mispositioning of the speaker and you get a very forward tipped up presentation. Get it right and they can sound spectacular.
The S series has been a favorite. Very robust and musical. My S5's, with two 10" woofers produced a lot more bass energy (think slam) than my M-Pros (three 10" woofers). I find my M-Pros tricky to balance out (compared to the S5) even though they are much better speakers in terms of transparency and resolution. I heard the S5 Mk II and was very impressed.
I've also heard the A3s a year and a half ago at a Florida show paired with Luxman integrated and setup exquisitely by Suncoast Audio and/or Magico's Peter McKay and I'll never forget how good they sounded.
I've heard the M3s a couple times and they didn't really move me. In some ways they sounded like a smaller version of my M-Pro but perhaps due to the electronics they didn't quite connect.
So much of the impression a speaker makes is due to setup and pairing of electronics. I remember hearing my M-Pros at an audio show; they sounded so bad that if I hadn't already owned a pair there's no way I would even consider them.
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Hmm. I don't quite follow any of your complaints. I guess you've heard Magico with the wrong electronics then. It just so happens that the most believable piano reproduction that I have heard was on the Magico M Project. One noted? That's an odd perception. I very much love my speakers on piano too, it's still pretty darn amazing. Yet there's just not the same coherence and "gestalt".
Armchair engineering imaginations.
And I have heard the A3 at a dealer and they sounded in the range from mediocre to just plain awful, depending on the kind of music. Just goes to show how impressions depend on circumstances.
Based on that audition, I would never in a million years consider A3s. I suppose they must be much better than what I heard, but I have a hard time imagining. I even heard a lot of what normally would go by cabinet colorations (awful), but it must have been speaker/room interaction? Or loose screws? (You see, I'm grasping for straws
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Between the driver and the enclosure? I doubt it. I believe that's as solid as man can make it. The midrange has it's own internal cone like shaped thing that helps dampen it, which I'm sure it needs some since they wouldn't want it to be damped too much in the driver itself or the miss-voicing with the lowers would be stand-out-noticeable. Maybe I'll post more later when I'm not so tired, but in general I just think you can't get all the way there with that type of setup. Maybe it's just the type of damping alone, but I doubt it.
I haven't heard a crazy inert speaker yet that I thought checked off a box for everything, because I think there's more to it than that.
Are you referring to these, these were the old M5 with wood on the sides that we heard at Gian's friend audio graffiti, with spectral pre, basis audio work of art, and MBL amps.
Loves the looks of the old Magicos, the M5, Mini and Mini II.
I mean, in the internal airspace. Like wool or a synthetic fibrous tangle or open-cell foam or somesuch.
In my opinion, Magico’s house sound over time is one of increasing transparency or no house sound. True to the source. Minimal artifacts.
With their latest iterations, the speakers step out of the way and provide a clear window that enables the listener focus on and enjoy the music.
Ken
With their latest iterations, the speakers step out of the way and provide a clear window that enables the listener focus on and enjoy the music.
Ken
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Thanks for that Mike - your point is clearer to me - can't say if I agree or disagree. Both are much talked about here on WBF. I have a couple Master Sigs myself and agree that the cartridge takes careful setup. Never setup any Magico speakers to know if they are the vdh Master Signature of speakers but I'm sure they too require attention.
Yes they seem to like loud and I think this is Folsom's argument above that they lose some subtle detail...what I THINK he meant was at lower volume levels. Many speakers lose believability quickly as the volume goes down.
I deleted my comment and decided I will no longer comment on equipment I don't have actual experience in my system. Live music doesn't grab my attention all the time. Do you always go wow on live performance?
