I guess Harley thinks this will preserve the Magico revenue stream, now that Valin has dumped them. Here's Harley on Alexandria 2, just a few short years ago:
"The Wilson Audio Alexandria X-2 Series 2 is hands-down the best loudspeaker I’ve had in my listening room in nearly 20 years of full-time reviewing. It possesses a remarkable combination of sheer explosive power and seemingly unlimited dynamics with a sublime delicacy, refinement, and subtlety. This is a speaker that “disappears” in the sense that its presentation—from the size and power of the climax of a symphony’s fourth movement to an intimate guitar and vocal performance—is determined purely by the recording.
I began this review by commenting on the X-2’s extraordinary sense of musical intimacy. At the end of the day, this is why we pursue musical realism in the home through high-performance audio equipment—to feel the composer or performer speaking directly to us. The X-2 achieves this illusive ideal better than any loudspeaker I know of."
Not much difference between his claim that Magico is the most significant product in the last 23 years and his declarations of love to Wilson.
The truth is you can't trust anyone in this hobby. The expert predictions, even if not blatantly self-interested, are often wrong. Look at economic predictions, sports predictions, etc. They are way off from reality. It's not any different for high-end audio. That's why the customers looking for audio gear need to take all expert opinions and average them out. Specific to speakers, Valin now thinks Rida-hoe is the best, Atkinson thinks MBL X-tremes are "IT", and Fremer just bought Alexandria XLF's. Those auditioning can probably add others to the list like Vivid Giya, TAD R1 (with warm amps!), YG, and another few. But the reality is that all of these are different. There is not one speaker that truly dominates another speaker on all criteria.
The criteria we evaluate the speakers to determine "BEST" is very personal. Is a Ferrari better than a Japanese mini-van? If you have a family and a dog, the 2 seat sports car is not better. For a way to meet women, I'll take the Ferrari! But the Japanese minivan is an engineering marvel in its own right: the gas mileage, the quality of manufacturing, manufacturing consistency, and even gas mileage of the minivan beats the Ferrari. However, for that visceral "UFCK YEAH" feeling, it's hard to beat the red Ferrari.
With speakers, we all have needs and objectives. Some are determined by how our references of what music sounds like have evolved. If you are a drummer in a rock band it will be different than if you are an audiophile listening to a female vocalist on your Quads for the last 35 years. Other times, people just get sick of what they have been listening to for years and want a change.
I agree that the magazines are not on the side of the customer. They have their own goals. The magazines will never compare the differences between the gear for the consumer, and their "BEST" declarations are useless. We have to average the expert opinions, shorten the list of gear to audition, and go listen for our selves. Once we do the due diligence and figure out what the best is for us, no one will be able to convince us of anything else by calling it "best".
