Magico FINALLY finds Musicality!!! - Thanks to CAT Preamp and Monoblocks!!!!!!

[asiufy]

Sure, I have thought about this. But even the best model in the Q series, the Q3, has a little hot tweeter and lacks BEITZIM in the bass. No so with this new S5 and CAT.

Prior to this, the best I heard magico was with the extremely powerful and very expensive Balabo amps. (Interesting that no one mentions these anymore, but I thought they were seriously good.) But I think a lot of things have changed in their design over time.

Good!

As for the Q3, that's the particular model I have, and the one I've played with the most. I can tell you that you can go from very fast, tuneful bass to anemic with just a change of power cords.

As you said, some amplifiers can be slow and mushy, and the Magicos will let that through. I have never heard the BAlabo amps on Magico, but I heard much cheaper amps, like the Hegel, sound incredible on my Q3s.


cheers,
alex

 

[Folsom]

The Magico speakers at Axpona do sound rather good.

 

[dctom]

Heard the original S5s a couple of years ago at an absolute sounds demo and could not understand the hype. Yes there was transparency but a totally un-involving flat sound, lacking in lower end information. Guess that is why they had to bring out a mark 2 version shortly afterwards.
Maybe these new ones are better.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I have heard several models through the years.. The original Mini struck me as incredibly good but somewhat bass -shy. The V2 was and remains a good speaker, the Q5 is IMHO the game changer. An often forgotten speaker that could easily figure in the conversation of best around at any price... if it weren't so damn difficult to drive. The bass of a good sealed sub, the midband of a Quad ESL and the highs of the best dome tweeter you want to think of... It is to repeat very, very difficult to drive. 300 w/ stout watts is the minimum and you better not think about cranking it in in a large room (They can play stupendously loud with no sign of strain), you may need over 1000 w/ch @ 8 Ohm and the darn speaker is nominally less than I believe 6 ohms and 85 dB/w/m on paper but realistically a 82 dB/W/m very low sensitivity speaker.. Excellent it remains .. The Q3 hit the sweet spot. Many of the Q5 qualities, not all mind you but a normal speaker to drive (almost normal ) .. Then they made the Q7... nuf' said. I have not heard the M-Project yet but it seems to be better than the Q5, that is to me saying a lot

It remains my opinion that the Q3 paired with good subs ( No! I don't buy into any of the Q-subs hyperbole, they are overly-expensive subs for which there is a market segment more driven by buying power than sonic results and one can get better results with more subwoofers at saner price). The Q3 will outperform many of the TOL speakers at the current but by now customary insane price High End Audio is known for. And the Q3 would be happy with a variety of amps from mid-power to welder-wattage ones. What you give them is what they will reproduce, warts and all .. If you are looking for a beautifying speaker look elsewhere. And Magico has been doing this for years. It is not the new 2016, models that are good they have been good for years and in part explains their popularity. The other part of their success is excellent Business strategy and execution. In that sense similar to Wilson.
Welcome to the club, Caesar, it was a long time coming. It was worth the wait. You've seen the Magic .err. light .

 

[MadFloyd]

And it wasn't just me. Talking to many people at the show, many said to me this was the first time they have ever heard magico sounds great.

I would believe that based on hearing the Q7Mk2 and M-Pro at Axpona last year. Neither sounded very good at that show.

 

[marty]

Marty, I respectfully disagree. The Magico Mini II that Peter A. and Microstrip have, as well as the Q1, are among the most musical speakers I have heard. They are both pre-M Pro.

Thanks for that comment. I am not familiar with the Mini series in any way. My comments referred to their pre M Pro full range speakers.

 

[mauidan]

I'm sure the D'Agostino sound good, you just can't tell when you're in pain from volume.

Early visitors to Paragon Sight and Sound's room, which was headlined by equipment from Wilson, dCS, Harmonic Resolution, D'Agostino, Transparent, and Brinkmann, had no idea that the suboptimal sound they heard was due to a mis-adjusted Stromtank that was outputting far less power than it should have. Once that major little glitch was addressed, and the system played loud enough to drown out some of the loudest non-stop air conditioning I have ever heard in a hotel set-up, the system sounded fantastic on the CD layer of a supremely colorful Pentatone SACD of Stravinsky's L'Histoire du Soldat. Very few systems are willing to depict bright horns exactly as they sound, because most end up discomforting listeners if not piercing eardrums. The new D'Agostino Progression mono amplifiers ($39,000/pair), along with their Momentum preamp ($35,000) and Momentum phono stage ($28,000), combined with Wilson Audio Alexia loudspeakers ($52,000/pair), dCS Rossini CD player ($28,499), and Transparent XL series cabling are not afraid to transmit musical truth, bright though it may be, because musical truth, done right and at correct volume, is actually more pleasing (to these ears) than damped-down and sugared-up highs. Might I add that the sustain and decay of a marimba on another CD was world-class in its realism? Bravo to a major system that also included Brinkmann's Spyder turntable ($17,490) and PI cartridge ($2490).

Read more at http://www.stereophile.com/content/axpona-lower-level-vistas#VdUHIDVccghdlHXd.99

 

[rblnr]

The Magico speakers at Axpona do sound rather good.

Agreed. Anyone know the price point?

I thought the tube driven Wilson room was disappointing at best. Among other things, if you moved your head slightly off-center, the sound came directly from the speaker you moved toward.

 

[jeff1225]

I was floored by the sound of the CAT room a few CES' ago. They were paired with MBL speakers, which are never enjoyable to these ears. The CAT made the MBL's absolutely sing, I was impressed and amazed.

 

[caesar]

After all these years of listening to the hype from the audio elites and audio "journalists", I have finally heard a musical Magico system. At Axpona, Wolf finally smarted up and played his S5 speakers with United tape/ Kronos vinyl sources feeding CAT preamp and monoblocks amps. Very natural sound with great detail in bass, midrange and up high. With CAT, Magico has finally surpassed Wilson in the bass department!

(Yes, I know those who think that Magico is already both "transparency to source" and transparent to music will find this system full of euphonic colourations from tubes, tape, and vinyl, but I think the VAST majority of audiophiles will enjoy it.)

Upon second look, I think the tape machine is some kind of a Sony, not United. Sounded great.

 

[caesar]

The amps were the CAT big boys - the Statements. They are around $100K, or so, but they are the only amps in the world that do all of what the best solid state does, less the negatives*

(*Exceptions are Atmasphere MA2 paired with Soundlab, and VAC / Von Schweikert, thanks to the bass boost technology on the great von Schweikert speakers, as the bass on VAC is not as vigorous as CAT.)

 

[cannata]

Hats off to Cesar for coming clean (or is it just a plot ). So Cesar, all you got to do now is go and listen to the Q series with a big tube amp. See what you think

 

[KeithR]

As I have posted/commented before, Alon Wolf has created very different tonalities between the Mini/V, Q, and S series - and by most accounts the Smk2 sound pretty different from the S.

So to say that Magico's transparency is the sole reason for the difference doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Also, you can read the various speaker line measurements and judge for yourself.

 

[andromedaaudio]

Dont forget also what tape brings in to the equasion

 

[cannata]

As I have posted/commented before, Alon Wolf has created very different tonalities between the Mini/V, Q, and S series - and by most accounts the Smk2 sound pretty different from the S.

So to say that Magico's transparency is the sole reason for the difference doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Also, you can read the various speaker line measurements and judge for yourself.

Most accounts of people who heard the Mk 2 with a tube amp for the first and only time...

I have looked, studies and listen to as many models as I could and I have to disagree with you. Of course the measurements varies (and so is the sound) but they are all aiming at the same transfer function, i.e. they are not heavily tuned and probably within +/- 2-3db across the spectrum.

 

[Folsom]

I really wanted to hear the Magico's with a more linear amp, like the Pass Labs. Nothing particular stood out to me about the CAT's. They did sound much closer to solid state in many ways, so I think it's fair to say they have less short coming typical of tubes.

The tape sounded pretty nice when I was in there on Saturday morning. But it wasn't quite as smooth as the vinyl for whatever reason. I suspect the power quality in the hotel; it seemed to be hurting every system.

 

[nirodha]

. I don't think the M Pro is the beginning of a new series, sadly. I'd love to see an M Mini (III) based on the M Pro with the tweeter and mid from the M Pro and curved carbon sides on a stand.

There will be a smaller M Pro (like Q3 size) in the near future... ;-)

 

[KeithR]

Most accounts of people who heard the Mk 2 with a tube amp for the first and only time...

I have looked, studies and listen to as many models as I could and I have to disagree with you. Of course the measurements varies (and so is the sound) but they are all aiming at the same transfer function, i.e. they are not heavily tuned and probably within +/- 2-3db across the spectrum.

I wasn't just talking about the S5 - the S1 has been out for several months.

If you don't find the Q and S series tonality quite different, then I would say that is a minority opinion. Yes, I have heard them with tubes and SS. In fact, I didn't care for Vac 450s with S5s at all. YMMV.

Here's a thread I started on it a year ago - when JV clearly had new revelations about Magico's direction and tonality:

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?17711-Magico-changes-tonality-(again)

 

[cannata]

I wasn't just talking about the S5 - the S1 has been out for several months.

If you don't find the Q and S series tonality quite different, then I would say that is a minority opinion. Yes, I have heard them with tubes and SS. In fact, I didn't care for Vac 450s with S5s at all. YMMV.

Here's a thread I started on it a year ago - when JV clearly had new revelations about Magico's direction and tonality:

http://www.whatsbestforum.com/showthread.php?17711-Magico-changes-tonality-(again)

Yes, but until we actually see gated measurements of an Mpro, I can’t really comment. To me the Mpro sounded like a Q without any issues, or more like a speaker without any issues (at least not immediately evident). It is/was the most natural speaker I have ever heard, but I did not feel that it was voiced differently and therefore was more natural. It was anything but voiced, it was simply not there.

 

[PeterA]

Yes, but until we actually see gated measurements of an Mpro, I can’t really comment. To me the Mpro sounded like a Q without any issues, or more like a speaker without any issues (at least not immediately evident). It is/was the most natural speaker I have ever heard, but I did not feel that it was voiced differently and therefore was more natural. It was anything but voiced, it was simply not there.

Yes, this is how I hear the M Pro also in MadFloyd's system. And that is with top Pass XS150 amps. The M Pro is extremely transparent and revealing. Very little distortion that I can hear and thus the resolution is outstanding.