Magico S5 vs Wilson Alexia

[mbovaird]

Yup, he is. He being me. It was not an easy decision, but bottom line, due to the odd shape of my room, I had bass issues. I'm looking at some different alternatives such as Harbeth or something similar.

 

[cannata]

Yup, he is. He being me. It was not an easy decision, but bottom line, due to the odd shape of my room, I had bass issues. I'm looking at some different alternatives such as Harbeth or something similar.

Yes, I had bass problems for 20 years owning variety of Wilson loudspeakers. It was always the room fault, or the electronics, cables etc… Too bad you sold your S5, I have no bass issues anymore...

 

[Bodhi]

different people, different taste. I would personally take S5 over the alexia (for the same reason as you except that I would apply it to different speakers). And I would agree that the Rockport are worth a listening, at least I preferred them to the Alexia. I never heard them sounding great, but quite good a few times.

+ 1. I heard the Alexias in a treated room with ARC Ref 250 mono's & an ARC Ref 5SE pre & was very underwhelmed. The bass was slow and flabby despite the prodigious power driving them. By comparison, the S5's driven by Vitus power draws me more into the soul and emotion of the music & gives me more of the music with visceral impact. To suggest the S5's "sound like HiFi" is laughable & to me sais more about mbovaird's system than the S5's.

 

[blbloom]

I find the Alexias more musical and involving than the S5s and I think ARC amps are a great match, but then I prefer the S3s to the S5s, also…. more musical.

 

[MadFloyd]

I find the Alexias more musical and involving than the S5s and I think ARC amps are a great match, but then I prefer the S3s to the S5s, also…. more musical.

There's that much of a sonic difference between the S3 and S5 that you would prefer one over the other?

 

[joeinid]

+1 on Alexia vs Magico S5.

I find the Alexias more musical and involving than the S5s and I think ARC amps are a great match, but then I prefer the S3s to the S5s, also…. more musical.

 

[blbloom]

There's that much of a sonic difference between the S3 and S5 that you would prefer one over the other?

I heard the S5 three times in three different systems. I heard the S3 once….Better midrange and more musical, but I prefer the Alexias to both.

 

[MadFloyd]

+1 on Alexia vs Magico S5.

Weren't you considering the S5 in a serious way for a while?

 

[joeinid]

Serious way? No, the S3, but I feel the Alexia are more enjoyable.

Weren't you considering the S5 in a serious way for a while?

 

[rbbert]

I wonder why Myles hasn't posted any opinions here yet?

 

[Bruce B]

I prefer the S3s to the S5s, also…. more musical.

I prefer the S5 any day compared to the whole Magico line.

 

[Bodhi]

I heard the S5 three times in three different systems. I heard the S3 once….Better midrange and more musical, but I prefer the Alexias to both.

The S3's midrange has a bit more clarity than the S5's yes due to its newer software-modelled polycarbonate midrange enclosure, however note as discussed by Martin Colloms in the Hifi Critic forums, S5 had an update to its midrange enclosure in early 2013 following their learnings from the S3, bringing the S5's performance closer to S3 in that area. Secondly, to me the S5 is the better balanced and more coherent speaker owing to its deeper, more solid bass. And thirdly the S5 has a bigger stage size. Though ultimately which speaker sounds better is more a product of one's room size and budget.

I just repeat that I heard the Alexia's in a treated listening room with top range ARC amps and was underwhelmed. The bass was slow and flabby, they were not as coherent or well balanced as S5, and are not as warm, full bodied or intimate sounding. Sound stage depth was good though. The Alexia's have airy mids and highs, though I didn't equate that with greater accuracy. The S5s are definitely more accurate and have better image specificity. I can't see what all the fuss is about with the Alexias to be honest.

 

[Bodhi]

I prefer the S5 any day compared to the whole Magico line.

+ 1. With the possible exception of the Q7 and M Project speakers which I haven't heard, I would take the S5's every time.

 

[PeterA]

I prefer the S5 any day compared to the whole Magico line.

We all have different tastes. I prefer the Q3 to the S5 and I heard them in the same room, similar systems, but with different amps, so I can't be sure in an absolute sense. I doubt others have compared the entire Magico line using the same system and room, but they make pronouncements, so I'll chime in also.

 

[Priaptor]

To my ears - absolutely.

I'm not sure what model is replacing the Q5 - if any. When this information becomes announced formally - I'll check back on this thread.

Regarding Rockport/Q5 - my comments are simply my opinion - and quite frankly - that's worth what you just paid for it! If people love their Q5's and Rockports - I say rock on. I know the Alexia's aren't for everyone, but I am thrilled with mine. In my room and to my ears, they better all their predecessors in my system - Aida's, Strads, Raidho D3's, etc.

So thrilled that they are for sale on Audiogon??

Churn em and burn em

What now??

 

[blbloom]

The S3's midrange has a bit more clarity than the S5's yes due to its newer software-modelled polycarbonate midrange enclosure, however note as discussed by Martin Colloms in the Hifi Critic forums, S5 had an update to its midrange enclosure in early 2013 following their learnings from the S3, bringing the S5's performance closer to S3 in that area. Secondly, to me the S5 is the better balanced and more coherent speaker owing to its deeper, more solid bass. And thirdly the S5 has a bigger stage size. Though ultimately which speaker sounds better is more a product of one's room size and budget.

I just repeat that I heard the Alexia's in a treated listening room with top range ARC amps and was underwhelmed. The bass was slow and flabby, they were not as coherent or well balanced as S5, and are not as warm, full bodied or intimate sounding. Sound stage depth was good though. The Alexia's have airy mids and highs, though I didn't equate that with greater accuracy. The S5s are definitely more accurate and have better image specificity. I can't see what all the fuss is about with the Alexias to be honest.

I'm not aware of what adjustments were made to the S3s and updates to the S5s. I think what really matters is the sound. I'm glad that you are happy with your S5s. I will say that the people I know who have heard both, prefer the S3s.

 

[Bodhi]

I'm not aware of what adjustments were made to the S3s and updates to the S5s. I think what really matters is the sound. I'm glad that you are happy with your S5s. I will say that the people I know who have heard both, prefer the S3s.

I agree with you 100% on sound. There are plenty of fans of both the S3 and S5, so there is probably little point arguing which is "better" since they are at different price points & are different size speakers.

 

[MylesBAstor]

I'm not aware of what adjustments were made to the S3s and updates to the S5s. I think what really matters is the sound. I'm glad that you are happy with your S5s. I will say that the people I know who have heard both, prefer the S3s.

In their system, using the same equipment, same recordings and with thoroughly burned in speakers? And not at shows especially. Otherwise the conclusions are meaningless.

 

[Bodhi]

In their system, using the same equipment, same recordings and with thoroughly burned in speakers? And not at shows especially. Otherwise the conclusions are meaningless.

That's a good point Myles. I have heard both the S3's & S5's in my Dealer's treated showroom with the same amps and approximately the same amount of burn in, though with a different front end & at different times. So one has to make some allowance. My Dealer's view is that the S3 & S5 sound very similar, so ultimately which speaker sounds better would likely be more a product of one's room size and budget as I said.

 

[mbovaird]

So thrilled that they are for sale on Audiogon??

Churn em and burn em

What now??

There seems to be some interest in why I am selling my Alexia's and many are making the inference that there is something "wrong" with them or I don't like them. This couldn't be further from the truth. The Alexia's are by far the best all-around speaker I have had in my main listening room. They are incredibly balanced from top to bottom, producing just the right size of images, that famous Wilson midrange and the adjustability (propagation delay) to suit the room and listener is ideal. The decent efficiency of the Wilson's also lets you play with some different amps.

I've had my Alexia's for 8 months now and I listen to them every day. At the outset, I had to deal with the same old 73hz room node issue I've always had. I added some ASC bass traps and a unique little device called the Black Hole (http://www.spatialaudio.us/black-hole/) and the combination really helped to deal with that node. I have always had that node, and regardless of what speaker I've owned, it was a problem. So this is not an Alexia problem, this is a room problem. The final step to alleviate this problem was replacing my solid state monoblocks with tube amps. I had tried the D'Agostino Monos and the McIntosh 601's. Although I greatly enjoyed the sound of both, I found these big SS amps exacerbated the room node problem. Since switching to a pair of McIntosh 275's (mk6) and VAC phi200's, I have found the balance to be superb.

I listen to my Alexia's every day - and even yesterday I was saying to myself, "now, why are you selling these?" The sound is better than anything I've ever had in my room. Well, I am selling because I have enjoyed my experiences, learned a few things along the way and now want to experiment with high efficiency speakers and low powered SET and OTL amps.

I am a member of a 100+ member audiophile club here in Florida. Many members have high efficiency speakers/low powered SET systems and I've always been interested trying this combo. I have always wanted to try Volti's, Tannoy's and others. More importantly, I want to play with some sweet sounding, low powered SET and OTL amps. Does anyone here think driving Alexia's with an 8 watt 300b SET amp or 8 watt OTL amp is a good idea? I don't think so.

I was going to pull the trigger on a pair of Volti Vittora's, but decided to try a different, and somewhat radical new type of high efficiency speaker design - a full, point source open baffle speaker. As many people know, Linkwitz has championed a lot of the point source open baffle designs and fundamental concepts surrounding open baffle/dipole designs. Right on his heels has been Clayton Shaw - designing speakers since the 70's. I have always been a big fan of his designs. After selling and departing from Emerald Physics, Clayton went to work at his new company - Spatial Audio. Clayton has managed to create the first true, full range point source open baffle speaker. The Spatial Audio Lumina Statement is that speaker. No one outside of Clayton and a few others have seen it or heard it - mine will be the first production model built beyond the initial prototype. There are no pictures, but this link should provide the necessary specs and the models you see will give you an idea of the look: http://www.spatialaudio.us/lumina

So what if these Statement speakers aren't to my liking? I get my money back. Plain and simple. If that happens, then what? Greg at Volti will probably be getting a call. But I must say, the specs (100db efficient, benign 8 ohm load, down to 14hz) and the room friendly open baffle design has me intrigued.

As for amplification, I have ordered Roger Modjeski's (Music Reference) first OTL amp called the OTL-1. Roger has been designing and tweaking this design since the 80's. He confidently told me he has finally perfected his OTL design and it is ready for production. Once again, mine will be the first production OTL-1 off the line.

As for 300b SET amps, I'm seriously considering Allnic and a few others.....I even want to explore Shindo amps a little bit. The 2 watt/channel Woo Audio 45 amp also looks interesting. I will probably end up with 2 or 3 low powered SET/OTL amps to play with and rotate.

I do have a second system set up in my Family Room. That system consists of the Raidho D3 v2 speakers, all Ansuz cabling and I'm currently experimenting with amplification. I'm leaning toward Hegel....but I also enjoy VAC on Raidho. I have tried Rowland, Devialet, VAC, McIntosh, Cary, Hegel, Musical Fidelity and several others.

So as you can see, I enjoy the journey. There is NOTHING wrong with the Alexia's. NOTHING. This is about gaining experiences in this HOBBY. Will the high efficiency/low powered SET/OTL amp stop me in my tracks? Who knows....but I'm enjoying the ride and gaining invaluable experiences along the way.

If you're not into trying new gear and swapping gear - you will never ever understand the gear swapper - so don't try.

As for Bodhi and his continued love fest and defender for all things S5 and Vitus - I'm happy for him. If he has found his perfect system, great. I owned the Alexia's and S5's at the same time, with the same variety of gear and cables and I could never get the S5's to engage with me. They were the epitome of "HiFi". In my home, the VAC amps sounded the best on the S5....but once again, HiFi. Would things have been different with Vitus gear? Perhaps. I can certainly say every time I heard the Magico S series speakers with Vitus it was exceptionally good. And Bodhi - if your only exposure to the Alexia's was with ARC gear - it's no wonder you weren't a fan. I heard the Alexia's with a REF150/REF5SE and let's just say, the combo was not good at all.

And for the record, I was one of the first to audition the Q5 vs S5 (well over a year ago) and I got chastised for saying the S5 was a better speaker. Today, although not unanimous, that seems to be the general consensus. I also feel that the S3 is a better speaker than the S5. But then again, if I was the ultimate defender of all things S5, I probably wouldn't say that.