should i sell my S3MK2?!?!

[Al M.]

Ok...many.

This reminds me of the time, back in the day, that one of my a'phile friends tried to make Infinity IRS's work in his 9X10 room.
Oddly enough, he was quite pleased with the result ( I always felt it was one of the worst sounding systems I had heard.. )....that is until he moved into a room that was appx 60x40...and wondered out loud what the hell he was thinking of before, LOL.

LOL indeed!

 

[thedudeabides]

in the speakers department - although i LOVE my S3 mk2 a lot,- i was thinking maybe going all the way and get the M3 (sadly the M6 are not in my league) !
my room is very very small but Magico sealed box is contributing to the overall acoustics and air management along with my passive acoustic treatment around my walls. A

If you love your speaker, what are the issues? Sounds like you may have a case of OCD.

PS: Maybe you should consider buying some more music.

 

[byrdparis]

If you love your speaker, what are the issues? Sounds like you may have a OCD.

Seems to happen a lot around here.

arent we all ?!

i decided to drop all decision of a new speaker for now..
i have so much gear in order... il wait for next year maybe to get the M3.. or not.
in the meanwhile, the S3MK2 are great and awesome speakers!

thank you for trying sharing bashing etc

 

[thedudeabides]

I think we all hopefully have some level of OCD be it audio or whatever. And it can be healthy because it is an indicator of caring and feeling passionate about something if exercised with equal parts of common sense and restraint.

 

[byrdparis]

I finally went for it.
after contemplating about it for a few weeks, I was able to audition the Q3 against my S3MK2 with my music and amp.
(I didn’t think I can do it due to a logistics difficulties, so I was in a bit of a big dilemma)
after 5-10 minutes in to the session, it was clear who is the real and clear winner in this shootout. I was listen and keep on trying for 2-3 hours just to be absolutely sure.
the S3MK2 didn’t had a chance retrospective. the Q3 is in fact a lot better speaker overall.

for all that matter; I LOVED my S3mk2. I think it’s one of the best speaker in the world under 30K$.
But, the Q3 have a bit more of the qualities of TOP speakers in the world, it is coherent top to bottom, great and scary resolution, detailed and very fast sounding. his overall presentation is in a different league.
I guess one will might prefer the sweet and a bit darker sound of the S-MK2 series over the all-out assault of the Q series, but I thought it’s just no contest between them.
another thing I was thought about; is the different in technology between them, as the S3MK2 have the M series tweeter and lower drivers vs the 7 years~ old Q3 design.
but in the end, different topologies or modern technologies are great on the paper, but in the end it’s all about the final result. I was really happy to get the chance to listen to them side by side and decide after a real audition what is the best speaker for me. The S3MK2 found a great home in a few days, and yesterday my Q3 was delivered to my music room.

thanks for all your support.

 

[Ron Resnick]

Congratulations on getting the new speakers!

 

[Ron Resnick]

. . . This reminds me of the time, back in the day, that one of my a'phile friends tried to make Infinity IRS's work in his 9X10 room.
Oddly enough, he was quite pleased with the result ( I always felt it was one of the worst sounding systems I had heard.. )....that is until he moved into a room that was appx 60x40...and wondered out loud what the hell he was thinking of before . . .

Maybe he was thinking about how stressful it was to suppress his undisclosed cognitive dissonance?

 

[bonzo75]

Congrats. You contemplated for almost a month.

 

[Tango]

Wish you utmost listening enjoyment.

Tang

 

[byrdparis]

thank you very much my friends.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Ked, a week is a long time in politics.
A month is an eternity in audiophilia.

 

[byrdparis]

Ked, a week is a long time in politics.
A month is an eternity in audiophilia.

sure is !

 

[spiritofmusic]

It could be worse Byrdparis.
There was a guy on the forums, Stereo, who 4-5 years ago was talking about buying Magico Ultimates horns, w multiple amps, dacs, clocks etc.
He seems to have been swept down the vortex of the ultimate (pun intended) upgrade, never to be heard from again.
Nothing in the last 3 years.

 

[PeterA]

It could be worse Byrdparis.
There was a guy on the forums, Stereo, who 4-5 years ago was talking about buying Magico Ultimates horns, w multiple amps, dacs, clocks etc.
He seems to have been swept down the vortex of the ultimate (pun intended) upgrade, never to be heard from again.
Nothing in the last 3 years.

Yes indeed. I always wondered what happened to the guy. He was getting the Ultimate IIIs as I remember and searching for the ultimate low powered custom amp for each driver scenario. What ever happened?

 

[XV-1]

I finally went for it.
after contemplating about it for a few weeks, I was able to audition the Q3 against my S3MK2 with my music and amp.
(I didn’t think I can do it due to a logistics difficulties, so I was in a bit of a big dilemma)
after 5-10 minutes in to the session, it was clear who is the real and clear winner in this shootout. I was listen and keep on trying for 2-3 hours just to be absolutely sure.
the S3MK2 didn’t had a chance retrospective. the Q3 is in fact a lot better speaker overall.

for all that matter; I LOVED my S3mk2. I think it’s one of the best speaker in the world under 30K$.
But, the Q3 have a bit more of the qualities of TOP speakers in the world, it is coherent top to bottom, great and scary resolution, detailed and very fast sounding. his overall presentation is in a different league.
I guess one will might prefer the sweet and a bit darker sound of the S-MK2 series over the all-out assault of the Q series, but I thought it’s just no contest between them.
another thing I was thought about; is the different in technology between them, as the S3MK2 have the M series tweeter and lower drivers vs the 7 years~ old Q3 design.
but in the end, different topologies or modern technologies are great on the paper, but in the end it’s all about the final result. I was really happy to get the chance to listen to them side by side and decide after a real audition what is the best speaker for me. The S3MK2 found a great home in a few days, and yesterday my Q3 was delivered to my music room.

thanks for all your support.

Great choice. Not only do the Q3'sound a LOT better, their look and build quality is on another level again.

I heard the Q5's a couple of years back and they were superb.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Peter, I just read his last post from short of 3 years ago. He had the latest series of Ultimates ordered, the multiple Pacific Microsonic dacs bought (1 per driver, so 5 in total), this Cambrio military grade server/pre, the clock, and was in the midst of commissioning the preamps. He wasn’t in a rush, Q1s we’re serving him well. And he was going to document his adventure in a blog.
Never seen the blog, not heard from him since.
Shame, sounded like quite a thrill ride, a system to rival or exceed the very best.

 

[GMKF]

I finally went for it.
after contemplating about it for a few weeks, I was able to audition the Q3 against my S3MK2 with my music and amp.
(I didn’t think I can do it due to a logistics difficulties, so I was in a bit of a big dilemma)
after 5-10 minutes in to the session, it was clear who is the real and clear winner in this shootout. I was listen and keep on trying for 2-3 hours just to be absolutely sure.
the S3MK2 didn’t had a chance retrospective. the Q3 is in fact a lot better speaker overall.

for all that matter; I LOVED my S3mk2. I think it’s one of the best speaker in the world under 30K$.
But, the Q3 have a bit more of the qualities of TOP speakers in the world, it is coherent top to bottom, great and scary resolution, detailed and very fast sounding. his overall presentation is in a different league.
I guess one will might prefer the sweet and a bit darker sound of the S-MK2 series over the all-out assault of the Q series, but I thought it’s just no contest between them.
another thing I was thought about; is the different in technology between them, as the S3MK2 have the M series tweeter and lower drivers vs the 7 years~ old Q3 design.
but in the end, different topologies or modern technologies are great on the paper, but in the end it’s all about the final result. I was really happy to get the chance to listen to them side by side and decide after a real audition what is the best speaker for me. The S3MK2 found a great home in a few days, and yesterday my Q3 was delivered to my music room.

thanks for all your support.

Congrats from my side aswell...
I suspect more synergy between the Q3 with the Luxman amp than with the S3MKII...
Just my guess.. I quite liked the S3MII in Munich last year. Right to my liking...

 

[Al M.]

I finally went for it.
after contemplating about it for a few weeks, I was able to audition the Q3 against my S3MK2 with my music and amp.
(I didn’t think I can do it due to a logistics difficulties, so I was in a bit of a big dilemma)
after 5-10 minutes in to the session, it was clear who is the real and clear winner in this shootout. I was listen and keep on trying for 2-3 hours just to be absolutely sure.
the S3MK2 didn’t had a chance retrospective. the Q3 is in fact a lot better speaker overall.

for all that matter; I LOVED my S3mk2. I think it’s one of the best speaker in the world under 30K$.
But, the Q3 have a bit more of the qualities of TOP speakers in the world, it is coherent top to bottom, great and scary resolution, detailed and very fast sounding. his overall presentation is in a different league.
I guess one will might prefer the sweet and a bit darker sound of the S-MK2 series over the all-out assault of the Q series, but I thought it’s just no contest between them.
another thing I was thought about; is the different in technology between them, as the S3MK2 have the M series tweeter and lower drivers vs the 7 years~ old Q3 design.
but in the end, different topologies or modern technologies are great on the paper, but in the end it’s all about the final result. I was really happy to get the chance to listen to them side by side and decide after a real audition what is the best speaker for me. The S3MK2 found a great home in a few days, and yesterday my Q3 was delivered to my music room.

thanks for all your support.

Congratulations on your new speakers!

No surprise that the Q3 is better. For starters, an inert cabinet is everything.

I know that from my own new speakers, and from having heard the Magico Mini II and the M Project many, many times (these were inspirations for my purchase).

 

[cjf]

I cant blame you for wanting a Q3 in your system over an S3 and I think it may work pretty well since the Q3's low freq extension is not off the charts. It appears to be a speaker all about the details and not so much a bass monster despite its not so small physical size.

I own the S3MK1 and was pretty suprised by its bass making abilities recently after doing a few in room measurements. My room is 24' X 15' and it looks like the LF extension for the S3 in my room is about 10db down at 20hz. Not too bad IMO. I'd imagine in a much smaller room things may not be so interesting in terms of bass output for the S3.

Congrats on the Q3's, I'm wishing I was in your shoes

 

[PeterA]

Congratulations, Byrdparis. Can you share some photos? Also, your room is quite small. I'm surprised the Q3 does not overload it. How powerful are your amps and how loud to you tend to listen? Thanks.