The story behind this adventure was shared with a couple of friends in two emails. I will reprint them here with some minor edits:
EMAIL #1
The Magico Q3 has been my dream speaker for about six years, ever since I first heard them during a demonstration lead by Alan Wolf at Goodwin’s High End in Waltham, MA. Now that they have just been discontinued, I was able to audition a pair that belonged to a local friend. He told me to keep them as long as I wanted so that I could directly compare them to my beloved Mini 2.
I had three main concerns: 1. the bass might overload my small room; 2. the tweeter would be too hot; and 3. that my wife would not tolerate the looks and size in our small, traditional, formal living room. I spent two weeks listening to the speakers, experimenting with positioning, and directly comparing them to my Minis. Here is some of the music I used for the evaluation:
1. Holst Planets
2. Holst Medieval Choral
3. Miles Davis, Sketches of Spain
4. Janaki Trio
5. Count Bassie, 88th Street
6. Lorde, Pure Heroine
7. Acoustic Research, Demo LP
8. Cantata Domino
9. Duttileux Cello
10. Sheffield Drum Record
11. Johhny Hartman, Once in Every Life
12. Ray Brown, Laurindo Almeida, Moonlight Serenade
After about a week, I decided to switch speakers again and hear the Mini 2. I was immediately struck by how good the Mini 2 is. Perhaps it was familiarity, the look of it, or something else, but as I listened, I was really impressed by the incredible immediacy, presence and energy (as Al M. describes). They sound so natural and right, as my audio friends have all heard. I thought, wow, these are fantastic, why should I sell them to buy the Q3? For some reason, I had forgotten why I liked them so much in the first place and had lost track of how good they sound. I was really enjoying them.
Then I switched back, and then listened to the Q3 again. Same music, reverse order. I took notes on each piece of music, but it will take too long to write it all here. Instead, I will just focus on the general differences. First, on much of the music, the two speakers sound very similar with one major difference: the Q3 is quieter and cleaner sounding.
Cabinet Resonance:
More than the extension and bass, this is the biggest difference, I think. This must be the cabinet construction. The Mini 2 has a slight sound which overlays everything. It is not unpleasant. It is a very slight glow. The noise floor is higher, the background not as black. So images and sounds do not stand out in as stark a contrast as they do with the Q3. This took a while to identify and come to grips with. It may be why some find the Qs sterile, or analytical.
This quietness allows one to hear more information, more hall ambiance, finer string textures, more breathing, more details in general. However, I was so used to the low level noise of the Mini for so many years, that this quietness was a bit unsettling. However, after hearing and identifying this artifact with the Mini, it’s absence in the Q3 is apparent. The Mini has a slight veil, a halo, a cabinet character that adds a sense of beauty to the sound. It warms it up a bit and blunts the ruthlessly honest tweeter of the Q3. Decays seem to go on with the Mini longer if they hit that same cabinet resonance. The Q3 decays are less consistent. The speaker is more transparent to the recording, so some decays are long, some shorter. At first, this quietness did not sound natural, but as I understand it for what it is, and I improve the speaker positioning, this quietness and increased resolution actually makes the music sound more natural. It is pretty eerie, actually.
Bass:
The next area of difference is the bass quality. Al mentioned that he thinks the Q3 is not more extended than the Mini 2, it just has better bass articulation and definition. I think the Q3 is very slightly more extended. I don’t know the exact numbers and I would like to invite Alan down to do some measurements. The Mini goes to mid 20s in my room, but there is a big bump at 40 Hz. I bet the Q3s go just as lower or slightly lower but are flatter. The Mini has a big dip at 300 Hz, and I bet the Q3 is flatter here too. What is clear is that the three 7” woofers add a lot more body to the lower frequencies and the overall sound is fuller with more weight. I did not really miss this with the Mini, but once heard with the Q3, I miss it with the Mini. The Drum Record is good on the Mini2, it is incredible on the Q3. The Q3 goes louder and bigger and has just as much dynamics and jump factor.
Tweeter:
The Mini tweeter rolls off in my room at 10 KHz according to Alan’s measurements. The Q3 surely does not. It has much more high frequency energy. In this sense, the Mini 2/Q3 is much like the Supreme/MSL. I am now thinking that the MSL/Q3 combo is right on the edge of being too ruthless and extended in the highs. I have tamed this tonight with more very slight speaker position tweaks, but on a bright recording, the sound is bright. Al was not bothered by this the other day, but long term, I might be. That is the only very slight caveat I have about the Q3. I am eager to reinstall my AirTight to see if this makes a difference without losing too much HF information on say violin string texture and cymbals.
Soundstage/Imaging:
The Q3 being quieter and having more bass energy allows me to hear more into the stage. My mother heard the Cantata Domino recording, specifically, a soprano and then a chorus. She remarked that with the old speakers she could see the singer/singers in the room. Now she could imagine the space they were singing in. The Q3 presents a vast image and space, especially on recordings like Holst’s Planets. Low drums in the distance are much more easily heard and distinct. Edges on the sides and back are more defined. And the soundstage is higher. Because the Q3 is quieter and does not have the slight resonance of the Mini 2, the images are more defined in space. They are more grounded and more clearly seen/heard.
Presence:
The Mini 2’s hallmark in my system was its sense of Presence and energy. I have struggled with speaker positioning to see if I can get the Q3s to do the same. I think I am now very close if not quite there. The increased resolution and quietness better define the instrument or voice in space. Johnny Hartman singing is right there in the room with slightly more realistic weight and body to his voice and accompanying instruments. The choruses on the Holst and Cantata Domino are more intelligible, grander, and fill the stage more coherently.
Conclusion: I have wanted to hear the Q3 in my system ever since I first heard them demoed at Goodwin’s years ago. I had three concerns: Anne would not allow such large, black monoliths in our living room; the tweeter is too bright; the bass would overload our small room. Sadly, Anne thinks the speakers are ugly, but she thinks the Minis are ugly too. Fortunately, she is extremely accommodating and is not willing to veto my decision to buy the speakers. The tweeter is much more extended than the one in the Mini 2. This has proven to be a challenge, but I am now happy with finding a speaker position which works well and presents a natural tonal balance. But, the speaker is ruthlessly honest and does tell me exactly what is on the recording. Finally, the bass is glorious, and seems to be just fine in the room.
I have decided to buy the speakers. I will continue to fine tune them for a while, as I did with the Mini 2s (with Jim Smith’s help, of course). I think the Q3 will enable me to enjoy a wider range of music, especially larger scale classical. Some smaller scale music sounds pretty similar with both speakers which is great, but some music sounds much better and is a completely new experience with the Q3. It is all very thrilling and I am really excited to now explore the rest of my collection.