I have heard both the M5 and the Q3. These were in different dealer systems and about two years apart, so I think any comparison from me would have little value. I can tell you, however, that the M5 sounded like a bigger version of my Mini 2. Very coherent, great tone, great detail. Very convincing IMO, especially on symphonic music. Very good speaker, but large and hard to drive.
However, compared to those, the Q3 is just better. Even less cabinet sound. Very little sense that music was coming from a speaker. It just disappeared. Ultra clean, clear, transparent and effortless. If my room could support the Q3, and I could afford it, it would be my next speaker. I still remember that demo at Goodwin's High End and it is perhaps the best demo I've heard. A very special speaker in the right system and room. |
Jwm, I take offense to that. And the OP stated clearly that he likes the Q3. Why
come onto a thread and insult the OP and other participants.
The OP is asking about Magico speakers. I tried to provide him with some
information about the specific two models in which he is interested. If people
don't like Magico, that's fine, but please, don't hijack another Magico thread by
criticizing Magico and promoting another brand. The OP had not yet asked for
other suggestions. |
What is the original Magico? Do you mean one of the bespoke designs designed for individual customers or an early production commercial product? Did you compare them in the same system? |
There are currently seven bidders in the auction for the Magico M5. So there is plenty of interest at some price point. Resale value is also often effected by how many units of a particular model were originally made and for sale at any given time. And how often models are updated or replaced. |
Musicfile, Perhaps you are talking about the original Mini. I've now heard the Mini 2 in six different systems and they have each sounded very different. I don't know what that means except to say that for a comparison to mean anything valid to me, it needs to be direct, that is in the same system. Otherwise, I can't learn much from it. Perhaps others are better at this then I am.
I also am concluding that the Mini 2 (and other Magico speakers, especially the new Qs) are fairly transparent to upstream components, and they will take on the character of what comes in front of them. I find it therefore pretty difficult to ascribe a character to these speakers. They have all been quite revealing though.
I have also had good conversations with Mr Wolf and Irv Gross. |
Mariv26, Well written and I fully agree. Though, there are a few other speaker
companies that are also doing some R&D. Magico happens to be doing a lot of it
and look at how many small, serious, and high performance stand-mounted
speakers have been brought to market since the Magico Mini. The industry does
benefit. |
Teeshot, just ignore the posts that have nothing to do with your original topic, or move the discussion over to Whatsbestforum. That is a generally more serious, less contentious forum.
I happen to think that your original question is pretty interesting. The speakers do sound different and they are quite different in size. Perhaps the size of the room and the amount of power that your amps have could be the determining factors. The Q3 is an easier load to drive and might be more appropriate in a slightly smaller room. The M5 is less efficient, has lower extension and will pressurize a larger room more easily. The M5 and Q3 are also quite different aesthetically.
Then there are resale and repair/support issues that you might consider also. |
Charles, Magico is certainly not above any form of criticism. I will say that it seems to me at least that threads about Magico, Wilson and TW Acustic are more contentious than threads about most other brands. |
Mapman, I dined on that thought at the recent NYC Audio show. I heard the small Kef 1s50? for $1500. I heard the Kef blade for $30K. I heard a mid level Kef floorstanding speaker. And I heard the Kef sponsored "live" show with electric/amplified guitar, bass, drums and vocalist.
I prefer my Magico based system to each of those four Kef demonstrations, even the "live" event - respective of cost. But that is just me. Kef is developing an interesting concentric driver. TAD has another. It just did not sound convincing to me in those show conditions.
Magico goes to a lot of effort to reduce cabinet resonances. I think the reason they don't get rid of the cabinet all together is because this is how they want to present bass reproduction in their close-to-inert, sealed cabinets. Magico bass does sound different from some that of some other brands that have no cabinets, ported cabinets and purposefully resonant cabinets. |
Mapman, I can't answer that question directly. I can only compare the
experience of
listening to the Blade system at that show and to my system at home. Well,
based on two completely different settings, systems and music, I did not find
the Blade system as engaging as my system built around the Magico Mini 2. It
sounded more diffuse, less image specific and less grounded.
Timbre was not as natural. It was not as dynamic and there was less
presence.
In terms of similarities, I would say that both the Blade and the Magico
speakers that I have heard are both very coherent. Kef has developed that
coincident driver and the side firing woofers send that energy away where it
spreads out and is heard as reflection. My Mini 2 and the Q3, Q5 and Q7, and
the V2 and M5 are all
very coherent. I did not find the V3 to have this coherence. Perhaps because
the bass drivers are far removed from the mid and tweeter or the demo was
just too nearfield so the drivers didn't integrate well.
The Blade did sound slightly bigger and was very slightly more extended. I
didn't notice many similarities. In short, it did not sound as convincing and I
lost interest in the music. I know that the Blades have many fans and that
they have been well reviewed. I'm sure in a carefully set up home
environment with the right equipment, they could sound very good. I also
know that Magico is not for everyone.
Whether this was a result of the room, the set up, the other equipment, I can
not say. Nor are my comments a direct comparison between the Mini 2 and
the Blades, there are just too many variables involved. My earlier post was in
reference to the three systems which had Kef speakers in them, and what I
thought of the sound in general and in those settings, nothing more. I was
happy to put my LPs back on and to listen to my system when I returned
home. |
