2. speakers
  3. 1348017602

Magico S5 review

I've been auditioning the Magico S5's on loan from my dealer Scott Walker Audio of Anaheim for several weeks now.
The S5's are an all aluminum cabinet, a trickle down version of the Q series. They are 90 DB, 22HZ-50KHZ, 190#,and sell for $28,600. After some considerable work by Scott he got the speakers locked in perfectly.

My current system consists of Focal Nova Utopia BE speakers
($45,000), An Ayon CD-5 cd player, An Ayon Triton 2 amp,Grand Prix Monaco racks,and a slew of Synergistic Research equipment: Tranquility bases,Migs, Hologram A,D, and AC Precision power cords, Element interconnects,an 11 piece Acoustic Art system, SR fuses and even the new Ayon BT KT-88 SX tubes made in the Czech Republic

I thought I had a pretty great system......Until the S5's came into the picture. The first thing you notice about these speakers is their sealed rather than ported bass. Oh my god! I am not a bass freak but the Magicos had incredible bass.....taut with a visceral punch to the stomach on the right tracks. And this with a tube amp.On certain bass heavy tracks it was like having two subwoofers in the room.

The tweeter was smooth and delicate and completely integrated with the midrange.....it was like one driver.

The midrange is where the Magico Magic comes in.....a strong center vocal image (I like female vocalists), not only more "there" than my Focals but violins had more sheen, cellos sound deeper and you could hear deeper into the subtleties and nuances of the human voice. The tonal characteristics were denser and more real.

The real surprise came when I put the Focals back in the system. I was disappointed. Very Disappointed. The Focals bass in comparison to the Magicos sounded flabby and weak,midrange presence was lessened along with the Magicos wonderful tone. It was easy to discern that the Magico S5's sounded more holographic, 3D, with a smoother yet more detailed mid and top end.

Things I particulary liked about the music reproduction of the S5's:

Dark Side of the Moon: Listen to the bells and the cash register on the song "Money" Stunning.

Warren Zevon, Life Will Kill You: Warren knew he was dying and wasn't in great shape vocally but when you hear the title track you can hear EVERY nuance in his voice....you can hear all his despair and humor.

Sarah McLachlan, Surfacing: I was amazed at how good this Cd sounded, absolutely gorgeous. I heard guitars, Synths, and faint almost out of hearing range background vocals by Sarah. I heard sounds on this Cd I have never heard before.

Melissa McClelland,Thumbelina's One Night Stand: A cd with country folk sensibilties but with a sort of Southern guitar crunch to it. Listening to this on the Magicos was like having Melissa in the room.....Holographic, real vocal tones, and absolutely haunting.

So after saying all this what's an audiophile to do?
My dealer Scott Walker is taking my Focals in on trade along with a check. I understand the S5's take two months to build and get here so Scott is loaning me his demo pair for the duration. That will certainly make waiting for the next two months a lot easier.

mreapoe100

Showing 3 responses by audiooracle

audiooracle
387 posts
 
Congratulations on your new speakers, however, I am really shocked by this post, it sounds like a Magico ad.

Would it not be logical to think that a brand new Magico design would or could best a 10 year old pair of Focals?

Why would this surprise you? The tale of the tape leads to the Magico's newer design, better cabinets, dual smaller bass units, superior build quality and drivers that have advanced over 10 years of so.

I used to sell Focal great speakers but way overpriced for the build quality at least back then and overpriced for the level of sound for the money.

Now I am sure the readers are going to ask what other modern speaker designs did you listen to?

Did you hear the new Focal's that are in the same price as the Magico's, did you listen to the Wilsons, did you hear the new KEF Blades?

If you haven't heard any of these other modern contenders than shame on you for purchasing the first new pair of speakers that were better, you may have made the right choice but without due diligence you may have found something else that is better than a 10 year old pair of Focals.
audiooracle
387 posts
 
To Sacher

I could not make a sale to this gentleman he is in a different state! Not going to happen! I have no skin in this game.

The point I am making is how so many people will extoll the virtues of a product that they have experienced, when they have not done fair comparison's under identical conditions, of the competition.

Judging speakers at a show is not the same thing as hearing them at home! This gentleman was fortunate enough to be able to get a home demo of these new Magicos. The point I am making is perhaps some other speaker might also be way better than his 10 year old Focals, and without doing a similar comparison with the rest of the $30k speakers he may or may not have purchased the best possible speakers for him.
audiooracle
387 posts
 
Dear Mreapoe,

if you are judging on what you heard at an audio show vs a pair of speakers on loan in your own room, you have no idea if the other speakers you were looking at at the Newport show might outperform the Magicos.

I have almost never heard a product at an audio show give its best nor would you be making a valid comparison between two products set up in exactly the same way.

Please understand this is not an attack on you or your purchase, I am always amused at posts like yours which exclaim the virtues of one products without really knowing what the true performance of any other products unless they are under identical conditions.

Now the Magicos may be the best speakers for you, your taste and equipment, if it was me I would draw up a list of contenders and if possible get an in home audition of those speakers as well before I would commit to such an expensive purchase.

It will be interesting to see how well the new kid on the uber speaker block does compare with the Wilson, and the Blades.

Personally I think a well set up pair of Blades can outperform almost any Magico and all the Wilsons' except for the X2. Howerver, room setup is crucial, in my showroom very little bass, in the NY audio show huge bass, so as with anything else you have to weigh all the factors.
More to discover