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magico, wilson audio, focal. your opinion pls

Been auditioned many speakers past 12 months, even more for last couple weeks. I have listened to many brands like b&w, focal, paradigm, martin logan, kef, jbl, polk, and more... It comes down to 3 brands and model that I LOVE how it sounds and within my range. Besides focal, I haven't heard wilson audio and magico until 2 weeks ago (maybe they are too highend for me when I started the research).

Wilson Audio dealer claims that its speaker is the King in the ultimate high end speaker market, hands down. What is your opinion?

I have heard good thing about Magico and Focal as well.

I found these deal and what do you think is the best deal for the performance and how well each brand and model will hold their value?

Wilson Audio Sasha 2. Brand New @ $18.000
Focal Mastreo Utopia III. Demo @ $19,000
Magico S5. Demo @ $24,000

Your opinion please?
sautan904

Showing 4 responses by philb7777

philb7777
401 posts
 
I really think all this us a natter of personal preference. Now, we can all agree that both Wilson and Magico have fantastic build quality and great painstaking design.

For my personal preference though, I'm not fond of either loudspeaker brand. The Magico brand reminds me of a Levison amp - detailed, smooth but nor musical or dynamic enough for me. The Wilson's are dynamic and have slam but are non musical and bright. Neither sounds like real music to me.

But again, I appreciate both companies designs and craftsmanship. I'm just not a fan of either sound with solid state or tubes. But that is why their are so many great brands out there to choose from. Something for everyone!
philb7777
401 posts
 
Charles, yeah there is simply no room for arguing in this enthusiast hobby. With the bricks and motor stores evaporating we need to depend on each other even more to assist in making good decisions with a lot of money on the line quite often.

I think everyone usually makes the right decisions for themselves based on what 'involves' them in the music they play. What captures them. For me it's tonal balance, holographic imaging and a 'meat on the bones' midrange. For others it bass slam and dynamics. Yet for others it's tremendous detail. Whatever gets you lost and 'involved' in the music is right for you - whether that be Magico, Wilson, Avalon, Rockport, Lansche (my new fave from RMAF 2014), horns, planars, etc. or even Bose!
philb7777
401 posts
 
Melbguy1,

My experience with Magico is limited. I've heard S3 and S5. None of the Q series. I'm very familiar with Rowland amps, and when I heard the S series with a Rowland 825 in the Nordost demo room, I was disappointed at the lack of dynamics and musicality that I typically hear with Rowland gear. That being said, Nordost must think very highly of Magico. Their demonstration of hearing differences between interconnects and power cables was startling! They picked a very sensitive and revealing loudspeaker to demonstrate this - if Magico wasn't, their demo would have fallen apart.
philb7777
401 posts
 
Melbguy1,

My experience with Magico is limited. I've heard S3 and S5. None of the Q series. I'm very familiar with Rowland amps, and when I heard the S series with a Rowland 825 in the Nordost demo room, I was disappointed at the lack of dynamics and musicality that I typically hear with Rowland gear. That being said, Nordost must think very highly of Magico. Their demonstration of hearing differences between interconnects and power cables was startling! They picked a very sensitive and revealing loudspeaker to demonstrate this - if Magico wasn't, their demo would have fallen apart.
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