Speaker Thoughts - YG Acoustics Hailey 2.2 vs Magico S5 MK II

I prefer YG as they sound more alive and dynamic- but really the Hailey2 probably compares more with Magico M line with in-house drivers.

That’s good to know. Thanks for the feedback.

Yes so I bought the S5 MK II brand new and love them but including the S5 MK I I’ve had Magico a long time and can’t afford the M series Magico but do have a line on a pair Hailey 2.2 and a local fella really wants my Magico’s so just sort of kicking the Idea around in my head.

I think it’s important to try new gear and keep growing as an audiophile. Don’t get me wrong I love my Magico’s but if the Hailey 2.2 is a legit better Speaker then the S5 MK II I think id like to consider it.

Cost wise the move won’t cost much and I would love to try a more alive and dynamic sounding speaker. The Magico S series MK II sound is great but it is not the most dynamic with strongest bass speaker out there but does other things great as well. I know their bass is accurate and musical but I’ve heard so many good things about the YG Hailey 2.2 it’s got me thinking.... 

Hi, For what's its worth, I have the Hailey 2.2 on order and should receive in the next two weeks. I have not heard the Magico line, unfortunately, so I am of no help there.  That said, I am moving up from the Carmel 2s after three years (recently moved to a larger room) and absolutely love what they are capable off. They pair extremely well with my JBL Fathom 112v2 and I will continue to use that sub with the Haileys.  Hopefully, you can have a listen somewhere, even to the Hailey 1.2...

I like the YGA sound and prefer it to the Magico sound YMMV--and greatly. You should hear the Hailey 2.2s for yourself. I have now heard the Hailey 2.2 and the Hailey 1.2 and I greatly prefer the new tweeter design found in the Hailey 2.2. I have also heard the Magico S5 MKII but not in the same system so it is not a fair comparison IMO. FWIW you might want to consider whether your cables are going to mate well with the YGA speakers. Several AXPONA rooms were using either the Hailey 1.2, Hailey 2.2, or Sonja speakers. Several others had Magico speakers in them. Transparent Cables were found driving Magico and YGA, albeit in different rooms. Also featured were Swisscables (YGA) and Kubala-Sosna (YGA). The latter combination I have seen frequently. 

Thanks for the info. I would love to hear the Haileys but doubt it will be possible. I have Stage III Concepts cables after trying many different kinds. They are excellent and should work great with both. Well I hope anyways. They are much better than my former Kubala-Sosna cables which I really liked until I tried the Stage III's.
Thanks 

Rockport Atria 2 is better than Magico or YG better stage,bass,imaging,better midrange and better depth.Jump on a pair asap!!Enjoy!!

I am with ebm, I think the Rockports are better. 

I have a pair of Hailey 1.2s. They are not that easy to setup.
Needs lots of current and room treatment otherwise they sound lean.
The dispersion characteristics of the tweeter makes them very open but also exposes the problems with the room.
Also rather tricky to get slam out of them. They run deep (of you use a decibel meter and a sweep to test) all they way down to 30Hz, but slam is something that’s quite tough to get out of them.  May be it's about time to pass the baton and move on.

I heard atria and although its good, it can't compare to magico m2 which was far superior. But having said that haven't heard s5 mk2.

Anymore thoughts on hailey 2.2 vs s5 mk2 ?

I've never heard a Magico I didn't hear significant coloration in, one way or another. I don't mean distortion, I mean choices in the voicing which are unique to them.

Mind you, I'm not attacking them, at all. But if you like that particular sound, you may have a hard time moving to anything else, so I am particularly worried in this case that the opinions of others won't be that helpful.


You are going to have to listen for yourself.

Best,
e

6 of one, half a dozen of the other. The grass is always greener... lets see what other BS I can come up with. Where is Wilson in all of this? Magico and YG owe their very existence to Wilson the original perpetrator of over priced loudspeakers. After all, it is your money. If you are spending that kind of money I would assume that you are doing the appropriate research to make sure the speaker meets your expectations and if it does no one else's opinion as to what is better matters. 

Any other thoughts on this battle? 

MAGICIO S5MK2 a great speaker with NO significant coloration just GREAT sound and superior build quality.These are very accurate sounding  and must be voiced with the best copper cables and amp and preamp for best sound quality.Enjoy and don’t worry about the competition.

@ebm  any thoughts on YG ?

YG is a great speaker however you need high power tube or solid state and great copper cables(Purist is one).You need a great high resolution amp and preamp such as Audia flight Stremento #1 preamp and #4 amp to sound there best.

Any more thoughts?

I've listened to YG Kipods and Anats extensively at several shows.  And I just spent 3 hours alone in a dealer's showroom listening to S3 and S5 (both MkIIs).  The YGs were in a large 50x30 foot room.  The experience was the life-like realism of literally having the performers in the room.  Both S series Magicos, on the other hand, were set up in a long (15x35) 11.1 AV room treated throughout with absorption materials....the room was totally dead....and the speakers sounded like near-field recording studio monitors - accurate as could be but rather lifeless.  
THE POINT:  Whatever anyone's experience is with ANY high-end speaker is totally contingent upon the individual parts of the entire system (ie, electronics, cables, tweaks, etc) AND THE INHERENT CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ROOM IN WHICH YOU EXPERIENCED THE ENTIRE SYSTEM IN.  I'd go so far to suggest that any stereo audio system regardless of cost, that resides in a room that was not specifically designed for audio playback, will short change the listener of the system's capabilities in such an "ideal" room.  Makes ya wonder how many times we have all jumped onto the audio merry-go-round to switch out gear in search of that elusive sound we crave, only to once again be disappointed due to an imperfect listening environment, that our wives may not allow us to change.  

Room designed for audio playback...baloney. You can and should listen to any well designed audio system with some time spent on speaker placement of course, but if the room is full of furniture, isn’t something like a shipping container or a WW2 submarine torpedo room, just sit back and enjoy it. Sexist "wife approval" comments are generally telltale signs of male insecurity. You don’t need an anechoic-ish bass trap filled first reflection damped man cave to enjoy music...nothing wrong with rooms...they’re where many people live. 

I think YG's are superb. BUT you had better have a VERY powerful ss amp to drive them. I am not sure that a tube amp with less than 300 watts/ch would suffice. Whereas the OP's current Magico is an easier load. What amp are you using to drive the Magico's?

what about sonja vs magico m series ?

Sonja vs Magico M...I would probably go with Sonja...depending on room size and which Sonja model. Magico M's are a little bit of a one trick pony at that price point, IME. The big Sonja 2.3's or the XV's are pretty special, albeit with their immense power requirement up stream. Flea powered tube amps ( maybe even normal powered tube amps??) need not apply! 

It depends on your equipment to determine which is
better.

Vitus match well with magico as compared to yg. Its vice 
versa if your amp is d agostino.

@daveyf  Did you hear the Magico M2? I found it super impressive. Incredible imaging and clarity.

@smodtactical I have heard the Magico M2. I thought it was a little thin sounding, particularly in comparison to other competing speakers in the same price range. The imaging was ok, but again I think it can be bettered by other speakers at or below its price point.

@daveyf

Seriously? Thin sounding, ’ok’ imaging, one-trick pony??
Where did you hear the M2? It’s ok to dislike a brand you never heard, but why the fiction?
It’s not like many here have never heard the M2, or the M6, which is anything but thin and image like no other box speakers (even JA noted this in his M2 review).

@sciencecop thanks for that...very informative and very assumptive. Great post. Sorry my prior post hurt your very tender and sensitive feelings.

@daveyf 
Apology accepted. Don't let me catch you slippin up again!

On the thread on the analog forum section titled: Direct Drive vs.Idler Drive vs. Belt Drive

Member neonknight posted this: "I am noticing something about you. It appears you are one of these people who believe that your choices are the only correct way to do things in this hobby. If others disagree with you or have a different perspective then they are misguided or ignorant. Audio is a journey and there are many pathways to take, and folks often have a different destination in mind and value a different perspective of what they get to hear and experience."

I think that sums up a ton of folks on these forums...and I couldn’t have put it better!

I guess your apology was not sincere??
A pity.

@sciencecop   Get a clue...and read my post above

@sciencecop Dave expresses an opinion and need to apologise to you? Logic?

Coming back to this thread. Another interesting match up might be the YG Hailey vs Magico A5 or M2 (A5 quite a bit lower msrp than the other 2).

Also Sonja 2.3 vs Magico m3 or m6.
I think the one issue with the YG lower end models or sonja 2.2 configuration is just the lack of bass impact and likely due to just having a singular 10 inch woofer (and smaller on hailey). Although Yoav tells me that given the metal driver and lack of flex, the driver movement is more pistonic and performs like a driver that is 1 size bigger (ie. 10 inch woofer is more like a 12 inch woofer).

Any other comparisons of YG Vs Magico?
YG vs Wilson aside:
I had 1 YG owner who went from XLF -> YG XV and was really happy with that shift. Another likes h is Sonja 2.2 more than XLF.

Running the Hailey 2.2s with mono 860a v2s now which has made me contemplate no longer needing my sub to complement. Plenty of layered, quick and impactful bass. at least for my tastes...

I have heard the Magico speakers and the YG speakers at the RMAF.....For me I don't get any goose bumps.....

Check out the Wilson Beseech A.C.T. Evolutions...They are using carbon fiber cabinets and have for years. This is the direction that Magico is going with their up end speakers.The M-5...The bass is as good as it gets, no bloat, and lively. The midrange is incredible, so realistic...

http://aaudioimports.com/ShowProduct.asp?hProduct=293

@sounds_real_audio  I really think WB seems well made but 2 concerns.
1. I have heard they can't do deep bass and bass heavy music well in terms of extension and impact
2. They kind of look like dildos (I mean their higher end stuff) like eminence

Wilson Benesch realized long ago that large bass drivers do a lot of doubling...I had a pair of small speakers with 8" woofers and the bass was so irritating I couldn't stand it, like sitting at a stop light and a car pulls up with the music blasting. I like honest bass and they don't chase the fantasy of sub bass... having said that when I was a dealer I compared them to the Korus X's by Talon the Tannoy's the Nola's. 
No comparison...The bass is tight and accurate and you don't need to treat all the walls . I had their Torus Infrasonic Generators that go into the 20's with accuracy and never needed bass busters or toom treatments. Most on agon who say they are looking for more bass probably don't have a satisfying midrange. 

Ya guessing with the infrasonics that would fill everything out well while maintaining quality.

Any other thoughts on YG vs Magico ? Also to complete the metal triforce, stenheim?

Brands to check.
Raidho
Marten
Rockport

Only rockport lyra of those 3 has a metal cabinet speaker. Interested in more comparisons between metal cabinet speakers.

When I started with thread I owned Magico S5 MKII speakers and loved them.

 I knew they were fantastic speakers but for me and my evolving my taste I wanted to consider other options. 
Only after owning multiple pairs of Magico’s over a few years had I leaned that a speaker with a little more bite and rougher edges may be more to my liking. A little less polished and polite speakers. 
Now the Magico is only polite compared to a more raw and brighter speaker and I don’t think it can be called polite unless compared to a such a brash speaker. That is why I considered YG. I found YG - Magico and even more so with Rockport are all refined and sophisticated musical devices. 
I found I like the sound of the French Focal better. It’s a more raw - needs taming type of speaker as it can be ear bleed bright if not matched up properly. The others really will never be too bad. I found Focal to be easier to drive with quicker stops and starts and much hotter. The tweeter can be brutal but also when tamed with a tube DAC or tube preamp and matched with excellent solid state output power I find to be the perfect sound for me. 
Now I guess the Magico M series is a more raw and transparent speaker like this but way out of my price range. I never owned a Focal speaker before and ran into them by accident. I know the build quality of Focal is nothing like the others but I only need them to be built well enough to be good sounding speakers and to last so long like 20 years or so and not built like a Magico or YG to last a thousand years. 

I found Focal speakers paired with Ypsilon electronics to be my cup of tea.

very interesting story, fsmithjack - thanks for sharing. 

i know exactly what you mean by polite. i chose YG over Magico as i find them more alive and microdynamic, but certainly can still hear some of what you speak about. 

@ keithr
So you think that a Be tweeter is more ’polite’ and less resolving than a Silk dome??
Not the impression I get when I compare the two.

I said the exact opposite of that???