Magicos are chesty

I spent few hours on Saturday listening to the S1 Mk2 on a full Spectral system. Truly was a treat, I couldn’t fault it on anything but full orchestral pieces (and the price, very expensive setup). It was amazing, the liquidity off these speakers is unmatched by anything I heard. Here is a link to a very good review by a very “snobbish” German reviewer ( https://www.magico.net/reviews/PDF/Magico_S1MkII_3-18.pdf ). Will not do a full translate but he basically concluded with that:

"With her farewell from the listening room, the Magico S1 Mk2 I was unhappy. No wonder, because those who have heard the entire musical spectrum with these transducers in a clarity and bandwidth that can only be described as unbelievable, meets the blow when reactivating to familiar loudspeakers…”

@mheinze
Honestly, there was a lot I liked more about the S1 than the S3.
The S1, except for the congestion noted in my original post, has a glass smooth midrange to treble, and truly impressive dynamic range along with a very wide listening angle.

The S3 I heard was not as smooth, and honestly a little strident as things got loud. (this may be dealer electronics, or acoustics but it was something I heard elsewhere in the showroom).

The S1 remains a weird thing to me. It requires a lot of space, a lot of power, and ultimately sounds better at low listening volumes. I mean, it has the dynamic range, but the tonal balance is a bit cool, and encourages more late night quiet listening than R&R at full volume. And damn, it is inefficient. I really had hoped to hear that the S3 fixed everything, but honestly, in the short presentation I heard, if those were my only two choices in speakers, the S1 was far better.
Again, I have no idea what contributed. It could have been the room, or cables. No idea. Just based on my 2 auditions, hands down the S1 wins.

@erik_squires 

The S1 I listen to was in a small room with the Spectral Stereo DMA 240, hardly a monster. I don't understand why you conclude that they need a big space and a big amp. I only heard the S3 in Munich show couple of years ago, it was a very impressive presentation, also with Spectral, I believe. 

I think their efficiency is around 83 dB, no?

Because they have a very wide dispersion. To make them sound their best they need just as much room as much larger speakers.

I guess my point is that the S1, being small footprint speakers, you'd kind of expect to want to use them in a small space, with something like a 60W tube or class-A integrated. Essentially what we might call an intimate system.

IMHO, this wouldn't work at all.

They are just as demanding as much larger speakers in terms of space and perhaps more so in terms of power.

I did not mean to say you need a kilowatt amplifier for them, just that the normal calculus for small speakers seems off to me.