Magico Q3's at Goodwin's High End


Just a quick note to say that Goodwin's High End (in Boston) along with Alon Wolf presented a demonstration of the Magico Q3's yesterday.

As usual, it was a class act by Goodwin's and a real treat overall. Mr. Wolf fielded a number of questions about the speakers (and Magico's approach to design) and his detailed responses were fascinating.

The Q3's sounded spectacular. They were setup in Goodwin's huge listening room (20x30x11) and they were positioned quite wide apart and deep into the room (almost halfway). I was transported to the symphony hall with a few tracks - like nothing I've ever experienced before. They were driven with very expensive electronics, inluding huge Boulder amps that were 1000w each (if I'm not mistaken) to compensate for the size of the room.

The Q3 is a modest size floorstanding loudspeaker, but it weighs 250lbs! Like the Q5 (if you've ever heard it) it is very clean and neutral sounding. Definitely a speaker that lets you listen into the music rather than wow you with a forward presentation. Besides classical, we heard some jazz, some instrumental and a cut from Jennifer Warnes Famous Blue Raincoat that was stunning. These speakers don't call any attention to themselves. They were so coherent and produced such an impressive soundstage that it didn't feel like they were the source of the sound. Jennifer's voice had no artifacts (sibilence, etc) that it was like she was standing there. I feel I finally heard how the record was supposed to sound.

Anyways, I'm not trying to do a proper review here, but I did want to thank Goodwins and Magico for the opportunity and I thought I would share my initial impresssions.

Would love to know what other folks at the presentation(s) thought.
madfloyd
The Q1 retails for $59 or 60K. I don't know the price of the big Boulders, but you could do a google search. They were the 1000 watt/channel monoblocks. Massive. Regarding the drivers, the tweeter and midrange are the same in both speakers, but the Q1 uses two 9" bass drivers and one 9" mid bass driver while the Q3 uses three new 7" bass drivers.

The Q3 is being moved to a smaller room at Goodwins with less expensive electronics for further, smaller/private auditions. Alon Wolf controlled the music selections during the demo, so it will be interesting to hear the speaker in a different setting with familiar music.
Sorry, I meant to say the Q5, not the Q1. The Q1 will retail for $24 or 25K. The Q5 is $59 or 60K and has the five drivers.
Goodwin's website shows the 1000 watt Bolder 2050
monos with a list price of $86K.
Several months ago, when the prototype of the Q3 came out, many said that it is warmer and fuller sounding than the Q5s. I have not read this in current comments. I suppose this is no longer true? Q3 and Q5 sound more similar now? Thanks.