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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
suteetat
435 posts
 
Hmmm, interesting point about voice and scale of singers. Unfortunately, in my experience, I have not heard any stereo system that can quite produce the kind of impact that a truely large voice can produce in a concert hall or opera house. In part, that may be the false of microphone recording the voice, perhaps. Having heard Eva Marton, Alexandra Marc, Deborah Voigt, Hildegard Behrens, Nina Stemme among others and listen to their recordings, I never quite get the kind of goose bump experience from their wall of sound come crashing through. Birgitte Nilsson mentioned in her autobiography that when they tried to record her voice, the sound engineer kept asking her to step away from microphone as she kept overloading it as she sang.
Behrens is rather petite and Stemme is certainly quite slim (at least by opera singer's standard) but their voice is certainly not.
Not sure what this has to do with Q3 but oh well... our local dealer is supposed to get in his first pair to demo by the end of the month and from what I have been audition locally so far in my price range, I really think that Q3 is probably going to be the one I will get later on this year.
suteetat
435 posts
 
Finally I got to hear Q3. However, the speakers only arrived at the dealer 2 days ago and not even closed to burn in yet but it sounds very promising. Like Q5, it made just about all other cone speakers sound boxy in comparison. Excellent detail and I could hear separation of each instruments much clearer. The improvement over V3 is quite significant. My dealer is now worried that it may be more difficult to sell the remaining stocks of his V3 because the difference is price and performance seems to favor Q3 quite a bit. I should have Q3 in my living room in the next week or so after they are burned in more.
wolf_garcia
6,711 posts
 
Magico does have a weird issue with these new models seeming superior to the old ones...at WAY less money. I'm waiting for the outrage among the owners of the older stuff...and I'm glad I can live with sub 60K speakers....
peterayer
1,382 posts
 
I think the Q3 retails for $34,000, substantially less than $60K. I too happily live with sub 60K speakers.

The Q3 will soon replace the V3. The Q3 is a better speaker, but it does cost about $7K more, not "WAY less money".

I'm one of the legacy owners of a pair of Magico Mini II's which will soon be replaced by the Q1. There is and will be no outrage from me. I paid considerably less for my speakers than what their replacement will cost. They also have a very different look which suits my living room decor better anyway. Sure the new models sound better. Technology marches on and I'm glad that Magico continues to push the envelope.

For some reason, Magico seems to be controversial. There are quite a few detractors and many pleased customers.
suteetat
435 posts
 
Yes, Q3 cost more than the V3 but the improve in performance is quite significant. What I tried to say was that, eventhough Q3 costs more, my dealer felt that most people, if they can, probably would try to stretch their budget from V3 upto Q3 because of the gain in performance.

I almost bought V3 a couple of years ago and I am glad I waited this long.

I think there are good reasons why some people may not like Magico. People who are used to big heavy bass from ported loudspeakers may not be used to the type of bass that Magico produces. They are also not easy to drive. I am not sure why Magico would list 50 watts or was it 100 watts as adequate for Q5. At least Q3 seems to be a much easier load than even V3. Th 120 watts 710 Soulution amp certainly seems to have easier time driving Q3 than V3.

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