AAD 7001 vs Magico Mini MK II

Having hear both, what Frankpiet says rings true.

The Magico Minis are fantastic monitors (they should be for the price) but I would not consider them a replacement for the Avalons unless you are willing to go for a different sound.

Frankpiet,
Hope what you had for comparison was a fully broken-in pair of V2. As those few points you mentioned, plus added midrange dimensionality (more densely fleshed out), and also top and bottom extensions were only fully realized at or after the 300-500hr mark with the MiniII. Their sound kept evolving, sometime for the better and sometime for the worse, stabilizing only north of 300hrs. But it is just my assumption here that V2, being of same breed, should require somewhat similar process before fair assessment can be made to their sound.

Beside MiniII, I would also add the new TAD Compact Reference One Monitor to your must audition list. However, we can just do so much as to line-up the "better" mini monitors of today, finally, it is the synergizing and personal taste that really matters, there is no absolute best for everyone.. Anyway good luck in your pursuit, and do keep us inform of the journey.

I listen to the Avalon extensively before I bought my first Mini. The Avalon lower region performance hardly exist so I am not sure what “weight” exactly you are talking about (See JA measurements). Perhaps you are referring to the ‘ripens’ they have at the midbass due to the woofer elevated response. Kind of nice on some recording but certainly not natural sounding and colored to my ears. I also think that the more “resolution” you are talking about is due to the tweeter brittleness and elevated output (Again, see JA measurements). Might be exciting on the old ears but “resolution”, it is not. Al in all, I think that there is simply no comparison on ‘objective’ matters. The Avalon is a good specimen of the ‘old’ design school, with hardly any innovations to speak of, where the Magico’s is an engineering feast with performance that are in a league of their own. Just my 2 cents

The Avalons have very unique sound based on my brief listening session with them that I cannot equate exactly with any other line.

The sound had a certain "sparkle" compared to comparable speakers from most other vendors I have heard like Dynaudio and Magico.

It came across as resolving in my limited listening session but it may well have been a hotter tonal balance/timbre compared to many other speaks I am familiar with. It was different and interesting but I did not have enough listening time logged to really say whether it was a good thing or not in the long term.

MAgico Mini's when I heard them came across as highly resolving yet smooth as well but the timbre was more in line with other lines I've heard. They are expensive beast's though. The AADs (never heard these) look to be about half the price which could be a bargain if performance is comparable.

@ Roypan: you will agree, that the Indras have more weight and punch than the Mini II´s - so how would you call the lower region of a mini monitor like the Mini II´s compared to a full range speaker like the Indras. The mid band and the high frequencys of the Indras are quite pure as from the resonance character ceramique transducers are more linear (due to the stiffness and light weght of the material) than the ring radiator used in the Mini´s. To our ears "resolution" or lets call it detail retrieval was better with the Indras. But probably the Mini II´s are a lot different than the V 2´s or the synergy of Avalon and Boulder is much better than the synergy of Magico and Boulder ?

@ Bvdiman: I was told that the V 2´s had about 600-700 hours on them (in use for several month). I was a bit suprised as the price tag of the V 2´s is quite high - therefore I had expected a "better" performance - although performing on a very high level.

@ Mapman: I´ve heard a lot of good things about the AAd´s but I´m not a big fan of ribbon tweeters as sweetspot is quite narrow and the lack a bit "depth".

I will try to audition the YG Anat II Reference main module as it goes down quite low and is said to be an extraordinary speaker as well and a contendr for the finest monitors available.