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My findings on Magico V2.....what now?

Hi guys, I've finally managed to make a 250km trip to audition the Magico V2. The V2's were driven by Soulution 740 preamp and 710 power amp (each costing $40k and highly acclaimed by JV of TAS). The source used was a Soulution 745 disc player. So...the sound was G-R-E-A-T...but I sat there in the auditioning chair like a rock. To my surprise, I found myself unmoved and unstirred. By the 4th CD, I started to get bored. I felt almost none of the wonderful emotions I got when I auditioned the Avantgarde Uno G2 driven by Audio Note Meishu SET amp.

Should this experience be conclusive and enough for me to make my decision? Should I explore the V2 with other amps, say, the Pass XA100.5? As great as the Soulution combo is, they sounded sterile to me. And unfortunately the Magico dealer carries only a couple of brands for amps so I can't make any A/B comparison.
jtein
argyro
438 posts
 
Mariv26, exellent points!

Usually what has the WOW factor at a dealer demo, is NOT what we can live with in the long term.
paulsax
275 posts
 
interesting point by extension. If you dont like or get excited by what you hear in a dealer the implication is that perhaps you should get them anyway and work out the "kinks"? I can see what you mean but that sort of implies that the Wow factor is often a temporary artifact or something? FOr me the wow is usually dealing with clarity of most often vocals or instrumentals like guitar. I think clarity of both is what makes it for me. BTW no flaming or arguing going on here, rather curious about this strategy for lack of a better word. What am I missing Mariv26?
mariv26
29 posts
 
Paulsa,

Many times, what appears to be a "clarity of vocals or instrumentals like guitar" is simply elevated upper midrange lower trebles cause by poor XO work and driver integration. Many loudspeakers guys out there have made a good living doing just that. It may be exciting but it is certainly not "right". Put a good piano recording or a violin and see what it sounds like. It take experience and willingness to explore these issues to identify these pitfalls.
nolitan
865 posts
 
why dont you try listening to the magico on a different occasion and maybe try bringing your own set of cd's a see what reckons.
I heard the magico a few times. Great as they are, i really don't have the slight itch to buy them or anything like that.
While i find the sound very good, well, thats about it.
nonetheless, there will always be speakers or amps that will leave you a good impression the 1st time around & the only way to really say they are for you is to give them another run the 2nd time around.
Good luck!!!
jtein OP
36 posts
 
Nolitan, I did bring my own set of favourite CDs to audition the Magicos. I just couldn't get into the music, even with my favourite CDs! It sounded totally uninvolving. For example, I couldn't hear the timbre and character of the piano played by Theolonius Monk (Live At The IT Club) which I did with the Avantgarde/AudioNote set-up. Guess it's time to move on. Which is a shame, because I really liked the way the Magicos look and the engineering that's gone into it.
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