Magico Q7 . . . wow

How boring. One more "Best in Show":
http://www.avshowrooms.com/Salon_Son___Image.html

When I've heard Magico speakers, they have been running off very high end 6 digit systems.

They sounded very good as they of course should at their price, especially with lighter classical and jazz music.

I'm not convinced they are that special though nor represent a great value though and that there are not more cost effective ways to get similarly good sound for much less, especially for more rock/pop types of music that present different challenges for good sound.

The build quality is top notch however. No doubts about that.

Magico bass is going to be one of those love it or hate it for most people I suppose. Generally with 200-300 watts amp, at least with Q3,Q5, you will get extremely clean and detail bass but you definitely not get the quantity of bass that ported speakers like Usher Be-20, Wilson, Rockport will put out. So it will not rock like those speakers mentioned above.
However, listening to piano music which can extend down to about 30Hz in fundamentals, or double bass or cellos, I found Magico to be most natural. It is not perfect but it came the closest to live piano sound that I hear almost on daily basis when I practice on my grand piano just about every day. Big Maggie and ML CLX comes close except that they lack a bit of weight and growl that a good size grand piano possesses.
However, if you throw enough good wattage at it like a friend of mine who uses Karan new 2000w monoblocks, Q5 can definitely rock and boogie with the best speakers out there
while not overly exaggerates the bass like some other speakers.

Taking a closer look at the entire Q line, a few things become obvious.
A) They all use the same tweeter/midrange
B) All of the drivers come from the same family of design
C) All cabinets are of the same rigid aluminum construction
D) Crossover parts are all the same
E) Aside from the Q1, they are all four way designs

So the only differences will be the size of the mid-bass driver and the size of the pair of the woofers.

What this means, practically speaking, is that the entire Q line should sound the same with the exception of total linearity in the bass. Bigger drivers = more efficient coupling with the room they are in = greater dynamic linearity = the ability to play louder without any sense of strain.

I would be very doubtful that, for instance, the Q5 and Q7 sound much different given a sound level that didn't push the Q5 to it's limits. (assuming the same associated equipment and room size) If they did sound much different, I would be either very wary of their design or vary wary of the validity of the listener's abilities.

Also, in the endless arguments over the various big time speakers, the most fundamental differences are so often overlooked!
Magico=Carbon Fiber drivers
YG=Aluminum drivers
Wilson=some sort of ridgid phenolic
Evolution Acoustic=Ceramic

THIS singular point is going to be THE overriding quality that dictates their sound. Not so much cabinet construction and what not. (They are all sufficiently herculean in that regard.)
To me, the EA sound great but with an obvious ceramic quality. The YG can sound pretty decent, but with an obvious aluminum quality, and so on and so forth.
Nothing more than design choices. Nothing more than flavors.
So the arguments over which is higher "Fidelity" is pointless.
(though the EA does have arguments in this area, but for different reasons and ones that are masked by the ceramic colorations. different topic, different thread)

the Q7 have completely different drivers (magnet)than rest of the range. They sound similar to a Q5, but more dynamic.

I believe that defining a speaker by the drivers material used is a bit simplistic. The EA sound quite different from a pair of Marten, Kharma, or tidal... and they are all ceramic.

On ported vs. closed bass enclosure: I have both a pair of EA MM3 (for stereo) and Usher BE-20 (for home theater and multi channel). The MM3 measures in my room at 18Hz flat. I find the MM3 bass much more natural than the Usher. I listen mainly to Jazz, for that the MM3 is better than a Usher (but I prefer Usher for modern music). I find the Magico Q3 even more transparent than the EA MM3, but it lacks bass response of EA MM3. the Q7 s for me the perfect solution. I am waiting to do one listening session in good conditions before buying one.