Magico S5 review


I've been auditioning the Magico S5's on loan from my dealer Scott Walker Audio of Anaheim for several weeks now.
The S5's are an all aluminum cabinet, a trickle down version of the Q series. They are 90 DB, 22HZ-50KHZ, 190#,and sell for $28,600. After some considerable work by Scott he got the speakers locked in perfectly.

My current system consists of Focal Nova Utopia BE speakers
($45,000), An Ayon CD-5 cd player, An Ayon Triton 2 amp,Grand Prix Monaco racks,and a slew of Synergistic Research equipment: Tranquility bases,Migs, Hologram A,D, and AC Precision power cords, Element interconnects,an 11 piece Acoustic Art system, SR fuses and even the new Ayon BT KT-88 SX tubes made in the Czech Republic

I thought I had a pretty great system......Until the S5's came into the picture. The first thing you notice about these speakers is their sealed rather than ported bass. Oh my god! I am not a bass freak but the Magicos had incredible bass.....taut with a visceral punch to the stomach on the right tracks. And this with a tube amp.On certain bass heavy tracks it was like having two subwoofers in the room.

The tweeter was smooth and delicate and completely integrated with the midrange.....it was like one driver.

The midrange is where the Magico Magic comes in.....a strong center vocal image (I like female vocalists), not only more "there" than my Focals but violins had more sheen, cellos sound deeper and you could hear deeper into the subtleties and nuances of the human voice. The tonal characteristics were denser and more real.

The real surprise came when I put the Focals back in the system. I was disappointed. Very Disappointed. The Focals bass in comparison to the Magicos sounded flabby and weak,midrange presence was lessened along with the Magicos wonderful tone. It was easy to discern that the Magico S5's sounded more holographic, 3D, with a smoother yet more detailed mid and top end.

Things I particulary liked about the music reproduction of the S5's:

Dark Side of the Moon: Listen to the bells and the cash register on the song "Money" Stunning.

Warren Zevon, Life Will Kill You: Warren knew he was dying and wasn't in great shape vocally but when you hear the title track you can hear EVERY nuance in his voice....you can hear all his despair and humor.

Sarah McLachlan, Surfacing: I was amazed at how good this Cd sounded, absolutely gorgeous. I heard guitars, Synths, and faint almost out of hearing range background vocals by Sarah. I heard sounds on this Cd I have never heard before.

Melissa McClelland,Thumbelina's One Night Stand: A cd with country folk sensibilties but with a sort of Southern guitar crunch to it. Listening to this on the Magicos was like having Melissa in the room.....Holographic, real vocal tones, and absolutely haunting.

So after saying all this what's an audiophile to do?
My dealer Scott Walker is taking my Focals in on trade along with a check. I understand the S5's take two months to build and get here so Scott is loaning me his demo pair for the duration. That will certainly make waiting for the next two months a lot easier.

mreapoe100
Rcprince you hit something there. I had a previous dealer that I spent over a 100K with one year and they tried to rip me nickel and dime fashion. My labrador chewed up my remote on my Meridian F80....I went to Meridians website which gave a list price of 40 dollars. So I called my dealer and asked if he had one. "Sure...its a demo...the list price is 100 dollars but I will sell it to you for 50 dollars". 10 dollars over list for used. On a three thousand dollar radio.

Scott Walker is old school professional service. He has cut me financial slack, taken things in trade I wasn't sure he would, and is always there for service. When he set up the S5's he came back three or four times and spent 15 plus hours measuring and setting up the speakers just so.To the milimeter exact with laser sighting. He spent hours resetting my Art Acoustic system to match the Magico's.
As far as loaning me the demo speakers....the only caveat he had was asking if I would let someone audition in my room in the meantime. Of course I said yes... I might meet a knowledgable audiophile who can teach me something or introduce me to new music.
Sounds like you have forged a good relationship with your dealer. There are some very good dealers out there you just have to find one. It is rare to find one with allot of knowledge that is not all about squeezing every last dollar out of you.

Does anyone know if the S5 will be shown at RMAF 2012?
Mreapoe100,
You and your dealer have obviously developed a strong relationship of trust and loyalty,congratulations.

You own no one an explanation for your choices.
Regards,
An in-home audition takes most of the guess work outta the equation, otherwise you're faced with aural memory from two different locations and systems obviously.

If you can bring your speakers to the dealer (like I did) that's another second choice alternative.
Congratulations. You did well. Get used to the idea that ill-informed people will find it irresistible to tell you that thire crap is better than yours. The funny thing here is that here is a guy that condemns you for listening to speakers at shows, where at some of his other posts he claims to have only heard the Magico at shows (obviously he didn’t have them at his shop or house). Like I said, welcome to the mad house.