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David Wilson must be a little annoyed...

the Absolute Sound has pronounced the relative new-comer Magico as having designed the least-flawed loudspeaker in the world (the Q7). the Wison XLF is described as the best "cost-no-object" speaker, and while "flawed" in some respects, is the company's best effort yet. given the lengthy history of attempts at making a perfect transducer, Wilson and its many devotees might take all this as a funny way of saying "better luck next time" instead of "this by far exceeds all that has come before which was already pretty darn good".
i have little doubt that, for $180,000 (or name another huge number) the Q7 is very VERY good. the cabinet is "inert", the drivers weigh next to nothing, and the crossovers are made from premium parts arranged as carefully as technology allows. But once upon a time, the B&W 801 Matrix ($5500) was
called the "audio end of the road" by Stereophile. so ACCURATE was this loudspeaker that you could tell what kind of bassoon the guy in the orchestra was playing, and on what row, completely distinct from every other instrument being played. you needed a chain of superior components upstream of course. but i will never forget personally auditioning this speaker and thinking "WOW"
as the music was clearer and cleaner with the best bass extension than anything i had ever heard before.
of course better speakers HAVE since been designed and the bass i was so impressed with turned out to lag behind the other drivers and needed a better design, better parts, etc. to catch up. but the Kevlar midrange unit is still with us in various forms, and the isolation of the "head unit" from the low-bass is also still a common technique. but how many multiples of $5500 (even allowing for inflation) does it take to clean up the sound of a loudspeaker, and also keep it from "shaking and baking" if you really crank up the volume?
I think everyone knows that probably $20K, maybe $30K, should give the speaker manufacturer a lot to work with. And for $50K you could wrap it in the most attractive materials on the planet Earth.
After 60 some odd years of reading about "OMG" components in the audio press, I would love to congradulate Magico on the one hand, and express my annoyance from another (and another ad.infinitum) article about the new greatest hi-fi thing for [you can't afford it]. personally i just happen to like the shape and appearance of the Q7 a lot, very clean, very uncomplicated. i do favor using grill coverings however, and feel that should always be an option
lest someone comes along "poking" the drivers to see how they move. there might even be some "contour" controls on the back turning up or down the tweeter or attenuating the bass to allow for a less than perfect room (although how could one place a "perfect" speaker in an imperfect environment?)
if this entire argument is exciting, or conversely tiresome, i just would like other persons' reactions to these pronouncements in the audio press.
and WHAT IF the Wilson XLF was placed side by side with the Q7 and you asked pro reviewers as well as music lovers to decide which speaker was better and/or which would be easier to live with long run?
while you're at it bring in a Rockport, MBL, Kharma, Nola, etc. set of speakers and try to decide all over again. Make it even more fun, and limit
the selling price to $50K or below, and see just how close you can come.
Just some random thoughts as we enter into the Audio Cliff....
french_fries
stereotaipei
56 posts
 
My experience is different. I had a pair of Evolution acoustic MM3 for 5 years, and sold it in September. I have replaced it with two pairs of speakers: one pair of Q1 (already arrived before I sold the MM3) and one pair of Q7 (to arrive at completion of my dedicated room)
I had the Q1 and MM3 in the same (fully treated) room. Tested them both with Dartzeel 108 amp and Devialet (both are great amps). The Q1 crunched the MM3 (more transparent, better dynamic, tone quality, precision of imaging, absence of coloration), it was shocking, and I was very surprised as originally they were planned for a secondary system. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean the Evolution acoustics are bad speaker (I would chose them over most Wilson), but the Magico Q serie is in a different league. Four friends who were there during the comparison arrived at same conclusion. Only advantage of the MM3 was in bass extension... but this advantage was gone when we tried to connect also my 2 Fathom subs in parallel with the Q1: you end up with a cheaper solution than the MM3, with better WAF and better sound. Of course, the Q1 is not a show off speaker like the MM3, not a big monster 700lbs speaker to impress my non audiophile friends (they type of guys who ask me "how many WATTS?"... it is a speaker you buy for yourself, to enjoy music.

The Q7 is a completely different animal. I have heard several times most of super speakers on the market (Tidal T1, X2, XLF The Sonus Faber, Grand Utopia, big TAD...), the Q7 is in a league on its own. For the first time I listened to a speaker above 100k where I felt the price difference was justified. Given that the Q7 beats hand down the Q1, and that the Q1 is way better than the MM3, I have difficulties to believe somebody may prefer the EA Micro Ones (but who knows... all tastes are in nature.... some people even order their Ferrari with a pink interior): .

Last, build quality of Magico speakers is no comparison with my MM3:
- on MM3, woofer is screwed on the cabinet with MDF screws. I would expect this on a $500 speaker, not a 40k one.
- on MM3, I had to unscrew one woofer to be able to extract one cabinet screw which was stuck in the thread of one spike.... so I couldn't spike them: great quality control!
- on MM3, both speakers started to delaminate (in exactly the same position, next to plate of bass amplifier) when I shipped them to the new buyer. EA explained me it must be coming from the air freight transportation, and refused to admit it was a manufacturing or design problem.
So sorry guys.... there is no miracle... quality has a price: Magico speakers are expensive, but you get a piece of technology built like a Swiss clock, with real R&D behind, with both drivers and cabinet designed in house, and with the best Mundorf crossover components. I don't believe that the Magico team is stupid: if it was possible to reach the same sound quality by using cheap off the shelves components and MDF instead of 350kg of machined aluminium like most other brands, of course they would do it...

Now back to original post.... I listened to (and measured) the XLF in a custom designed auditorium. It was very disappointing, aggressive highs, without bass below 60Hz. Contact me if you want to see the measurement. I was so shocked that I went to listen to it in 2 other rooms, not much better (listen to a double bass, you may not recognize the instrument if you are used to go to concert...). Very strange - but that demonstrates that more expensive doesn't always mean better. Power of marketing and loyalty of customer base...
4orreal
91 posts
 
Jonathan Tinn said the same thing Mike Lavinge said when I enquired which EA model they compared the Q7 to. I was schocked and surprised the same time. I thought it was the MM7. Although the MM7 and Q7 are full range, and close in price, I don't know if a Magico with driver configuration like the MM7 would be more appropriate in comparison, having 4 bass drivers, 2 midrange, and four mid-bass drivers just like the MM7's. I don't know if Magico is dreaming about such a speaker. But to hear someone trade in a Q7 due to the sound of the MM Micro One just blew me away. I also read on Mike Lavigne's system threads that A'gon user "Stereotaipei" sold his Evolution Acoustics MM3 to replace it with the Magico Q7. So I guess it can go both ways.
usermanual
104 posts
 
Or maybe it is just one more of JTinn tricks. He has got a bag full of them, designed especially for the gullible audio nuts.
edorr
714 posts
 
So one guys likes a Q1 better than the MM3 and another guy likes the Micro One better than the Q7. I say call it a draw and trust your own ears. Thankfully, most of us will never have the face the agonizing dilemma of having to choose between the MM7 and Q7.
syntax's avatar
syntax
2,193 posts
 
All is great. Even more when it is expensive. You will hardly find an Audiophile who owned a 100k Speaker and replaced it with a 40K Speaker because it is better.
Take it the way it is, someone wants to spend a sum and he wants to have something. 'Then he finds his arguments for buying. But please stop to tell how good and great the new super expensive unit is.
I listened to endless ultra expensive Systems and most were cold, dead, boring and far away from the real thing. What they have is a top finish and they can play loud.
The Magico Q5 was also the super-duper-ultra-speaker (same with Wilsons or others, it is the rule of Marketing), all told me, they have to be used with Spectral, listened to them with Pre 30, mono 360, their most expensive gear, when I left the house I never thought about it again. I heard the same clinical Sound from 5k Systems, not so loud, but same detail. Music sounds definitely different.
I am also not such a big Fan from Wilson, in a way they aren't so different. wilson simply has a finish to die for, extremely good. Chassis, X-over? Nothing to write home about.
Easy goin' ..Christmas is coming and we need presents :-)
(For ourselves)
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