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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
westborn
153 posts
 
Edorr, you are exactly right. And our ears change, our listening psychology changes, etc. etc. How many times have we reached semi-nirvana, only to begin to find faults or realize that our expectations and listening experiences have somehow mutated.

Mapman, you simply can not be serious calling Ohms high end on the same level with Magico, Evolution Acoustics, or even the flawed but still enjoyable Wilsons. I owned and enjoyed the F's waaay back in the day, but everything Ohm has made since is boring and quite simply average mid-fi, regardless of so-called call 'refinements'. I think your comments and marketing here may be the only thing keeping Ohm going. Give it a rest - enough already.
mysearcher257
50 posts
 
And if you need something else to whine about then I think your dog is also stupid.
mikelavigne
2,199 posts
 
Stereotaipei,

if you really need to verify what happened just ask the dealer who sold the Q7's to the guy. Alon can put you in touch with him.

i know where all the MM7's are and that the Q7 owner has not heard any of them yet. at some point he may travel to hear them.

it's not the end of the world. someone simply preferred one speaker to another. just like you.

time to listen to more music and kick back.
mapman's avatar
mapman
22,182 posts
 
"everything Ohm has made since is boring and quite simply average "

Westborn, I think there are a lot of OHM owners, both new and old, that would disagree.

I have heard Magico minis set up very well. They sounded nice for what they did, but I would question the value. Its hard to question the value of the OHMs.

Have you heard the most recent OHMs, serie3 or current X000 line? If so, running on what system? They might sound as you describe if not set up properly with the right amp. OHMs over the years are reasonably affordable and many are run off systems that cannot make them sing. Setting up properly with the right amp is part of the secret sauce (as it is for most speakers).

Stereophile pointed out some flaws of the original 1980's vintage OHm 5s back in 1987 and said if those were corrected, you would really have something.

I can assure you the issues have been corrected since and they are now very competitive with the best most expensive systems I have heard (I have heard quite a few including Magico and others in recent years for reference).

SO I think your assessment of OHMs is not an accurate one. They may not be for everyone (what speaker is?)but labeling them mid-fi would definitely be a disservice, though the cost relative to Magico alone might lead one to think that way.

COme hear my F5 series 3 OHMs in my rig and I'll see if I can change your mind.
stereotaipei
56 posts
 
Mike,
as I wrote, I have no problem with anybody preferring the Q7 or a MM7, or a big Wilson or Rockport, or a G1.... but what you describe is like the story of a guy entering a BMW car dealer, trying an Audi A1 diesel.... and liking it so much that he decides to sell his Ferrari for an Audi R8... how much would you value the opinion of such a guy? since you are in the car business you get what I mean ;-)
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