Quandry: Used Magico V2 vs. new S1

10-20-14: Peterayer
I chose a Mini II over the V2 and did not really like the S1 when I heard it. The S1 is the entry level speaker, has lower quality parts and sounds fairly thin to me. The Mini II was an all out effort for state of the art in small speaker designs. It is a much more refined and capable speaker than the S1, IMO.

+ 1. Though I wouldn't say the S1 has lower quality parts per say. The Bass-midrange driver is a version of the current Q series drivers. But I agree with your sound description though. I heard the S1's a couple of times and they just don't do it for me. The Mini II is a classic speaker & as you said, was an all-out effort to build the best stand mount. It also looks beautiful and has a very solid integrated stand. If you find they're a bit bass-shy in your room, you could always add one or two Wilson Benesch Torus subs which i'm told is a good combo. Of course not on the same level as the Q-sub 15, but still very good.

Hi Bol, i'd be curious to ask what upstream gear you heard the S5's with? Were they fully played in? & What size room did you hear them in? A fully played in pair, in a medium to medium-large size room matched with Soulution, Vitus or Vac amps and the sound is rich, smooth, coherent, notably well balanced and has many layers in the bass. The S5's are fairly neutral, though are a bit on the warm side and transparent to source. They need a lot of run in time (500+ hrs). Would the Avalon Eidolon Diamond or Vandersteen 7 have better time coherency? Yes perhaps a little bit, but to my ears the S5's are plenty coherent. But if you weren't hearing many layers in the bass, I wouldn't blame the speakers. I would be looking at the upstream gear or run in time as likely culprits.

The S5 was with D’Agostino power, Audio research Ref pre amp
and Puccini cdplayer and Audioquest Wel Signature cables. The
S1 was with Zanden. The S5 had colouration in the low freq
caused by the woodenfloor. I missed the different layers in
the low freq. The S1 didn't have this problem.
But I still didn't find it fast enough. I didn't ask about how
many hours the S5 had played. it is possible that they didn't
play 500 hours. The only things I missed was that I prefer a
wider stage. I play far beside my spakers. With this set the
stage was within the speakers.

The natural sound of the S1 and S5 are both very good. I only
miss a faster response. I prefer them over Avalon because they
can give a sharper what I call; individual focus or intimate
focus. I want to touch an instrument or voice like I can when
I listen to a classical concert with a few instruments in
real. This part I judge in every system I audition.

Hi Bol, I don't think that setup you heard did the S5's any favors. Firstly the ARC preamp would be a bit slow for the S5's fast drivers. Also I found once my S5's reached 500+hrs they begun to open up, sound more relaxed and graceful, more beguiling, with faster transients, deeper imaging and greater micro detail. The S5's size allows them to throw a wide sound stage in an appropriate size room, but need some experimentation with setup. DCS to my ears is very good "hifi", but lacks the heart and soul of the Vitus SCD-025 for example. I've heard the D'Agostino mono's with Wilson Alexia's & a full DCS Vivaldi stack which didn't do it for me. I think any of the amp choices I mentioned before would have been a better match. Re: the coloration issue you heard, placing a set of Stillpoints Ultra 5's + Ultra bases under the speakers would have likely addressed that & further improved the sound. I agree with your description of their stage focus which is excellent.

I never liked DSC. Because it does not have a heart, this is an essential part for the emotion in music. So we agree on that.

Avalon and Wilson never will be a speaker with who I could life. It is not my tast in sound and from both I don't like how they present the individual focus of instruments and voices.

You always listen to all parts togheter including the acoustics. I became a stillpoint dealer a few months ago and yess they are great.