I don't mean to diss Magico, but I spent a lot of time at a recent CES with the Q7s, and I just don't get it. I came back several times as they swapped out amps. Sure, trade show conditions aren't optimal, and all that, but they had a decent room and plenty of top-flight megabucks electronics. The Q7s did all the audiophile things right: Deep and powerful bass? Check. Relatively uncolored midrange? Check. Airy highs? Sort of, check. Imaging? OK, check. Etc, etc, etc. Check, check, check. Magic? Uh...
There was simply no "magic" in Magico, even with these mighty Q7s. With bigger Apogees set up and driven properly, you can find yourself immersed in a "reality distortion field" with palpable instruments playing in front of you. All clean, pure and relaxed. That's the way I'll take it, thanks.
Magico is not alone. There are plenty of megabuck contenders to the speaker throne. It's just that Magicos, particularly the Q7s, are so very ambitious and costly, and TAS praised them so enthusiastically. I had high hopes for them, but as has often happened with new shiny audio things, I was disappointed.
There was simply no "magic" in Magico, even with these mighty Q7s. With bigger Apogees set up and driven properly, you can find yourself immersed in a "reality distortion field" with palpable instruments playing in front of you. All clean, pure and relaxed. That's the way I'll take it, thanks.
Magico is not alone. There are plenty of megabuck contenders to the speaker throne. It's just that Magicos, particularly the Q7s, are so very ambitious and costly, and TAS praised them so enthusiastically. I had high hopes for them, but as has often happened with new shiny audio things, I was disappointed.