Magico owners S1Mk 2

Well, I  have heard the S1 Mk2 for over an hour at the Magico showroom, let me know if you'd like my input.

I would like it very much. Thanks

Not an owner but I have done the same as @erik_squires. I spent some time with them at a dealer.  

My experience was the speakers disappeared.  They were standing next to Scansonics and Kaisers and I had to ask which speaker was playing.  No localization at all.  Soundstage had wonderful height and width.  Detail is incredible and it is one of the Beryllium tweeter implementations I really like.  They were very, very good.  I did not ultimately buy them because they don't fit my taste perfectly, but they were very, very good

excellent description. thanks. would you describe them as lean or was there some bass weight within their limits? 

I wouldn’t call them lean so much as chesty, and cool, and kind of an odd speaker to fit to a room.

The treble is very smooth, and very wide. You get an amazingly wide sweet spot but only if you have the right room and can place them far away from side and rear walls.

What I mean by chesty is the lower ranges of the female voice, to piano seem accentuated in all the Magico’s I’ve listened to. This is a point many other listeners dispute and disagree with me on. Listen to Diana Krall and see how she does for you.

The treble is absolutely glass smooth, one of the best I’ve heard, but it is also a little elevated and will sound better at low volumes, so if you feel you have hearing loss, this may do very well for you.

They are also terribly insensitive and need a big sturdy amplifier to sound their best. And here’s the rub, IMHO. These are small, limited output speakers that are very demanding on amp and room. I mean, for a small speaker, you’d like it to be more forgiving, and let you take less space, but really the opposite is true. They’ll take as much floor space as a larger speaker would due to their ultra wide dispersion. Also, why get a small speaker you want to listen to at low volumes that's going to demand really big beefy amps?  This kind of balance really leaves me scratching my head overall.

If you have the room for them, a speaker from the Magico A line is probably going to be much more speaker for the money. More dynamic range, more bass, and similar mid-treble voicing.

I would take erik_squires comments with a BIG grain of salt. It has been proven a few times already that his imagination works overtime.
I have my doubt if he has ever hard a Magico.

sciencecop,
That is an unkind comment with no basis in fact. I have never had reason to doubt the veracity of his observations which normally seem very even-handed.

no need for contention. i appreciate erik’s comments. the only thing that seems weird is this incredibly built non resonant cabinet sounding chesty or maybe with too much mid bass. It’s not ported and only has a 7” mid/bass driver. it seems incongruent but you hear what your hear. 

Even-handed, maybe, but just not true
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/all-new-magico-a5-loudspeakers-biggest-bang-for-your-buck-on-...

@4425

I owned several Magicos over the years (not the S1). I did own the 2-way Mini for several years, ’chesty’ does not come to mind when experiencing any of them.

Hey,
It's not about the cabinet resonating.  You can see the answer in the measurements of the S1, it peaks around 100 Hz.  But again, this is something you should hear for yourself.  If you love how Diana Krall and piano sounds, you are free to come back and say so, I won't mind because it is after all your money.

Best,
Erik

Yes, I made a mistake in identifying the wrong speaker, and I immediately apologized.

I love how people honestly think more about my past posts than I do.  I feel like there's all this rent-free space I'm taking up in their heads.

I should also point out, if your hearing is that bad, a much better speaker for you is the current Dali line which is specifically accentuated.

Can't say I have heard anything "chesty" in them.  That being said, lean is not a word I would use but they were being driven by 450w amps.  A buddy of mine has s5 mkiis and he is convinced that Magicos can't have too much headroom and the more power you give them, the more alive and open they become.   If you can give them 1000w, go for it.  

Lean might also come from the fact that the soundstage is tall and wide, but to me lacked depth.  That could be an unfair comparison because in that same demo I was comparing to Scansonic MB6s and Kaiser Chiaras which have incredibly wide and deep soundstages.  I am somewhat soundstage obsessed in terms of wanting an immersive experience.  With the S1 MKiis it seemed like music was being presented too me rather than enveloping me which was a stark contract to the Scansonics and Kaisers.  

I will say that in terms of placement, I have not played with them in a room myself and when I did hear them, they were a good 7-10 ft off the back wall and 4-5 feet from each sidewall.   Placement could be an issue, I can't answer that though.  

hearing is good but i know highs are softer than i recall from a year or two ago. treble on auto/home theatre all cranked up. plus i admit to valuing clarity and high frequency sheen very much. This should be the S1’s calling card.

really to me it’s about the tweeter difference between A series vs S series. seems to be a consensus that A series is somewhat softer/darker on top otherwise A series looks to be more speaker for less $

I have to concur with you in terms of value. The S1 Mk II to me will always be a curious beast to me.  Buy it if you absolutely fall in love with the sound and requirements.  Otherwise, the A looks like a better place to look.

Owners of S1 Mk 2 must love them as they seem to be hard to find used. 

I think it's kind of irrelevant how many owners love theirs, unless they are buying your speakers. :)  You really need to listen for yourself.  These may be the best speakers int he world for you, or meh, and no one can say but you.

Talk about price disparity. The S1 mk1 used can be had around $5000 whereas the Mk 2 lists for 18k. I haven’t seen any Mk 2’s on the used market. There were several upgrades for the. Mk 2’s but surely the Mk 1 will share a similar sound. I would think that the newer tweeter on the mk2 would be a meaningful improvement but i don’t know this. FWIW

1) I don’t think you need to have perfect hearing to enjoy music and to be able to discriminate between different stereo systems. Your brain can fill in missing cues - training/attention is more important. 
2) I have the Magico S1 mk1 and don’t feel the need to go to mk2s. Mk1s can be had for around $4-5k. I put the difference in $$$ into a pair of subs and better amps. I think that made more dramatic a difference than going to mk2s. 
3) What I’ve noticed is that off axis imaging is excellent. I like lounging around and not plastered to a seat. Even when lounging around away from the sweet spot the imaging is really good. 
4) I think I is more important that the speakers fit your room and lifestyle. The sound can be  voiced to your liking via amps etc. 

5) The S1 is particularly tube friendly because it dips below 4 ohms only above 6k Hz where there is less energy. I am satisfied with a 50W Jadis integrated. 

Wise advice. S1 with a good sub should be exceptional.