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Magico S5 review

I've been auditioning the Magico S5's on loan from my dealer Scott Walker Audio of Anaheim for several weeks now.
The S5's are an all aluminum cabinet, a trickle down version of the Q series. They are 90 DB, 22HZ-50KHZ, 190#,and sell for $28,600. After some considerable work by Scott he got the speakers locked in perfectly.

My current system consists of Focal Nova Utopia BE speakers
($45,000), An Ayon CD-5 cd player, An Ayon Triton 2 amp,Grand Prix Monaco racks,and a slew of Synergistic Research equipment: Tranquility bases,Migs, Hologram A,D, and AC Precision power cords, Element interconnects,an 11 piece Acoustic Art system, SR fuses and even the new Ayon BT KT-88 SX tubes made in the Czech Republic

I thought I had a pretty great system......Until the S5's came into the picture. The first thing you notice about these speakers is their sealed rather than ported bass. Oh my god! I am not a bass freak but the Magicos had incredible bass.....taut with a visceral punch to the stomach on the right tracks. And this with a tube amp.On certain bass heavy tracks it was like having two subwoofers in the room.

The tweeter was smooth and delicate and completely integrated with the midrange.....it was like one driver.

The midrange is where the Magico Magic comes in.....a strong center vocal image (I like female vocalists), not only more "there" than my Focals but violins had more sheen, cellos sound deeper and you could hear deeper into the subtleties and nuances of the human voice. The tonal characteristics were denser and more real.

The real surprise came when I put the Focals back in the system. I was disappointed. Very Disappointed. The Focals bass in comparison to the Magicos sounded flabby and weak,midrange presence was lessened along with the Magicos wonderful tone. It was easy to discern that the Magico S5's sounded more holographic, 3D, with a smoother yet more detailed mid and top end.

Things I particulary liked about the music reproduction of the S5's:

Dark Side of the Moon: Listen to the bells and the cash register on the song "Money" Stunning.

Warren Zevon, Life Will Kill You: Warren knew he was dying and wasn't in great shape vocally but when you hear the title track you can hear EVERY nuance in his voice....you can hear all his despair and humor.

Sarah McLachlan, Surfacing: I was amazed at how good this Cd sounded, absolutely gorgeous. I heard guitars, Synths, and faint almost out of hearing range background vocals by Sarah. I heard sounds on this Cd I have never heard before.

Melissa McClelland,Thumbelina's One Night Stand: A cd with country folk sensibilties but with a sort of Southern guitar crunch to it. Listening to this on the Magicos was like having Melissa in the room.....Holographic, real vocal tones, and absolutely haunting.

So after saying all this what's an audiophile to do?
My dealer Scott Walker is taking my Focals in on trade along with a check. I understand the S5's take two months to build and get here so Scott is loaning me his demo pair for the duration. That will certainly make waiting for the next two months a lot easier.

mreapoe100

Showing 5 responses by mreapoe100

mreapoe100 OP
8 posts
 
Yes, I have listened to the Q7's, the Kef blades,Avantgardes, etc and many more at the Newport show. In both price, quality, and in my home audition I felt they were the best. They worked well in my room.I did say it took considerable work to tweek them in place, right?

Not making an ad for magico....just excited about the quality of what I heard.....Of course ten years newer technology SHOULD sound better.....but I thought that was a given being the S5's are brand new and don't yet even have a professional review online yet.
mreapoe100 OP
8 posts
 
You know I wanted to keep my review short and sweet but since some New Jersey audio dealer keeps hacking away......here goes.
I remember Beatlemania. I was there.
I go to live concerts, this year so far: Diana Krall, Joe Cocker, Huey Lewis, Steely Dan, Aimee Mann, etc I have seen everyone from Sinatra to Ray Charles live.
I am a member of the LAOC Audio society. I hear new speakers and amps in a variety of locales every month.
I go down to several dealers and listen to Focals, YG's, Kefs, Magicos, etc All the time.

I have listened to the S5 Magicos in three different locations each time with different amps. I may have more perspective on this speaker than audiooracle. And yes, I think the Kef Blades are right up there with the S5's.....the difference is personal musical preference. I like the blades....I liked the S5's more.

Some rooms at shows are great others not so. I can tell the difference. I have heard GREAT speakers in bad rooms before. To a degree I can filter this.

I have owned numerous speakers since the 70's including:
Roger sound labs, Klipsch La Scala, Focal Altos and Novas, Gallo 3.1 and stradas, Pmc TB2+, Paradigm Studio 20's and their reference S8's, Avantgarde Duos, Green Mountain EOS,Micro Pure Kitaro, Bozak B300, Duevels, B&W, Shahinian Arcs, Tannoys, Ohms, etc,etc

My decision to buy these speakers was neither rash nor impulsive.Perhaps Audiooracle is now more informed that I am informed. In a few weeks the audio society is going to Bel Air to listen to some Magicos on Bob Carver Amps.Then I might have my fourth perspective on the S5's and get to meet Bob.

I didn't feel my audiophile resume was necessary in a review of the S5's. Perhaps this will ease the mind of some people who feel so concerned for my musical and financial welfare.

Thanks to those of you out there who gave me the benefit of the doubt that I might know what I was doing.
mreapoe100 OP
8 posts
 
Rcprince you hit something there. I had a previous dealer that I spent over a 100K with one year and they tried to rip me nickel and dime fashion. My labrador chewed up my remote on my Meridian F80....I went to Meridians website which gave a list price of 40 dollars. So I called my dealer and asked if he had one. "Sure...its a demo...the list price is 100 dollars but I will sell it to you for 50 dollars". 10 dollars over list for used. On a three thousand dollar radio.

Scott Walker is old school professional service. He has cut me financial slack, taken things in trade I wasn't sure he would, and is always there for service. When he set up the S5's he came back three or four times and spent 15 plus hours measuring and setting up the speakers just so.To the milimeter exact with laser sighting. He spent hours resetting my Art Acoustic system to match the Magico's.
As far as loaning me the demo speakers....the only caveat he had was asking if I would let someone audition in my room in the meantime. Of course I said yes... I might meet a knowledgable audiophile who can teach me something or introduce me to new music.
mreapoe100 OP
8 posts
 
Peterayer, I did not compare the S5 to the Q3.I compared the S5 to the Blades and a lot of other speakers - the bass, by the way, of the Magico goes lower than the Blades and I feel is more articulate.

As far as the paint.....Go for the graphite flat black (no paint)This is the first time Magico is painting their speakers....give them some time. When my dealer peeled back the industrial tape off the top of the speaker two paint chips came with it. The flat black will also be more resellable.
I looked up audiooracle and found him to be a Kef dealer, what a shock! He may not "have any skin in the game" but he is clearly invested in Kef.
mreapoe100 OP
8 posts
 
I agree. The Novas have a great midrange and a very detailed tweeter and I think its weakest point is its bass.....good but not great.
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