Guys anyone that has heard these can you please provide some feedback. Would love your thoughts and feedback on these. I'm picking a Preowned pair and wanted some thoughts. What are your impressions - amps that match best - what you have heard them compared to? Thanks
Congrats.....I'm sure you'll love the S5's and they represent a great value now with the mk. 2 now out. I recently upgraded my S1 to S3 and couldn't be happier. I currently use Spectral electronics and MIT cabling (required with Spectral) and they are a match made in heaven. There are many other amps that should work well including Pass, Constellation, Soulution, CAT and VAC to name few.
Congratulations! I am sure you will be very happy with them, they are top rated. I wouldn't think of changing anything in the system until you have had the speakers in your system for a few weeks. Only then will you be able to decide what needs to be improved on.
I heard them at an owner's home. Probably the cleanest, lowest distortion loudspeakers I have ever heard. My only complaint is that they are a "top-down" speaker, and I prefer "bottom-up" speakers with looser bass, even if that means less accuracy. But the detail retrieval was stunning.
I heard the MK II model at a dealer showroom a few months ago and I'd rate them as the best sound I've ever heard coming out of a box speaker. They also had a pair of Martin Logan 13a and switched between the two and the difference was stunning. I had previously heard the 13a and thought they were the best sound but the S5 was simply outstanding. The most obvious difference was the incredible balance across the entire frequency range and layering of the instruments within a deep soundstage, even with a sub par room set up. Didn't recognize the gear driving them but the salesman mentioned it was an integrated amplifier made in Germany. Maybe the 13a wasn't getting enough power or room to breathe but it sounded pale in comparison. Congratulations on your purchase. They are definitely keepers.
Flat panel speaker are great if you like defuse imaging and ill defined bass Magico is much better its not even close enjoy though you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
Magico Q5 is a great speaker i have heard the S3 mk2 and S5mk2 as well as S5 all are wonderful musical speakers.I was using Q3s with Pass 350.8 which is a great combo very musical and dynamic I'm sure the 250.8 would work great as well.I highly recommend all pure copper speaker wire like Furutech which i am now using.A good tube preamp with solid state is a great match.Im using CJ ET5 which sounds wonderful.Good luck if you need any more advice please let me know.
Thanks for the response guys I super appreciate it a great deal.
A little background ~ I'm coming from the opposite end of the spectrum with regard to my current / soon to be former system but I was awoken so to speak to how good really good solid state can sound and with that opened up a whole new world of speaker choices.
In a nutshell I wanted to try a different audio perspective entirely.
I've had solid state amps in the past - some well thought of like Krell - Levinson and the like and just never felt they provided what tubes could overall. They just were always dry and 2 dimensional and never came close to tubes in my experience but that all changed when I plugged in the First Watt F2J amp with my current speakers because honestly I really never knew solid state could sound that good or even that specific sound existed to that level or maybe my preference has evolved or a combo of all but one thing led to another and I'm trying out a new sound.
I've been using high quality SET amp gear and Preamps made by Frank at Triode Lab in Canada. He is a famtatic guy / best to deal with I've ever met - great guy and he makes some great bang for buck stuff but I was using his reference products they honestly sound as good as anything out there. Really really good sounding and impressive equipment.
i was running this set gear into the best pair of speakers I have ever owned and honestly they are incredible.
Rethm Saadhana V3 Speakers
They are 103db high efficiency full range - single driver - back horn loaded speakers with built in NCore driven bass modules with 3 drivers in an isobaric design.
Round - clean - extended - pure - accurate - frequencies blend amazing and they are the definition of uber resolution and are startinly immensely transparent. No matter what I buy in the future I understand nothing at any price will ever image like these. The sound stage is so pure SOTA and so darn precise they have no pear. I really enjoy incredible imaging so this is something I know I'm going to have to give up going forward.
They are absolutely incredible. People say well if you love them so much why the heck are you changing and buying new speakers.
I say good point and not real sure I have a good response other than to say I want to try something new but I am keeping these and holding on to them until I've owned the Magico's long enough to know for sure they are the ones I want to keep of I am just going to turn around and re-sell the Magico's or finally part way with the Rethms but I just wanted to share with you guys how rediculiously good these Rethm Saadhana V3 speakers are but I'm super looking forward to them.
In preparation for them I traded my TT / cart / Phono for a Pass Labs X350.5 which I really like and hope matches well with the Magico's and my source is Bricasti M1SE. Im running my Bricasti direct and thinking I might need a pre but will try direct first.
Enjoy them this is a MAGICO thread I'm sure your tweeter is wonderful i had and dumped Magnepans 20 years ago.I had Tympani IDs and Magnepans with the ribbons.Enjoy your wonderful speakers I'm sure they are the best!!!
If they were so great you would not have to denigrate other peoples enjoyment .Im sure your speaker are the best 15k speakers on the planet.Have a nice day!!
I personally know Alon and they use the German Symphonic line / Odyssey monos for their in house amps. He spoke very highly of the Dart Zeel too, mentioning it too was special and I hear the Burmester amps are stunning on his speakers.
I have Magico S3's and really happy with them, my friend has also s5's, driving them with Krell FBP 700x or cx and using ARC ref40 for pre, and full transparent mm2 XL cables sound is great, i learned that magico's S series are going really down ohms as 1,25 or 2,5 so you have to use a powerful amp. I think no one says that they are something worse for Magico's, if you can do proper setup really they are good speakers!
I think your ear/brain will be going through a very steep leaning curve when transitioning from highly efficient single driver full range speakers to any multi-driver large box speaker. I've only heard a couple of single driver models from Charney - Maestro, Concerto, and their delivery of music was on a different plane. The micro detail was overwhelming. It almost felt like every single note in the music was demanding my attention. I think the idea of keeping what you have until you try the new speakers is very smart.
havent heard the mk1 version of the S5 but have heard plenty of magicos recently. they love big clean solid state power. i just took delivery of a customized amp from odyssey audio which sounds beautiful and delivers steady power and current. Alon actually uses an amp from odyssey (among others) to test his speakers - I read this in TAS and it's worth looking up. The article is about the Khartago (entry level) but I got a customized version of the kismet (top line). One of the best parts of the build and customization process is that Klaus will ask you to measure the voltage for your socket so he can tailor the bias for YOUR power conditions. This makes a big difference for me since I live in an older NYC building with dirty power - I was averaging 124 volts out of the socket. Highly rec you check these amps out!
Disclaimer: I have no business affiliation with Odyssey Audio. Just a really happy customer and Klaus is a real stand up guy.
Hey Kalai - I know what you mean about the single - full range drivers - I hope that's not the case though but I understand it may be.
I think Rethm makes the best - single - full range driver in the world - my hope is that with the Magico it has its own strengths - it's pristine - super low distortion - dynamic speaker in it's own right - it's different but I hope I love them.
What I don't really understand is that so many people love the Magico's and why you hear so little about the Rethm's. I mean I heard them and had to have them but other than 6Moons who did back flips over them. They said they have no natural preditor but my hope is that I like the Magico's even more. Much more I hope!
Its funny preparing for the arrival of the Magico's I made a trade deal with an audio buddy of mine and acquired the Pass Labs X350.5. It's a beast and will provide 700 watts into 4ohm which should be a nice match for the Magico's. Provide some nice headroom.
For the heck of it I hooked the Pass up to my 103db Rethms.
I reached out to Nelson first to make sure the Pass amp wouldn't launch my speakers through my ceiling into my addic...lol. He laughed and told me no problem they will work fine - he just didn't know how I would like the sound. I don't listen real loud 85db maybe 88db when I want to turn it up.
They sound absolutely fantastic. I was amazed - like a really good tube amp with an incredible bottom end with but speed. To be sure it wasn't just me my buddy couldn't believe how good that amp with those speakers sounded as well.
I'm excited that I have such a well matching amp that I already really like for the Magico's. The Pass amp is warm and round and extended. My Krells, BAT or Levinson's never sounded anything even remotely like this. I'm psyched!
Anyone else try pair Magico with Pass?
Love the comments and feedback folks - makes the waiting for them to arrive a little easier - that's the hardest par - that waiting :)
Everyone I've heard that owns the Odyssey love them. They have loyal followers for sure / must be great stuff but it's one the brands I've never heard or even seen in person but I've read about them and know the designer is very well thought of.
No doubt the 350.5 will be a great match with Magico. Regarding the Bricasti, I doubt you'll need a dedicated pre-amp. The volume control is so good in the M1.... at that level a pre-amp becomes more of a toy than a game changer.
I have the Magico S1 mkI and am very happy with them in my 12x17 room.
I replaced the very fine Revel F52s with the S1s and was amazed at the difference in resolution and speed. I was using a Simaudio 600i with the F52s. As good sounding and dynamic as the 600i is, a few folks suggested the S1s needed more power to really be at their best so I upgraded the 600i to a Pass X250.8 and Simaudio 740P preamp and this combo with the S1s is amazing!
I recently upgraded my S1 to S3 and couldn't be happier.
Just curious, what would you say are the biggest improvements? Is it just deeper and more powerful bass? How would you compare the mid-range?
I love the tight and super clean bass of the S1, but realize it definitely has its limits with respect to depth and output. Since my room is smallish, I wouldn't personally upgrade just for the bass, but if the mid-range is better, that would be different :)
Logans are great I've owned a half dozen of them and good one's. I'm sure the new ones are better. What happened was I probably would have always had Martin Logans forever and just kept getting the newer models until by chance I had an experience that changed it all.
I had the ML Spires which I loved and I just upgraded to the Summits and I was as happy as can be. Better bass and better panel and driver integration and life was good. Wasn't even considering another brand or anything like that. I was a loyal and Happy Martin Logan guy. Told everyone I knew they were the best.
We redid an extra of room of kitchen and we made it into a reading / TV / den room. To lounge and relax in. Already had a great room that was my dedicated auto room but this was another one for kids or whatever. I couldn't listen to TV speakers. That lasted a week. I said ugh I need something cheap that might be semi ok and I'll just use a simple decent quality Hegel Integrated with it built in DAC to run cable TV box into and I had a decent little Bel Canto CD Player with the little extra power supply and some extra Cardas cables and I just needed to pick up a cheap pair of older speakers.
I found a thousand dollar pair that were old but in decent shape and were pretty well thought of. They were Audio Physic Virgo II's. Kind of old and ugly - older wood looking and sort of thin but deep with side firing woofers and much heavier and more substantial than I thought they would be from looking at the pics. I got them home and hooked them in a modest, simple second system and from the very first note I was like "no way".They wiped the floor with the Martin Logans. Just blew their doors off and without even near as good equipment. That's when I realized Martin Logans are great for what they do but they have a huge hole in their game. They have that sweet n low flavor verse real sugar. Just artificial and fake sounding when compared to an earthy - grounded real speaker. It was super enlightening. This was from a flag flying card carrying Martin Logan lover.
Thought id share this experience because every time I hear Martin Logans I can't help think how royally those $10,000 speakers got royally thrashed. I was actually sad but I came though and now I'm fixing for a pair of Magico S5's and I'm super excited but waiting is tough - love all the feedback and comments guys!
fsmithjackThanks! for sharing your Audio journey. I look forward in reading more as you massage those S5 MkII speakers into your system. Happy Listening!
Thanks Guys - when I first got the Magico S5 MKI I had my hands full with getting the right preamp and cables and plus the S5 were not broken in. They really do expose weak links to the point at first I didn’t like them really?
I mean I liked them but I had HiDiamond cables and a BAT tube preamp and both just did not work well with them and my other equipment.
I worked hard to get the right balance and had them break in and man I was rewarded with the best sound I’ve ever known. It’s crazy to go from Speakers l wasn’t sure were for me to a set that is the greatest I’ve ever owned.
I switched from HiDiamond Full Loom to Kubala-Sosna Emotion Full loom.
Amps to Pass Labs .5 to .8
BAT to Mark Levinson No.326s to a very big upgrade to the Simaudio Moon Evolution P-8. I was amazed at how much better the Simaudio was. I liked the ML but the Sim was so much better.
Another real big upgrade was when I upgraded my Bricasti M1SE to their hardware add - built in ethernet media player which was a fantastic upgrade and to go with it I also added the excellent: The linear Solutiln OCXO Ethernet switch with its own proprietary LPS and custom Ethernet cable and this combo was a great add as well.
Now I have my system dialed for Magico with all my vibration control and clean power via - Solid Tech Racks - Symposium and SRA platforms and a bunch of clean power supplies and distributors, etc and really looking forward to getting the Magico S5 MKII’s - I thought long and hard about Vivid Audio Giya G2 Series 2 but my wife hated the looks and cost wise about $10k more so S5 MKII it is.
I’ve owned both speakers at same time for years. Magico is a better speaker but not at everything. Put it this way. I switched to Magico but still kept my Rethm’s and for a long time because I was afraid to sell them because they were amazing. Magico are 280 pounds. No I did not roll them in replace and then remove them put the Rethems in? That’s stupid. I owned them for years - know them inside and out and everything about them.
Thanks fsmithjack, for the response. When you say Magico is a better speaker, I assume that you are talking about Mk1 not Mk2. Is that so?
Please do give more details about Saadhana (especially Saadhana Vs Magico) since there are only very few articles on this speaker and I have an opportunity to buy it locally ( Rethm shop is just 2 miles from my office !!!! ).
Another speaker I like to buy is KEF blade ( any version ). Not sure whether anyone got an opportunity to compare blade against Saadhana or Magico Mk1..
Magico pairs really well with VTL and VAC gear. A pal of mine as the S5 MKii’s paired with an Odyssey amp.
When i I get them back from a review, I plan to take a pair of 845 Push Pull monos over to his place to see how they pair. I am optimistic it will be absolute perfection but won’t know till the fall.
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