YG Acoustics Hailey 1.2

Ptss, I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. YG Hailey and Magico S5 are both sculpted designs. S5 less so, but Magico still use a curved aluminium cabinet, and it has curved corners at the front to eliminate diffraction. The design was intentional to reduce cost vs the Q series, whilst approaching the Q series performance at a more accessible price. If Magico had made S5 like the M Project speakers, the S5's would have cost between $50-$60k. Anyway, you don't just sit and look at speakers..you play music. And whilst the Ultima Salon 2 is a good speaker, you can't compare it to the S5 which has a computer-modelled 1/2" thick heavily braced extruded aluminum cabinet and superior drivers (including a Q-series Nano-tech midrange) made to very tight tolerances. Doug Schneider conceded it was a better speaker than the Salon 2 in his review for Soundstage. With YG, you either like the design or hate it. But the engineering and fit and finish are beyond reproach. Different horses for different courses as they say.

Thank you, Melbguy1. I did not realize that the YG is essentially a 2 way with a sub. In that case, the right comparison will be to the Magico Q1 with a Qsub.
I recently heard the Qsub and was extremely impressed.

I have to think Revels Salon 2's face design is far more "technically appropriate"

The Q series face plate is indeed sculpted, and unlike Revel, which have a large flat area around the drivers, the Q face plate is completely round on the horizontal axis. It is also not made out of MDF, nor any of the hardware is exposed. If you look at Revel Salon2 measurement in comparison to the S5 ( Both on Soundstage), you can see how much better the S5 is, in particular the THD measurements. BTW, the YG fall flat on their faces in that regards.

08-23-14: Fargo
Thank you, Melbguy1. I did not realize that the YG is essentially a 2 way with a sub. In that case, the right comparison will be to the Magico Q1 with a Qsub.
I recently heard the Qsub and was extremely impressed.

YW Fargo, the QSub is awesome on a word. That would be a cool combo!

"If you look at Revel Salon2 measurement in comparison to the S5 ( Both on Soundstage), you can see how much better the S5 is, in particular the THD measurements."

In some areas the S5 wins, in some (off-axis dispersion, linearity) the Salon2 comes out on top. The SoundStage reviewer also came up with a bit of split decision, in essence saying he occasionally missed mid-bass weight with the Magico and suggesting that it could get a little hot in reflective rooms (all the while praising the S5 as super-revealing).

To the extent that there's a need for the two brands to compete, the S5 should be a better speaker given that it costs a third more. In the end, we don't listen to dollars or numbers or designers or dollars, we listen to speakers. The Salon 2s work great for me, just as it's clear David loves his S5s. Everybody has won.