Magico M3 unboxing

cjf

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Nov 19, 2012
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Interesting that they leave so much airspace around the speaker cabinet within the shipping box. It appears they are relying solely on the robustness of the connection at the rollers instead. Well, that and the competence of the delivery folks not deciding to place the box in its side anywhere in transit :)
 

Elberoth

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Dec 15, 2012
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I have wondered about the same thing. My old S5 mk 1 had a more conventional crates, where the speakers were placed on their backs. The S5 mk 2 came with this new crating system, where the speakers travel in vertical position.

I'm puzzled why Magico had chosen this system. Not only the new crates are 2-3x the volume of the conventional crates (= much more expensive to ship), but the speakers travel in a very unnatural position with regards to cone movement.

When speakes rest on their backs, any shock that comes form dropping the cartes makes the cones move backwards, which is a natural and safe movement for them. When the speakers travel in vertical position, shock makes the cones move sideways, which is not a direction of natural movement.

The only advantage I see with this new system is the possibility to easily roll out the speakers from the crates. However, that can also be done with the speakers resting on their back - you just need to flip the crate to the vertical position. That is how the big Wilsons are crated. You just put the crate into the vertical position and roll them out.
 

XV-1

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May 24, 2010
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Looks like Magico are taking the large business Compute/Storage rack concept.

The crates can only be picked up by a forklift or a pallet jack. They cannot be placed on their side and will be upright for all parts of their freight journey. If these crates are over 1.95 metres, they will need to travel via upper deck cargo which is a lot more expensive than lower deck cargo.

With the speaker bolted and fastened to the crate floor on all for wheels, the speaker will not move during transit. Looks like they are using a common size crate, rather than one purpose built given the gap at the top of the speaker and the top of the crate - you pay for all that space as well on the freight costs.

Overall this is the safest way to travel off and on trucks and planes and the most expensive.
 

BlueFox

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Nov 8, 2013
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I am glad my new S5s only need to be shipped 30 miles to my house. The comment about speaker cones moving sideways when shipped in a vertical fashion made me nervous. I certainly didn't have any issue with my S5s arriving in their separate coffins. Pop the lid retainers off, lift off the sides, stand the S5 upright onto a hand cart, and it's ready to go.
 

Elberoth

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I believe the limit is actually 161cm ... I had recently this problem with shipping gear. That beeing said - even the bigger S7 crates fit under that limit.
 

Elberoth

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I am glad my new S5s only need to be shipped 30 miles to my house. The comment about speaker cones moving sideways when shipped in a vertical fashion made me nervous. I certainly didn't have any issue with my S5s arriving in their separate coffins. Pop the lid retainers off, lift off the sides, stand the S5 upright onto a hand cart, and it's ready to go.

The advantages must outweight risks, as Magico has been using this system for two years now (the first speaker that started to be shipped this way was the S7).
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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My bet is that the most damage done to a Magico speaker is when it is being really moved around: uncrating, moving and installing them...particularly from the standpoint of exposure to who pays for that damage. When they have just arrived and are being installed , it is at that moment when the customer can say 'it arrived damaged' and seek coverage or repairs.

This way, with apparently far more elegant/easy installation, that risk diminishes. Tightly wrapped, cushioned and bolted down...it seems that is a pretty safe place for the speaker to be and they ship all over the world this way...that probably is not where damage occurs anywhere near as much as when people start to uncrate them. And i further imagine that given their size...some owners might be tempted to uncrate them with a few audiophile friends rather than professional installers.
 

cannata

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Jan 30, 2014
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The size of these crates are determine by the size of the speaker base.
Both the new S5 and the M3 base are wider than the speakers, when you build the crates around that you will get extra space around the speakers walls, naturally. I don’t see how else can the crate be built.

153203irb9f393zb2x24cu.jpg
 

Elberoth

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I just did a small research and it seems that many manufacturers ship the speakers in vertical position, just like the Magico does now. So there must be no increased danger of drive units damage from the upright position.





BTW - I'm surprised how weakly the Vandys Model 7 and B&W Nautilus series speakers are boxed next to Magicos. A clumsy fork lift operator and you can say goodbye to your speaker. The fork can cut through the carton without any problems.
 

Kingsrule

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And a fork can't cut through the wood box????
 

andromedaaudio

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This is how mine are shipped , opened , i agree with elberoth , but remember the M3 is a lot more costly , basically a cost no object design within its speaker size, i wouldnt call the B/W 802 a cost no object design its designed to compete at a pricepoint , and yes carton is much cheaper then wood/plyboard

DSC_0097 by andromeda61, on Flickr

DSC_0067 by andromeda61, on Flickr
 
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microstrip

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I just did a small research and it seems that many manufacturers ship the speakers in vertical position, just like the Magico does now. So there must be no increased danger of drive units damage from the upright position.

BTW - I'm surprised how weakly the Vandys Model 7 and B&W Nautilus series speakers are boxed next to Magicos. A clumsy fork lift operator and you can say goodbye to your speaker. The fork can cut through the carton without any problems.

If that happens the damage will be easily visible and the insurance will pay for it!

Other modern big speakers, such as the Aida or TheSonusFaber have this type of packing - an high density solid foam cocoon to protect and lock the speaker in place and an apparently fragile carton or thin board panels around it, all strapped to an wooden shipping pallet.
A good thing of these boxes is that you can disassemble them and store them in a small space.
 

andromedaaudio

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I can put mine standing straight up opened and a little out off the corner ... voila kind of a bass trap :) ;)
 
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cannata

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Jan 30, 2014
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BTW - I'm surprised how weakly the Vandys Model 7 and B&W Nautilus series speakers are boxed next to Magicos. A clumsy fork lift operator and you can say goodbye to your speaker. The fork can cut through the carton without any problems.

I find the Vandy Model 7 packaging, a $65K loudspeaker hideous. It is not all about safety, what about pride of ownership? Needless to say that it reflect badly on the produce.
 

Elberoth

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Dec 15, 2012
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And a fork can't cut through the wood box????

In my experience, ply board is much stronger than carton. I have yet to see a crate with a hole punched by fork lift. And I have seen numerous cartons with such a damage. Ofc, nothing is undestructible.
 

cjf

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Nov 19, 2012
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I believe I read somewhere that a replacement set of crates for the Magicos was at least $1K. Doesn't surprise me after seeing the monster that my S3's were delivered in.

Damn thing is now occupying a space in my garage equivalent to half a car :eek:

The thought of dealing with that crate ever again in the future is enough to bring about indigestion
 

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