I will address the Magico and Spectral being portrayed as lacking in term of tonality. It is time that experience audiophiles stop using those wild generalization especially about brands that have established themselves because of the quality of their output. Spectral electronics do not add much to what is on the medium, they make sure of taking themselves out in ways that many electronics don't. Don't expect any Spectral-based system to sweeten or add anything in the way of an aesthetics to the reproduction. They are the "just-the-facts-ma'm" type of electronics. They amplify the signal as cleanly as possible and serve it to you. Many electronics add their signature to the reproduction, in this interesting world of audiophilia this is seen as a quality, until one realizes that everything sounds the same through this (or not...). Magico speaker are the same in the model I have heard. Magico speakers tend to remove themselves in a way that can even unsettle the unaccustomed. THey may be the more noise-free speakers one would have heard. More so than most speakers ( or any) one would have heard. Often with the Magico one has the bizarre impression of them not playing at all.. THe music doesn't seem to come from them... the sound is just .... "there" with nothing added... absence of distortion is unsettling when one is used to it.
ok, so only Magico and Spectral have no sound. I strongly disagree. I tire of these type of analogies. I think Spectral has a *very* definite sound.
Everything has a sound. Magico had a shelved up tweeter for several years so saying a Q series didn't have a sound is incorrect to me - listen to the M3 tweeter and you can hear a *big* improvement. Magicos V, Q, M, and S series all have different tonality- so which has no sound?
As they say, one man's tone is another man's coloration. The people who believe "dry and sterile" is transparent is another one. The use of negative feedback has big implications on some of these responses as does our ears.