Air Force V

Tango

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PeterA

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Dec 6, 2011
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Internal motor? Is it belt drive? I see that the platter retains the vacuum hold down. I wonder how this would compare to the SME Model 15. It's pretty impressive that TechDAS will have five total models: 5, 3, 2, 1, Zero, with variations for some models. That is a lot of development for a young company. Congratulations.
 

gian60

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Apr 17, 2016
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I work with China and they don't like 4
Techdas told did 5 because 4 in not good number in Asia
Also ARC did preamp Ref 3 and then Ref 5

i read price of AFV around 15.000 usd
 

Elberoth

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Same with Wilson Puppy - there was no WP4. Many hi-end companie skip #4 for the reasons outlined.
 

DaveyF

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Jul 31, 2010
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Wow, TechDas is on a run, seems like new tables every few months. Let's hope that they don't go the route that Magico did with some of their speakers. If i remember, the Magico line used to change over so quickly that their former top-of-the-line piece soon became a boat anchor. This resulted in the poor dealer having to dump the product and the poor consumer facing some fairly large losses on the product if they wanted to sell it. All IMHO of course, LOL.

Peter, I would guess that the SME 15 is a lot less expensive than the new TechDas 5...and most likely just as good.
 
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Elberoth

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If i remember, the Magico line used to change over so quickly that their former top-of-the-line piece soon became a boat anchor. This resulted in the poor dealer having to dump the product and the poor consumer facing some fairly large losses on the product if they wanted to sell it.

I'm happy to refresh your memory: situation you are describing never happened.
 

microstrip

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I'm happy to refresh your memory: situation you are describing never happened.

It happened with the short lived M5 - the Q5 was considered a significantly better speaker at 2/3 the price. I remember that people who had got the M5 were not pleased at all!

In some aspect their hierarch is not clear, as they have the Q, S and M range. Any change in one model of the series can cause trouble in the other ranges. Fortunately you own a fantastic speaker that some people consider the best of all of them ...
 

Elberoth

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It happened with the short lived M5 - the Q5 was considered a significantly better speaker at 2/3 the price. I remember that people who had got the M5 were not pleased at all!

I think that many people would found this debatable. Not the price part of course. It is true that this prticular speaker was short lived - it was manufactured for 2 years or so (It is still a terrific speaker BTW - I would rather own it than any Wilson Audio speaker with Focal tweeter of the era).

DaveyF use of the term 'used to change' sugested that they were doing that all the time, as if that was their modus operandi. That is a false claim of course, as other products enjoyed much longer life cycles (the Q5 model that followed for example, was manufactured for over 7 years).

A few years back the life cycle for Magico products has stabilised on what appears to be 3-4 year long life cycles. Which is exactly the same as most Wilson products, so dear to your heart (Wilson Audio had products that were manufactured for less than full 3 years - but I'm sure you are very well aware of that).

I'm also not sure what is not clear in the current Magico lineup: S, Q and M. It is no different to other brand dear to your heart - Sonus faber. You have Chameleon, Venere, Olympica and Homage lines.

Hope this helps.
 

bonzo75

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Guys please sell all your speakers and go apogees... They are not changing models anymore :eek:
 

PeterA

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Wow, TechDas is on a run, seems like new tables every few months. Let's hope that they don't go the route that Magico did with some of their speakers. If i remember, the Magico line used to change over so quickly that their former top-of-the-line piece soon became a boat anchor. This resulted in the poor dealer having to dump the product and the poor consumer facing some fairly large losses on the product if they wanted to sell it. All IMHO of course, LOL.

Peter, I would guess that the SME 15 is a lot less expensive than the new TechDas 5...and most likely just as good.

Yes, there was some frustration with Magico, but I also respect that they want to release new technology if successful and they are a rapid developer of technology. I own old Magico speakers and though some newer models MAY sound better, they are classics and hardly obsolete. They do even support repairs for this twelve or so year old design, long out of production.

I think the SME Model 15 is around $15K, the Mode 10 around $10K. The Model 20/3 and 20/12 seem to be an excellent values and the sweet spots in the line. The TD5 and Model 15 would be an interesting comparison. One suspended, the other with vacuum hold down and the multiple arm option. Personally, I would prefer to put the money for extra arms/cartridges into a better sounding turntable, but I understand why one would prefer multiple arms/cartridges. SME does not get a lot of love around here, but they are highly respected in some areas. It is interesting that both companies offer belt drive systems. It will be fascinating to see how the new ownership will effect the audio business at SME.

TechDas seems to be on a roll and it is great to see these new models in an audio segment that was pronounced dead around 1993. Now we have enthusiasts willing to make the new American Sound TT and look how much interest that has created. It's a great time for audio, IMO.
 

microstrip

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I think that many people would found this debatable. Not the price part of course. It is true that this prticular speaker was short lived - it was manufactured for 2 years or so (It is still a terrific speaker BTW - I would rather own it than any Wilson Audio speaker with Focal tweeter of the era).

DaveyF use of the term 'used to change' sugested that they were doing that all the time, as if that was their modus operandi. That is a false claim of course, as other products enjoyed much longer life cycles (the Q5 model that followed for example, was manufactured for over 7 years).

A few years back the life cycle for Magico products has stabilised on what appears to be 3-4 year long life cycles. Which is exactly the same as most Wilson products, so dear to your heart (Wilson Audio had products that were manufactured for less than full 3 years - but I'm sure you are very well aware of that).

I'm also not sure what is not clear in the current Magico lineup: S, Q and M. It is no different to other brand dear to your heart - Sonus faber. You have Chameleon, Venere, Olympica and Homage lines.

Hope this helps.

Curiously Magico is also dear to my heart - but I try to analyze facts with cold blood. Any one looking at the Sonus Faber price lists will immediately see there is no possible comparison between the ranges you refer and the Magico line up.

IMHO the Q5 was simply forgotten in the Magico line - although a very promising speaker for the price (I seriously considered it some years ago) the combination of very low efficiency and 4 ohm impedance made it uninteresting for most prospective users.

Considering tweeters, it is just a preference and system matching - many WBF users own/onwed and enjoy/enjoyed the Focal tweeters. For long I had the Wilson V and 7's and the sound was fabulous. Do I prefer the tweeter of my current speaker? - surely yes!
 

JackD201

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
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TechDAS is made by Stella Inc. Stella Inc.'s sister company is Zephyrn. They now distribute SME in Japan alongside TechDAS.

It is now official. Premium options now exist for the AF2 and 3 being mainly the bigger platters more similar to that on the AF1 and the compressor boxes of the AF1. All models now use the new conical sprung spindles that assist LP centering.

The AF5 is indeed belt drive (integrated motor with sub-platter) and res, 4 is an unlucky number because the character for 4 is very similar to that of death. If 13 is missing on buildings in the US, 4 is usually missing in Asia.
 

jackelsson

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Dec 1, 2013
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4 is an unlucky number because the character for 4 is very similar to that of death. If 13 is missing on buildings in the US, 4 is usually missing in Asia.
Well, this will then also be the answer to the question why Technics calls the new SP-10 "R" and not "Mk.4".

...or why Origin Live originally called their current top line of tonearms "Mk.3c" instead of "Mk.IV", before they eventually dropped the numbering altogether.
 

spiritofmusic

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Jun 13, 2013
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Someone should have told Sean Casey of Zu who named his current flagships Def 4.
 

cannata

Well-Known Member
Jan 30, 2014
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It happened with the short lived M5 - the Q5 was considered a significantly better speaker at 2/3 the price. I remember that people who had got the M5 were not pleased at all!

In some aspect their hierarch is not clear, as they have the Q, S and M range. Any change in one model of the series can cause trouble in the other ranges. Fortunately you own a fantastic speaker that some people consider the best of all of them ...

The Q5 (and the Q3) has been discontinued for some time now. I suspect that the Q1 and 7 will be gone soon as well. From what I understand the M series replaces the Q. The M5/Q5 story is over 8 years or so old, I guess some, none of them are actually Magico customers, have great memory (even though this story comes up here every now and then, typically by the same people, I have yet to hear from a real M5 owner that was upset about this).
 

shakti

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May 9, 2015
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TechDAS Airforce V is arrived and installed :)
 

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