+1.
Thank you Paul.
Maybe I should start a new thread...that one would be titled----what huge speaker system have you crammed into your room and kludged up the rest of the system to make it sound acceptable?
Meanwhile, I would like to get back to my OP.
BTW, I have heard the original B&W Nautilus, it is a heck of a great speaker! In some ways, it is very reminiscent of the current top-of-the-line Vivids, as it should be- since the designer is one and the same. Up until a few years back, I would say it was the best speaker I had heard. Would have been my choice in a mid size plus room if price be no object.
One of the things that impressed me about the Lyra's, is that they are not that large a speaker...and yet can apparently compete with some of the much larger systems out there. Nonetheless, if they were NOT a good match for your room...and the Avior's were better, would this in fact be a wise move???
Living Voice Vox Palladian System with some kick ass SE Tube amps.
interesting...when you heard them...did you get the sense they could compete with speakers like the XLFs, Focal Grandes? I have heard the Estelon Extremes, Altair 2s which I acknowledge are different...and i have heard the XLF, Focal Grande EMs, as well as Genesis 1s and Arrakis in different rooms...but somehow the sense of more effortless scale could not escape me with these in comparison with the slightly smaller speakers of Estelons and Altairs...and to be fair, the Genesis 1s and Arrakis were both of a scale i sense was also greater than that of the XLF of Focals. If size has anything to do with it, they are much bigger speakers as well. Arrakis is probably closer in size to the WAMM, let alone Genesis 1s.
Although, I have heard the Focals on several occasions , they did not impress me that much;.
Lloyd, at the time when I heard the Nautilus, I don't think the XLF's were out, or for that matter the Focal Grandes. However, having heard the Focal's and the XLF's since, I would say that the Nautilus is a superior sounding speaker to the Focal's ( which to be honest do very little for me) and in some ways better than the XLF's. ( although the sense of scale from the XLF's is better). I thought that the Nautilus was exemplary in its imaging abilities and in overall tonal reproduction ( and in this way superior to the XLF's!). Now remember, I heard these speakers with very different ancillary gear and in very different rooms etc., Therefore, saying one is better than the other is not really fair. Although, I have heard the Focals on several occasions , they did not impress me that much; whereas when I heard the Nautilus it was extremely impressive. Today, there are a few speakers that i would take over it, but not too many.
If you ever get a chance to hear the original Nautilus, it's certainly very well worth while to do so.
Living Voice Vox Palladian System with some kick ass SE Tube amps.
https://www.livingvoice.co.uk/#anchor2
Lloyd, at the time when I heard the Nautilus, I don't think the XLF's were out, or for that matter the Focal Grandes. However, having heard the Focal's and the XLF's since, I would say that the Nautilus is a superior sounding speaker to the Focal's ( which to be honest do very little for me) and in some ways better than the XLF's. ( although the sense of scale from the XLF's is better). I thought that the Nautilus was exemplary in its imaging abilities and in overall tonal reproduction ( and in this way superior to the XLF's!). Now remember, I heard these speakers with very different ancillary gear and in very different rooms etc., Therefore, saying one is better than the other is not really fair. Although, I have heard the Focals on several occasions , they did not impress me that much; whereas when I heard the Nautilus it was extremely impressive. Today, there are a few speakers that i would take over it, but not too many.
If you ever get a chance to hear the original Nautilus, it's certainly very well worth while to do so.
I have written several times in WBF about my great experiences with the Nautilus - with several amplifier/crossover systems in fantastic rooms. But IMHO in overall tonal reproduction the XLFs are winners by a large margin, particularly in human voice. Surely YMMV.
Although I had great enthusiasm about them - yes, they really sound impressive with some styles of music, particularly with the B&W demo discs - a more recent audition confirmed my beliefs - it does not stand to more recent speakers of similar scale. Probably also because of the electronic crossovers - they are active speakers.
Why not the Vox Olympian?
I found the Olympian sounded better than the Palladian.
Optically I don't like both those speakers at all.
They look too much Jules Verne for my taste
But soundwise they are still my wet dream :b
If price were no object, I would replace my Magico Mini II with either the M3 or the unannounced Magico M Mini. Same room and amps.
Peter this shows that you are very happy with your current choice (brand wise)..
Indeed I am. I have owned these for about eight years. They are low in distortion and seem very transparent, though they are a difficult load to drive.
I really like my friend's M Pro, but they are much too large for my small room, so even though I have not yet heard the M3, I think it would be excellent. I have no idea if Magico will ever release another statement two way speaker on a stand, but it they did, and I could afford it, I would be very interested. If they incorporated the technology of the M6 in an M Mini, it might get me to upgrade.
Peter, I noticed that you did not 'upgrade' to the Q1's. AW told me that in his opinion the Q1 was a major step up over the Mini 2...of course, he would say that. What do you think of the Q1's.
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