Rhapsody

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It depends also a lot on the Listener, some Just like to play a bit of jazz at moderate soundlevels and it Will be fine , some have a large musical variety and ask more of a speaker and Will give the verdict underpowered

+1 Although with the JA200's or the I88 Jadis we played Arnolds Overtures, Beck - "Heart is a Drum" and Miles Davis "In a Silent Way" at around 90db with peaks of 95db with nothing but sit back and enjoy forgetting you are even listening to a system.
 
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DaveyF

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transformers; more than meets the eye...

+1.

The Jadis amps have excellent transformers. However, even they can meet their match...as recently discovered in the bad mismatch of the Alexia's and the JA200's that JVS reported on in Stereophile. ( Although he failed to realize that a mismatch was occurring...:( )
 

Ron Resnick

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I actually think it is that simple. Have chatted with former Magico employees who went to other audio companies and he just likes SS. If you have been to Brooks Berdan that have several rooms that were all driven by Jadis PP and tube front ends (may have changed it has been a while since I visited). While a little laid back to me it sounded much better compared to many Magicos I have heard using the best SS equivalents.

Even with Wilson which is not my cup o tea, it has always sounded much better to many with VTL;s and AR gear vs a SS counterpart.

+1 as to every single discrete statement herein

I have actually liked the sound of Magico speakers only when driven by tubes:

1) Kondo on M3 at Rhapsody
2) CJ on S5 Mk II at Myles
3) Jadis on Magico at LA Audio Show 2017

Wilson Audio I like driven by tubes:
1) Lamm on big Wilsons (Steve)
2) numerous VTLs on numerous Wilsons (Brian Berdan)
3) Einstein OTL on Alexx (Danny Kaey)
 

DaveyF

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+1 as to every single discrete statement herein

I have actually liked the sound of Magico speakers only when driven by tubes:

1) Kondo on M3 at Rhapsody
2) CJ on S5 Mk II at Myles
3) Jadis on Magico at LA Audio Show 2017

Wilson Audio I like driven by tubes:
1) Lamm on big Wilsons (Steve)
2) numerous VTLs on numerous Wilsons (Brian Berdan)
3) Einstein OTL on Alexx (Danny Kaey)

Ron, what do you think about Lamm on Wilson Alexia's?
If I remember, the Magico's at LAAS in '17 were driven by CAT....at least in the room that I visited.:D
 

Ron Resnick

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I never heard Lamm on Alexias (nothing possessive, so no apostrophe needed).

In 2017 KeithR and I heard in the Brooks Berdan Ltd room Jadis on Magicos.
 

DaveyF

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"I never heard Lamm on Alexias (nothing possessive, so no apostrophe needed). "

There's a reason for that...Mr " I am the perfect english speaking/grammar editor" ! Alexia's are plural....therefore the need for the apostrophe...at least in the Queens English.:p:D
 

Ron Resnick

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"I never heard Lamm on Alexias (nothing possessive, so no apostrophe needed). "

There's a reason for that...Mr " I am the perfect english speaking/grammar editor" ! Alexia's are plural....therefore the need for the apostrophe...at least in the Queens English.:p:D

Sorry to be picky but absent possessiveness mere plurals do not receive apostrophes. For some reason this mistake is pervasive on WBF.

Please PM me an authoritative cite for your proposition.
 

microstrip

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Ron, what do you think about Lamm on Wilson Alexia's?
If I remember, the Magico's at LAAS in '17 were driven by CAT....at least in the room that I visited.:D

Lamm's are both SS (hybrid) or tubes. The M1.2R sounds great on XLF's.

I have listened to both Magico and Wilson Audio (and Sonus Faber, BTW) sounding great with tubes or SS. I would say it is mostly a matter of preference but also listening room.

XLFs sound great with any of them. Between the REF750 and the Constellation Audio I would say it depended on source and cables.
Alexia's are the most versatile Wilson - they can sound good with many types of amplfiiers. The X2 needed tubes if you had a bright environment because of the tweeter.
I loved the Watt's 5 and 7's with conrad johnson, but the best I ever listened from them was in all Krell system in a room with plenty of wood and furniture.
OK, Sabrina's have a special relation with Audio Research ...

I regularly listen to the Magico Q7 mk2 with SS (NH458's). The person who got my ARC REF750's (still regretting this wise decision to sell them ...) has top Magico. Another acquaintance who is a Magico owner has Constellation Audio.

For Sonus Faber my preference depends on model - yes Guarneri needs tubes, but Stradivari preferred SS. Aida's was really a difficult choice - still do not know the answer!

Most of the time different models of the same brand have very different needs. All IMHO, YMMV!
 

Al M.

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Sorry to be picky but absent possessiveness mere plurals do not receive apostrophes. For some reason this mistake is pervasive on WBF.

Correct.

Please send PM me an authoritative cite for your proposition.

There is no such cite.
 

Zero000

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For all the big speakers I quite liked this little room. 55K Euros for the Air Tight monos, but sat down in the right place, this made some really enjoyable sounds.

I know it's your thread, Ron, but take it as a little interlude and no more...:) Thanks.

 

Believe High Fidelity

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What you say makes perfect sense. Except in this case, my friend relied on the dealer to relate how his new speakers ( which he also bought from the same dealer) would matchup with the tube amps. The dealer knew that a) my friends room was quite large...(as it needed to be since the speakers are also large full range floor standers) and that b) my friend likes to listen to all kinds of music, not just chamber! So, unfortunately the ability for my friend to audition these speakers in his own room along with the amps ( which came from europe on special order--as did the speakers!) was virtually impossible. In reality, I wonder how often people are able to actually audition the gear they are contemplating purchasing in their own systems before pulling the trigger, under these circumstances??? With amps and some speakers, it is relatively easy to do....with tonearms and cartridges,etc., you tell me.
My point is that this dealer was more interested in making the large sale than actually being sure that what he was selling was synergistic to the needs of his customer. Which is why he no longer can count on my friends business. Not saying all dealers are like this, but clearly with the higher priced gear, the temptation is going to be there.

With the decline of brick and mortar stores there really isn't much of a solution to this type of problem. Most dealers take the philosophy of buying a single piece of equipment from the manufacturer for dealer status. Then sell that model after 12 months or so as demo to recoup. Most are retired and just feel that selling hifi is something fun.

Dealers like BB carry a vast majority of products from Magico and Jadis so even if they don't have the specific model it can still be very comfortable buying as you will certainly understand the house sound and synergy even if this is not the specific model or combo being purchased. If more dealers took this approach even if their showroom was small or at their home it would still avoid this type of risk on the buyer.

That said I don't know that I would be 100% trusting in a dealer. Went to a dealer event locally, and while it was a very good time and very well known brands, the sales rep who was there (who was a former employee at Goodwins) either quit, was laid off, or fired after a week. Whatever happened, he was gone and to know that there is so little that connects the salesman that helps you to spend $$$$ means you should always use a fair amount of caution and proceed carefully and patiently. I think that is why there are quite a few people (even Ron) who before investing in their next big purchase and seek the advice of the community for data points/validation.

A better question to ask would be if your friend could do a little time reversal and make a different plan to buy a pair of speakers and matching amplification what would he do differently? What would you advise him or did advise him to do?

Personally having, at the bare minimum, a baseline level of knowledge about what you are buying or even your preferences goes a long way. This applies to many areas other than audio. This way if the combo were a failure, one of those two components might be salvageable (speakers or amp) and then it would not be a 100% loss.
 

andromedaaudio

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In holland the nicest dealer with the best listening room went out of business , mijn hifi in nijmegen , this was just after the 2008 crisis due to low sales .
A joker who tried to rip me off is still in business lol .
I bought a 3,5 K amp of him and some more stuff , almost 10 K
I later wanted to sell the amp but didnt have the time and patience , so i asked him to do a comission sale;
The idiot then sold my amp and never paid me , well the case went to court and it costed him a lot more money , took the wrong guy , but hey go figure hes still in business.
Some are just jokers they will sell you anything
 

Ron Resnick

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Thank you, Al M.

No worries, Justin!
 

GMKF

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For all the big speakers I quite liked this little room. 55K Euros for the Air Tight monos, but sat down in the right place, this made some really enjoyable sounds.

I know it's your thread, Ron, but take it as a little interlude and no more...:) Thanks.


Those are very good speakers. Fieldcoils...
I took a listen to one of the bigger models last year.
 

SuperDave

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Did anyone visit the Nagra room with Alexia 2s and HD amp and pre?

Dave
 

SuperDave

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Yes I was there two times.
I tought the subs were a bit off.
The rest was meh... good but not top 10.

Thanks! It looked like big room but Alexias have enough low end to fill it without subs IMO plus the complications integrating them in a few hours. Hope you enjoyed the show!

Dave
 

morricab

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Curiously it is true, although I can imagine that such sound is not your cup of tea. A good friend got great sound with some Denon's and my old pair of Wilson Audio system V. Wilson's sounded excellent with Parasound AV amplifiers.

No it is not true...not at all and I have heard literally a dozen or more Wilson demos that were not good sound (dealers, private and shows) with non-cheap gear and then the same speaker sounding much better with better electronics. A cheap SS or Class D amp will only make a mess with these speakers.
 

microstrip

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No it is not true...not at all and I have heard literally a dozen or more Wilson demos that were not good sound (dealers, private and shows) with non-cheap gear and then the same speaker sounding much better with better electronics. A cheap SS or Class D amp will only make a mess with these speakers.

Surely the speaker sounds better with better electronics - this was never the point. And it was never referred SS or Class D. You insist giving opinions about equipment you seem to dislike and listened in demos, telling others opinions are not true - I give opinions on equipment I have owned and enjoyed a lot.

IMHO we can have "cheap" electronics sounding quite decent. But yes, "cheap" is ambiguous - I am considering that a cheap amplifier is an amplifier costing around one tenth or 1/20 of the price of the speakers, not an amplifier costing 300 euros at eBay.
 

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