I have not been able to audition these speakers yet, however I keep reading how transparent they are to the sound due to no colorations in the box. Now my reference for transparent speakers are Martin Logans which truly have a boxless sound. Do Magico Qs sound as transparent as MLs?
How transparent sounding are Magico Q speakers?
- Thread starter wgerman
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I guess there are two ways to apply the term transparent to a piece of equipment. The first is if it is clean, clear and quick which the Q5 I played with most certainly is and the second is if the piece of equipment is transparent to its sources meaning its sound will morph to a greater degree depending on what is in front of it. I only got to play with the Q5 with one set of electronics so I can't answer the second.
It is one of the few full range box speakers I've heard that are almost stat fast.
It is one of the few full range box speakers I've heard that are almost stat fast.
I would term the second example neutrality. For me transparency is the ability to see in the mind's eye all the way to the back of the stage and visualize and literally feel like you can reach out and touch the performers. Too often the back of the stage is covered in a fog enveloping the performers. Best example is listening to a drum set in the back corner and being really able to visualize everything going on or listening to RCFs. Some RCFs just obscure the back of the stage while the best allow you to hear all the way back to the rear wall. Just like you would at a concert.
Thank you for answers. Magico reviews have claimed it has a boxless sound and has some of the fastest drivers around (save for probably Vivid Audio). Thus my question, are Magicos, Q series in particular sound as fast,as transparent as a Martin Logan stat? If so, that is incredible for box speaker.
To these ears, they sound better than ML in a lot of respects, save perhaps for speed in the midrange and up, although I am hard pressed to find differences there too with the Q5. Ultimate tweeter integration is what I could find to be a Magico Q's "issue", up to the Q5, and even that's debatable.. Keep in mind that anything that vibrates makes sound; for MartinLogan, start with the stator (touch it when playing loud), then feel any panel support pillars, then finally the woofer enclosure. No ML that I know of is immune to all of these. I have gone to extremes to tame such resonances in mine (and about to complete floor decoupling mods), with exceptional results, but still fall far short of a Magico Q. And then, there is also the crossover...
Well opinions differ i find the upper kharmas( to name a well known brand )for example much more transparent than the Q .
And faster than others ? i havent heard it yet
And faster than others ? i havent heard it yet
My view on transparency is not seeing through - for me transparent equipment is equipment that does not superimpose anything over the music that makes details more difficult to perceive and enjoy. I have found that the amount of detail is similar for most decent equipment - if you look for it second time it is there almost all the time. But with transparent equipment you find the detail more natural and easier to perceive.
In this aspect Magico Q5 speakers are great.
In this aspect Magico Q5 speakers are great.
I was only addressing the "box" issue; the Magico Q box is dead silent; I still have some slight woofer enclosure vibrations, there is nothing I can do about the stators themselves, and though the support pillar resonances have been reduced by orders of magnitude to the point that you need a stethoscope to hear very slight vibrations, they are simply not dead as a Q. The CLX's support structure also has some vibrations (and I would reinforce that too, if I owned them), and its stators vibrate as well - that's inevitable. ML would need to break up the single stator architecture to many smaller ones (a la SoundLabs), to address that. Regarding the crossover, some manufacturers go to great lengths to isolate it from vibrations as well, and either bury them in some resin or other within the box or move it outside (e.g. Rockport, some Avalons, Analysis, Magnepans, etc); I may bury mine one day, after I feel comfortable I understand its heat dissipation and the resin's (the last thing you want is a blown resistor you can no longer replace). Good capacitor and inductor construction also tries to tame vibrations at that level as well. Another example of a nicely optimized ML is at http://www.martinloganowners.com/fo...ire-with-External-Crossovers-amp-Electronics.
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