Magico Ultimate 3

[cannata]

Could you describe in more detail why you preferred Magico to the Vox Olympian? Is it only a matter of dynamics? Never liked the horns that I listened to in the past but the Vox Olympian in combination with Kondo amplification seems to be a marriage in heaven although I have not yet heard this set up personally.

I've heard both. I really do not think they are comparable. The Vox sounded very nice, but with the usual problems that you get when you "cheat" the size of the mouth of the lower horn (their bass horn is much smaller than just the midbass horn on the U3 that should just go down to 120Hz). It was very rounded and more colored and some might call "musical." The resolution on the whole line was lower and I have no sense of continuity that I did with the U3, the U3 were simply not there. The vox bass / midbass was rather mushy. It was not even close in terms of dynamics and vastness and effortlessly. You can just see by looking at these horns, how much larger the radiating surface area of the U3 is. I also suspect that the U3 are much more efficient. The vox seemed to me closer in the direction of the great JBL or Westlake, not U3. They are beautiful, for sure.

 

[Bodhi]

Apparently Paul McGowan @ PS Audio was less than impressed .....

http://www.psaudio.com/pauls-posts/did-i-just-miss-the-invitation/

Paul is a practical kind of guy who appreciates great sounding speakers, but is not prone to gold plating his speaker boxes if you know what I mean. Loved his series on setting up the IRS-V's.

 

[Bodhi]

He is not well informed. There are already more expensive speakers on the market.

That's true; several actually.

 

[Audiocrack]

Two people who I know, one of them a friend of mine with good ears, listened to the Magico U3 on the first day of the show, that is Thursday, and were not impressed at all. Have not read Paul's comment but clearly more people than only Paul were not convinced.

 

[cannata]

Two people who I know, one of them a friend of mine with good ears, listened to the Magico U3 on the first day of the show, that is Thursday, and were not impressed at all. Have not read Paul's comment but clearly more people than only Paul were not convinced.

A comment on a sound you never heard and a post you never read. Brilliant!

But no worries, turned out PM never heard them either (see his comment from today), imagine that...

 

[Audiocrack]

A comment on a sound you never heard and a post you never read. Brilliant!

The quality of this reply speaks for itself I am not going to respond to such a brilliant remark.

 

[cannata]

The quality of this reply speaks for itself I am not going to respond to such a brilliant remark.

But you just did. Thank you.

 

[marslo]

I've heard both. I really do not think they are comparable. The Vox sounded very nice, but with the usual problems that you get when you "cheat" the size of the mouth of the lower horn (their bass horn is much smaller than just the midbass horn on the U3 that should just go down to 120Hz). It was very rounded and more colored and some might call "musical." The resolution on the whole line was lower and I have no sense of continuity that I did with the U3, the U3 were simply not there. The vox bass / midbass was rather mushy. It was not even close in terms of dynamics and vastness and effortlessly. You can just see by looking at these horns, how much larger the radiating surface area of the U3 is. I also suspect that the U3 are much more efficient. The vox seemed to me closer in the direction of the great JBL or Westlake, not U3. They are beautiful, for sure.

I could not agree more . For me the setup Avantgarde Trio / Vitus represented better value for money than Living Voice/ Kondo. Magico were just above any contender.

 

[earlinarizona]

I see that Jonathan Valin just posted his report on Munich of Loudspeakers above $ 20,000 and the Ultimate's did not even make Best Sound Of Show Cost No Object!!!!!!!!! Best sound of show also no Ultimate's. It is not till Most Significant Product Introduction that he mentions just 3 words "Magico Ultimat III Loudpeaker" . Not even most coveted product mention. I hope it is not just all of us talking the speaker up. I would have thought top billing with at least a paragraph on the speaker but nothing. When Peter posts his video I am sure we will get more details. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jvs-munich-high-end-2014-show-report/

 

[zztop7]

"to each his own, said the old lady as she kissed the cow."

As to my taste: Drop off the "Magico Ultimate III Loudpeaker" any day / any hour / 24/7 at my house.

zz.

I see that Jonathan Valin just posted his report on Munich of Loudspeakers above $ 20,000 and the Ultimate's did not even make Best Sound Of Show Cost No Object!!!!!!!!! Best sound of show also no Ultimate's. It is not till Most Significant Product Introduction that he mentions just 3 words "Magico Ultimat III Loudpeaker" . Not even most coveted product mention. I hope it is not just all of us talking the speaker up. I would have thought top billing with at least a paragraph on the speaker but nothing. When Peter posts his video I am sure we will get more details. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jvs-munich-high-end-2014-show-report/

 

[Audiocrack]

The following quote is from the Munich high end show 2014 show report of 6moons:

"A very big disappointment were the ~$600'000/pr Magico Ultimate horns. By blocking off the room's front with a temporary wall and two small openings on either side for visitors to enter and leave, the effective seating area in this space had been moved forward. Perhaps this left insufficient distance for the drivers to cohere particularly in the front row where I sat? Whatever the reason, the soundstage was vertically fractured into splices. This betrayed different drivers with different radiation patterns never working as one.

Returning on a later day to now stand farther away, things still didn't click. This was bad hifi sound at its best - hard, unnatural and mere effects. Since Alon Wolf had been in the same space for years, one clearly couldn't blame the room. He knew well upfront what he'd be dealing with. As one attendee put it, "if you're letting your one-eyed appendage hang out in public, you better be damn sure it's a fine saucy specimen". This wasn't."

 

[BruceD]

Well 6 Moons may have cracked the Myth--Jadis tried similar Large Grotesque--or Art inspired Horns a few years back-they didn't Gel either

I must admit having heard the Magico "house sound" on many occasions --I'd go along with SR's comments

His "bad HiFi sound at it's best" statement sums up my recollection of Magicos perfectly

Caveat Emperor

BruceD

 

[microstrip]

I see that Jonathan Valin just posted his report on Munich of Loudspeakers above $ 20,000 and the Ultimate's did not even make Best Sound Of Show Cost No Object!!!!!!!!! Best sound of show also no Ultimate's. It is not till Most Significant Product Introduction that he mentions just 3 words "Magico Ultimat III Loudpeaker" . Not even most coveted product mention. I hope it is not just all of us talking the speaker up. I would have thought top billing with at least a paragraph on the speaker but nothing. When Peter posts his video I am sure we will get more details. http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jvs-munich-high-end-2014-show-report/

We can read JV loved a lot of european speakers. Having owned the Ensemble PA-1 signature long ago, I am really curious to listen to his choice for best sound, the Zellaton Reference.

 

[Orb]

Well 6 Moons may have cracked the Myth--Jadis tried similar Large Grotesque--or Art inspired Horns a few years back-they didn't Gel either

I must admit having heard the Magico "house sound" on many occasions --I'd go along with SR's comments

His "bad HiFi sound at it's best" statement sums up my recollection of Magicos perfectly

Caveat Emperor

BruceD

The irony though is that the very latest models of Magico are one of the best measuring speakers around, interesting to read what Keith Howard and Martin Collom's say about its measurements (in fact MC thought it less coloured than anything else he has heard allowing listening back through the audio chain and was unprecedented in his experience).
However that is not the Ultimate 3 or a horn speaker or about preference between say Magico-Wilson-what is more musical-etc, but is relevent if discussing Magico in more general terms with regards to speaker performance.

I must admit I love both Sonus Faber and the latest iteration of Magico speakers; both bring subtly (and some not so subtle) different aspects to the table IMO.
Cheers
Orb

 

[earlinarizona]

Here is the 6moons pages that reviews the Vox Olympian and Magico Ultimate's http://www.6moons.com/industryfeatures/munich2014/6.html

 

[cannata]

Well, what about these:

http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/munich-high-end-2014-the-edited-highlights/
http://www.hificlube.net/pt/artigos...nich/high-end-2014-munich-part-5-best-of.aspx
http://www.soundstageglobal.com/ind...eaker-part-one-martinlogan-estelon-and-magico

BTW, I was there when SE came to the room; set in the far right in the front; probably the worst seat in the house. He was there for less than 5 sec. People should not assess these horns like that

 

[dafos]

Magico has truly fallen out of JV's radar when he mistook the Q5, his long time reference, for the Q3!

 

[jap]

JV's Munich Best Sound of Show:

http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jvs-munich-high-end-2014-show-report/

 

[PeterA]

Magico has truly fallen out of JV's radar when he mistook the Q5, his long time reference, for the Q3!

When did that happen, and under what circumstances? I don't remember reading about that one. I would think that the Q3 would be a better reviewer's tool, because it can be driven by a larger number of amplifiers.

 

[dafos]

It's his description of the Q5/Solution setup picture (http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jvs-munich-high-end-2014-show-report) where he mistakenly identified the Q5 as a Q3