Sonus Faber Aida vs Magico Q5

[stargate]

are you in the industry

I love this Steve-let's play whats my line-seroiuslyhifi- do you live in Asia

 

[sonrock]

Sirs

I am quite new to the forum and has a question to ask, I hope you could help. Am the q5 owner and my room is fairly small, about 4m wide and 5m long (at the farthest point), so setting up the q5 in my room is quite tricky and annoying especially when I have a big chimney breast on the right size. I am still using the wheels under the q5 for moving them around, not dare to put them on spikes yet until I've got my own listening room built up. In several records, I see the bass is too much for me, now I am tweaking my room with acoustics panels but not really satisfied due to many reasons.

I went to internet and searching for some infos regarding setting up the q5 at home and found the manual from goodwin: http://www.goodwinshighend.com/manufacturers/magico/Q5 Manual.pdf

In this, you can see the specs of the q5 are slightly different from the official website of magico, especially about the weighs of the speakers. My speakers were made in mid/late 2010 and never been played before sold to me this Jan by an ultra highend shop in EU via my dealer friend, so I see my speakers are probably different from the latest version of q5???

Have any of you listened to both versions and please let me know how different they are or there is no differences between past-current models??? I sent magico a message with the same question but they directed me back to the uk distributor where I did not buy my speakers from so I doubt he could give me any infos. Although I am the first owner and have full warranty on my q5 but really curious about the differences (if exist) in specs between mine and the current ones.

According to the link provided by goodwin, the q5 used to weigh 176kg, but according to magico website, they weigh 190.5kg. So was any mismatch between the shop/reviews etc and the manufacturer before or what???

Many thanks!

 

[Bruce B]

sounds like you need bass traps!

Is the weight net or shipping? Could just be a mistake in writing.

 

[Bruce B]

I love this Steve-let's play whats my line-seroiuslyhifi- do you live in Asia

There seems to be a lot of industry folk posting on here to defend their product, never to be heard from again!

 

[sonrock]

yes Sir, I do have bass traps, 2 huge 1.5m tall standing in the 2 front corners, 2 x 1.2m tall and 10cm thick 60cm wide standing on the rear wall, not enough Sir.

Regarding the specs, you can see the net Sir, not the shipping which 498.95kg according to magico website, so this is the reason why it makes me confused

http://magico.net/Product/Q5/Q5_05.php

you can see my room in here but now slightly different layout as I pushed the monoblocks back and moved the speakers forward.

 

[Steve Williams]

looks like you need to move the speakers forward and further away from the front wall

 

[rockitman]

I agree and try a bit of toe in.

 

[sonrock]

yes Sir, I did. as stated above, they are old stock pictures. But it doesnt help very much Sir. I do have the speakers toe-in now directly to the sweet spot. The current position is you can imagine the right speaker is right close to the black step and the left speakers is in the balanced distance. I used both string/ruler and avr + microphone to measure exactly the distance.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi


Always a dangerous thing to do looking at some pictures and giving advices.... If possible can you start with the rule of third?

Divine the room in threeart. Seat one third from the back wall and place the speakers at the same distance (1/3) from the front wall. Listen and make adjustment. On the pictures you're showing. The Q5 seem too close to both the back and side walls

As for the discrepancies ..call Magico , IMO your best bet

 

[Steve Williams]

at the very least I'd suggest another pair of bass traps in the rear corners as well as moving the speakers forward. Are you getting any vibrations from your front window when you play music

 

[sonrock]

I did send magico a message asking for both the past-current specs of the q5 also how to set my speakers up properly, but as I said they directed me back to tas uk where I believe cant get any help from - I didnt buy the q5 from them but another authorised dealer in eu.

I put another pair of bass traps in the rear corners Sir but it doesnt improve much, and the speakers are actually as close as possible to my listening position regarding the room layout Sir. I will take pictures later today when I got back home and let you know how I get on with it.

It took me over a week tweaking with panels but really really annoyed - fortunately the manufacturer loans the panels for me and not necessary to buy, I just bought the 2 bass traps columns as you see in the pictures.

 

[Steve Williams]

Are there acousticians where you live as you definitely should consult with one. As Frantz suggested the rule of 1/3's is a good way to start. How far back do you sit now and where is that seat in relation to the rear wall

 

[sonrock]

dear Sir, thank you. I will apply that later today.

looking at the room you can see this is a relatively small/medium size room. My sofa is right to the rear wall and my head can touch the wall when listening to the music Sir, lol. At the moment, the speakers are equally close to me about 3m from the listening position. That is the closest I could get at the moment as you see the black step/granite block right in front of my right speaker, so I cant move it anywhere closer to me.

in the worst case, I will move my monoblocks further back to the front wall and move out the speakers in front. But in this situation, the speakers are too close I think - both to me and themselves.

regarding help from the manufacturer, he's too busy and just suggested me to buy his software and kits for room analysis, then choosing the panels/bass traps correctly to fit.

honestly this room is also the living room and ht room for me and my wife, so I dont want she becomes upset with panels everywhere and ridiculous looking layout from my speakers/system. I am not lucky enough to have a big room for my system singing at its best, so I am trying to live with it...

 

[Bruce B]

If your head is up against the back wall then you will have a lot of bass build up there.

 

[sonrock]

in several recordings Sir, too much, but for many recording no. I see the bass is really terrific with slam, tight and punch. but some I cant live with, shaking the whole house, haha. the door is in the left of the room and if I move my sofa - about over 2m long - forward and far away a bit from the rear wall, it will block the entrance Sir, and also it will be close to the black step/granite from this size as well. you know how annoying I am when dealing with this

 

[Steve Williams]

can you take a photo of your sitting position

 

[sonrock]

yes Sir, I will do later today when I get back home and keep you posted of how I get on with the new speakers position.

regarding the q5 specs, could any of you please check and confirm me about this mismatching between past and current?

 

[sonrock]

at the very least I'd suggest another pair of bass traps in the rear corners as well as moving the speakers forward. Are you getting any vibrations from your front window when you play music

no Sir, not any vibration at all, even at the back double doors which link this room to my dining room in the back. I've never encountered one. The noise clearance of my room from the outside is quite great, you can only hear low music playing inside when you are standing outside the house and close to the window, but it is actually very loud inside.

 

[dafos]

I'm in no position to give advise on your speaker placement but i do believe that there is no such "difference" between older and currently manufactured q5's. Owing to its sealed box enclosure, and from experience, its very difficult to get "excess" bass from the q seres speakers and in fact the opposite seems to be the more common complaint. I'm sure a consultation with a professional acoustician should solve your problem.

 

[sonrock]

thank you Sir, especially about your comment regarding q5 specs. about my room, I will ask for help Sir, but many people came to my house and listened to the system do have the same feeling regarding the bass, its the truth Sir. Its quite an awkward room due to the original built and layout when a huge chimney breast block on the right side and I have the heater in front of the chimney, on the left side next to the left speaker as you can see from the pics which does affect the reflections etc. I will try to find the best solution to live with my system Sirs. I will post pictures of my room in every corner later today. your advises and suggestions are deeply appreciated.