Attending the Magico Q3 premier...

[Husk]

Ack, Are you going to be commenting further on the Q3's?

 

[ack]

I need to go listen to it further and carefully - demo situations don't cut for me... Meantime, you can read Jeff Fritz's mini report from Munich... If you get a chance, you should listen to this speaker.

 

[FrantzM]

<snip>
The speaker manufacturers, cheer-led by the audio "press", have sure gotten the audiophiles conditioned that a great speaker should cost as much as a nice, shiny, German sports sedan...

You got that right

Interesting, I need to audition the Q5 and Q3 ...

 

[mauidan]

You got that right

Interesting, I need to audition the Q5 and Q3 ...

Are you shopping for $30K - $60K speakers?

 

[ack]

So it looks like i'll be auditioning the Q3 sooner than I thought. Basically I just got my copy of that Byrd LP and my system sounds like ___t... Sluggish kick drum, soft snare, etc. Jeff Fritz said of the Q3: with transient response that was shockingly crisp in his Munich coverage. Well, this is what I also heard at the demo... But it could be a number of other variables as well (and most likely a combination of all): cartridge, phono pre, even perhaps a bad copy of the LP... So the quest begins in earnest by borrowing the store's copy or bringing mine to the store... This ain't going to be cheap to fix.... Arghhhh, I am so hoping the summit X is up to the task. How do I explain this to the wife!

So whoever asked about epiphanies... Yeah I had mine two weeks ago

 

[Randall Smith]

So it looks like i'll be auditioning the Q3 sooner than I thought. Basically I just got my copy of that Byrd LP and my system sounds like ___t... Sluggish kick drum, soft snare, etc. Jeff Fritz said of the Q3: with transient response that was shockingly crisp in his Munich coverage. Well, this is what I also heard at the demo... But it could be a number of other variables as well (and most likely a combination of all): cartridge, phono pre, even perhaps a bad copy of the LP... So the quest begins in earnest by borrowing the store's copy or bringing mine to the store... This ain't going to be cheap to fix.... Arghhhh, I am so hoping the summit X is up to the task. How do I explain this to the wife!

So whoever asked about epiphanies... Yeah I had mine two weeks ago

Unfortunately, your memory of the way the Q3's will haunt you and your quest to match/better it will perhaps never be realized. Why? IMHO, its because it was an epiphany and to some degree, wasn't real. It made such a big impression on you that perhaps it cannot be matched. Well, this has been my experience in the past. I have often had this sort of experience in Jeff Fritz's Music Vault. I would hear a system that costs 10x's as much and then go home and literally hate my system. It really isn't fair. Better room, better electronics, and better speakers. The chase is what its all about to me. I recently have made great strides by tweaking setup and room treatments and have gotten much closer that I ever have before. But, in reality, the gap between our systems stays the same because both are continually improving.

 

[ack]

Very true Randall... But I thought I was past 'unacceptable' - very frustrated. I'll go and swap some cables now, or perhaps the fuses are backwards

 

[ack]

So I wasn't kidding about swapping cables... Two things have changed since yesterday that have improved the picture dramatically:

1. Humidity today is normal; I had forgotten how bad ML panels sound when humidity is over 60% (75%+ yesterday)
2. I had a pair of Nordost Tyr XLRs on order which appeared today; they replaced the Kimber Heros I was using between the phono stage and the preamp. I know, stupid choice originally, sorry!

Striking difference in terms of speed and everything that goes along with it, including bass tightness of the kickdrum. I am not and will never be at the Q3 level of realism with these speakers, but I am far far better than yesterday... So why Tyr? Because the arm is using Valhalla, I run Tyr from the TT to the phono stage, and it's logical to run the same cable from there down. And I could never tell the difference between Valhalla and Tyr... I had totally forgotten to upgrade that cable until last week.