Magico Q5 Demo at Overture Audio

[Gregadd]

Magico Q5 Demo at Overture Audio on M1, 2010 11:00 am -4:00am.
For Details www.overtureav.com

 

[MylesBAstor]

Magico Q5 Demo at Overture Audio on M1, 2010 11:00 am -4:00am.
For Details www.overtureav.com

Ought to be interesting. Are you going?

Wish I could make it but have to help a friend out who is buying a Studer deck from a studio going out of business.

What do you think they'll have driving the speakers? ARC? Spectral?

 

[Gregadd]

Ought to be interesting. Are you going?

Yes. It's only a two hour drive.

Wish I could make it but have to help a friend out who is buying a Studer deck from a studio going out of business.

What do you think they'll have driving the speakers? ARC? Spectral?

I don't know. I hope it's Spectral. Their new signature line. They also are Martin Logan Dealers.

 

[Steve Williams]

Is that at Terry Menacker's store

 

[MylesBAstor]

Is that at Terry Menacker's store

Yes it is.

 

[Gregadd]

It is really a good example of what a store should be. I heard the Martin Logan Statement (e2) there. It really is a prototye for an audio store. Lots of space and equipment. I have not been there for a while. When my niece attended BrynMawr I always had an excuse to stop by.

 

[Husk]

I believe Michael Fremer is reviewing a pair right now.

 

[MylesBAstor]

So did anyone make it to Overture today? What were your impressions of the demo?

 

[Gregadd]

What day is this?

So did anyone make it to Overture today? What were your impressions of the demo?

Dear Reginald You’re invited to an Overture special presentation! Please join Alon Wolf, founder of Magico, and Overture for the mid-Atlantic debut of the groundbreaking Magico Q5 Loudspeaker. We have a great day of music planned that no music enthusiast will want to miss. Special guest Robert Harley, Editor in Chief of The Absolute Sound, and award winning author will also be joining us. This Special Event takes place on Saturday, May 1st, from 11:00am to 4:00pm. There will be a presentation of the Magico Q5 beginning every hour from 11:00am until 4:00pm. Please call us to RSVP or for more information. We look forward to seeing you. 2423 Concord Pike (Rt 202) • Wilmington, Delaware • 302.478.6050 • 800.838.1812 www.overtureav.com • No Sales Tax in Delaware.

Did I miss something?

 

[Steve Williams]

Myles is in a different time warp

 

[MylesBAstor]

Still can't make it.

 

[Gregadd]

I just made my reservation for 3 p.m. They will have the entire Magico line on display. If you live in the Metro DC area and would like to carpool send me a private message. i will try to take pictures if you can't attend.

 

[Steve Williams]

pictures and a review of the event would be wonderful Greg

 

[Gregadd]

I just got back from the show. As usual Terry was a great host. The event was catered. An hour was not nearly enough. I like to listen to about 2 o'clock in the morning. 'lll file a report later. Just a teaser. The Q5 is to male vocals what the ML CLS is to female vocals. If you have $54K for a speaker, give Terry a visi
One last point. Once again the Spectral electronics proved itself to be the sleeper and bargain of the high.-end If only they were tube driven

 

[brianherlihy]

Hi Greg, hoping you're still going to give us the extended update! best, brian

 

[Husk]

Greg, I am with Brian. Love to here your review.

 

[Steve Williams]

Hi Greg, hoping you're still going to give us the extended update! best, brian

Greg, I am with Brian. Love to here your review.

Here you go guys.

Greg has it in a different forum

Review of Magico Q5
On May 1, 2010 I took the drive up I- 95 from DC to Wilmington, Delaware to Overture Audio (www.overtureav.com). I had not been there since Terry did a preview of the ML Statement e2 with Basis Ovation turntable, and Spectral electronics. That was on a weekday evening and Gayle Sanders himself was present. That was probably as close as I’ll ever come to experiencing a life like musical presentation by a stereo reproduction system.

Like the absolute sound review of Magico M5, I really don’t want a dynamic speaker. My feeling is that they reason they are so expensive is the construction of an inert cabinet is extremely expensive. While cabinet resonances have been conquered, each box has a
coloration that can be tamed but not eliminated. It seems to me the solution is to just do away with the box. Of course boxes, planars, and open baffles all have problems that are well documented.

Alon Wolf handled my loaded questions about building yet another expensive box speaker. Its potentially problematic impedance curve (3.1 ohms @12khz); and building to a price point like a well educated gentleman. None of these factors affected the sound I heard.

The presentation was digital only. He used the top of the line Spectral electronics. Two amps were used, one for each channel. Let me take this opportunity to say that Spectral remains one of the most underrated bargains in audio. No it’s not the least expensive, but it rivals the best at many times the price. I think if it were tube based, it would have much more mass appeal.

Back to the Magico Q5. It is somewhat unfair for me to evaluate this speaker. My ears are tuned to electrostatics. While many manufacturers claim there speakers are electrostatic like, the difference is as plain as butter and margarines. It’s similar t to comparing the Williams sisters. They both are champion tennis players, but their game is completely different.
The Q5 is a four way design. That of course makes a high quality crossover design essential. It also gives the CLS another advantage. (No crossover) It consists of three
Pick your poison.

Terry, Overtures owner has managed to survive 17 years. No small achievement in this field. He has a large store in a strip mall off a main boulevard. He is a music loving gentleman. His events are catered and he has a large staff of salesman. You get the feeling you are free to just come in and listen. I have done this a long time ago, but am unaware of the current situation...

The event was well attended. The session preceding mine was SRO.
The Q5 is a four way design. That of course makes a high quality crossover design essential. It also gives the CLS another advantage. (No crossover) It consists of three woofers. One for mid-bass the other for deep bass, A midrange driver and beryllium tweeter is utilized. Alon does not think much of diamond or ribbon tweeters. The cabinet consists of a floor standing anodized aluminum box it leaves a small forward facing foot print, but is deep and relatively tall. It should fit unobtrusively in most rooms. It weighs four hundred pounds apiece. That’s actual weight. You don’t want it to fall on your or try to move it alone. At this price your dealer should set it up for you. Its' weight should make it difficult to tip over.

The manufacturer says the speaker is 6 ohms and benefits but does not require lots of power. Terry operated the volume control, so I don’t know how loud the speakers would play. It was clear Terry was tired. I STROMGLY RECOMMEND THAT TERRY INVITE ME BACK FOR AN EXTENDED LISTENING SESSION. I really could not make a serious evaluation in what amounted to maybe 40 minutes of actual music. As luck would have it, Terry played a Shirley Horn song that I have heard a hundred times. I was therefore able to make a sharp comparison between the CLS and Q5.

As Alon pointed out. A planar speaker is heavily room dependent. The manufacture has no idea what the actual room response will be. He claims that all the energy emerges from front of the speaker. Consequently results are more predictable.

Let me get to the point. I think this could be your last speaker. At 54 grand it should be. I have not heard all speakers but I retract my previous claim that all speakers need subs. Bass is deep and solid. It might benefit from being relieved of deep baas duties. It does handle deep bass effortlessly. A suppose you could strain it with organ music. Few speakers can handle that. This is high praise indeed. The Q5 is to male voices what ML CLS is to female voices/!

Imaging is everything one would expect from a point source. The speakers were placed very wide apart. I suspect that was done to accommodate the large number of listeners in the room. If they were closer together and I was in the sweet spot I think imaging would have been dead on.

Dynamics were handled effortlessly. You had to pay close attention because the speaker was simply devoid of any hi- fi fireworks. Listening fatigue was non-existent. Terry has an extremely well damped room. I detected no reflections. While there are obvious benefits to this, it can rob a speaker of some of its liveliness. I think it could benefit form a slightly brighter room.

That’s it. The speaker did nothing wrong.

 

[ack]

It looks like I will be auditioning the Q5 later this month with Spectral as well, and I will report back. I also find gregadd's comments on the ML e2 with Spectral quite interesting, as I have been pairing ML with Spectral for 12 years now with excellent results...

 

[Husk]

Will anyone be attending the Q5 demo at Goodwins High End on May 27?

 

[ack]

I intend to; will depend on the time slot I get and potential conflict with work.