Thank you Kal, I will . If you can PM me a good email to contact JA, it will be great, thank you.
http://www.stereophile.com/contact
Thank you Kal, I will . If you can PM me a good email to contact JA, it will be great, thank you.
JA is a member here (stereoeditor). So try that and hopefully he will read and respond.
So can we assume that no one in SP has interest in Magico products??
I just read JVS blog about the tour he took at Magico, and what struck me is the amount of comments his coverage got (did not cover all SP blog postings, but I think it is safe to say that it is way up there in terms of readers interest).
We are interested, of course, but it is complicated, not the least because the bulk of some Magico speakers makes the logistics of a review problematic. See the review Michael Fremer did of the Q5 for an example: http://www.stereophile.com/content/magico-q5-loudspeaker-measurements . Our neglect of the brand has nothing to do with advertising, please note. Until recently, Magico was a regular advertiser in Stereophile.
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Cannata,
There’s no point arguing about taste, but here’s some economic analysis of what’s going on (based on the facts available publicly):
John Atkinson’s reply actually explains a lot, and makes logical sense. We live in an entertainment economy, even the US presidential campaign has taken that flavor with "Fukcing Wacko" Don vs. "Crooked, sick" Hillary.
For magazines like Stereophile, that compete with other print and online magazines – along with knowledgeable folks on the internet, surest path to long-term success is to mix in lesser brands with blockbuster brands like Magico and Wilson (akin to Star wars or Lady Gaga), that people are interested in reading about, whether they prefer those speakers or not. Even if they don’t like wolf's engineering or wilson's voicing, they still like to talk about them…Stereophile would love to review magico
Coming to magico reviews, Wolf has selected guys to review his speakers who have bought in hook, line, and sinker and are so inspired by the product they are blinded to shortcomings of the speaker. They live and breathe magico. They think the speakers are perfect, and everything else sucks. But there is no perfect speaker in reality – the speaker creates a sound that sparks someone’s imagination of realism or not. In contrast to the magico reviewers, the guys in Stereophile, on the hand, are inquisitive thinkers who look at things from multiple perspectives and proudly state their opinions.
The impression one gets is that wolf is trying to manipulate the reviews by sending to only certain guys, the magico zealots. . Of course, his actions are completely transparent to everyone....
His hand-picked reviewers prefer “transparency to source” distractions from music / analytic colorations vs. “musical transparency”/ euphonic/ musical colorations of vinyl and tubes that most audio fans like.
But now, he seems to have shifted his strategy. By showing with CAT gear, he would like to go where most fans and most the money is: the musicality market. But this change, in effect , is working like judo strategy in reverse. His leverage is working against him.
His strengths and weight - that have been used to bash his competitors have turned into weaknesses. His hand - picked reviewers are now a liability. Audio fans who like musicality could care less what Mr. Analytic Sound himself, Robert "worthless to the audio fan" Harley or "You don't got magico and soulution , so your system sucks" Fritz, or "Sterile" Jon valin , when misses his electro shock therapy treatments and starts recommending "transparency to source " gear in a magazine branded as the absolute sound…
Interesting to see what will happen. Only time will tell...
Ouch, did JA said all that
after all it is not like YG Sonia or Wilson XLF are easy to maneuver.
No, but the YG does break into parts that are much easier to move around, as does the Wilson. And Wilson provides a wheeled dolly with a built-in scissor jack that can be inserted beneath the speaker, then raised to make it relatively easy to maneuver. Moving the one-piece Magico S7, at 300 lbs is a much more difficult task. :-(
John Atkinson
Editor, Stereophile
Not really, my S5 came on casters and were a breeze to move (I believe the S7 is the same way). The Q7 comes with a lift as well.
Cannata,
There’s no point arguing about taste, but here’s some economic analysis of what’s going on (based on the facts available publicly):
John Atkinson’s reply actually explains a lot, and makes logical sense. We live in an entertainment economy, even the US presidential campaign has taken that flavor with "Fukcing Wacko" Don vs. "Crooked, sick" Hillary.
For magazines like Stereophile, that compete with other print and online magazines – along with knowledgeable folks on the internet, surest path to long-term success is to mix in lesser brands with blockbuster brands like Magico and Wilson (akin to Star wars or Lady Gaga), that people are interested in reading about, whether they prefer those speakers or not. Even if they don’t like wolf's engineering or wilson's voicing, they still like to talk about them…Stereophile would love to review magico
Coming to magico reviews, Wolf has selected guys to review his speakers who have bought in hook, line, and sinker and are so inspired by the product they are blinded to shortcomings of the speaker. They live and breathe magico. They think the speakers are perfect, and everything else sucks. But there is no perfect speaker in reality – the speaker creates a sound that sparks someone’s imagination of realism or not. In contrast to the magico reviewers, the guys in Stereophile, on the hand, are inquisitive thinkers who look at things from multiple perspectives and proudly state their opinions.
The impression one gets is that wolf is trying to manipulate the reviews by sending to only certain guys, the magico zealots. . Of course, his actions are completely transparent to everyone....
His hand-picked reviewers prefer “transparency to source” distractions from music / analytic colorations vs. “musical transparency”/ euphonic/ musical colorations of vinyl and tubes that most audio fans like.
But now, he seems to have shifted his strategy. By showing with CAT gear, he would like to go where most fans and most the money is: the musicality market. But this change, in effect , is working like judo strategy in reverse. His leverage is working against him.
His strengths and weight - that have been used to bash his competitors have turned into weaknesses. His hand - picked reviewers are now a liability. Audio fans who like musicality could care less what Mr. Analytic Sound himself, Robert "worthless to the audio fan" Harley or "You don't got magico and soulution , so your system sucks" Fritz, or "Sterile" Jon valin , when misses his electro shock therapy treatments and starts recommending "transparency to source " gear in a magazine branded as the absolute sound…
Interesting to see what will happen. Only time will tell...
I have a question for JA...you say that the Magico speakers are problematical from a weight and size issue. Surely this applies to numerous other speakers as well...many that are, or would be, of great interest to the readership. ( and which many would consider as candidates for SOTA). Are you going to ignore these as well? Or, perhaps a better solution to make the logistics far less problematical, would be to revise your measurement ability/equipment and protocol/location?? IMHO.
Cannata,
There’s no point arguing about taste, but here’s some economic analysis of what’s going on (based on the facts available publicly):
John Atkinson’s reply actually explains a lot, and makes logical sense. We live in an entertainment economy, even the US presidential campaign has taken that flavor with "Fukcing Wacko" Don vs. "Crooked, sick" Hillary.
For magazines like Stereophile, that compete with other print and online magazines – along with knowledgeable folks on the internet, surest path to long-term success is to mix in lesser brands with blockbuster brands like Magico and Wilson (akin to Star wars or Lady Gaga), that people are interested in reading about, whether they prefer those speakers or not. Even if they don’t like wolf's engineering or wilson's voicing, they still like to talk about them…Stereophile would love to review magico
Coming to magico reviews, Wolf has selected guys to review his speakers who have bought in hook, line, and sinker and are so inspired by the product they are blinded to shortcomings of the speaker. They live and breathe magico. They think the speakers are perfect, and everything else sucks. But there is no perfect speaker in reality – the speaker creates a sound that sparks someone’s imagination of realism or not. In contrast to the magico reviewers, the guys in Stereophile, on the hand, are inquisitive thinkers who look at things from multiple perspectives and proudly state their opinions.
The impression one gets is that wolf is trying to manipulate the reviews by sending to only certain guys, the magico zealots. . Of course, his actions are completely transparent to everyone....
His hand-picked reviewers prefer “transparency to source” distractions from music / analytic colorations vs. “musical transparency”/ euphonic/ musical colorations of vinyl and tubes that most audio fans like.
But now, he seems to have shifted his strategy. By showing with CAT gear, he would like to go where most fans and most the money is: the musicality market. But this change, in effect , is working like judo strategy in reverse. His leverage is working against him.
His strengths and weight - that have been used to bash his competitors have turned into weaknesses. His hand - picked reviewers are now a liability. Audio fans who like musicality could care less what Mr. Analytic Sound himself, Robert "worthless to the audio fan" Harley or "You don't got magico and soulution , so your system sucks" Fritz, or "Sterile" Jon valin , when misses his electro shock therapy treatments and starts recommending "transparency to source " gear in a magazine branded as the absolute sound…
Interesting to see what will happen. Only time will tell...
Having helped setup various Wilson models (Maxx 3, Sasha, Alexia) and Magicos (S5, S7, Q3) I have to say, JA has a point.
The fact that you can dismantle Wilsons to smaller parts, makes them much more managable. Shipping and setting up Magicos is a logistical nightmare.
At least the new Magcio S5 mk 2 I'm getting come on casters now.
JA seems to have had one too many of those umbrella drinks..
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