Magico M6

I had the pleasure of listening to the M6’s at a dealer event a few weeks ago. They are probably the best loudspeakers I’ve ever heard in terms of transparency, scale and musicality. They have the speed of the best planar speakers with the power and bass response of the best dynamic speakers. They are one of the few speakers I’ve heard that can replicate a live orchestra at concert volume levels. Their soundstage has impressive height, width and depth with pinpoint image accuracy. Bass is a purely visceral experience with wonderful texture and articulation.

Ken

Many thanks for the feedback. May I ask what was the full system including cables etc?
 
I had the pleasure of listening to the M6’s at a dealer event a few weeks ago. They are probably the best loudspeakers I’ve ever heard in terms of transparency, scale and musicality. They have the speed of the best planar speakers with the power and bass response of the best dynamic speakers. They are one of the few speakers I’ve heard that can replicate a live orchestra at concert volume levels. Their soundstage has impressive height, width and depth with pinpoint image accuracy. Bass is a purely visceral experience with wonderful texture and articulation.

Ken

To me this is the holy grail for speakers. So the M6s sound completely boxless?
 
Has anyone compared the M6 to the Rockport Lyra? Similar in price/size with 2 completely inert cabinets im told.

Dave
 
Many thanks for the feedback. May I ask what was the full system including cables etc?

The system was the Esoteric Grandioso K1 Player/DAC and G1 Master Clock; Grandioso C1 Preamp; and Grandioso M1 Monoblock Amps. The cables were Cardas Clear Beyond.

Ken
 
To me this is the holy grail for speakers. So the M6s sound completely boxless?

Completely boxless. The Magnepan 30.7 were optimally set up in another room and I went over for awhile and listened to them on Pass Labs X-600.8’s. The M6’s sounded more like planar speakers in terms of speed, soundstage and boxlessness than the planars! Except that the M6’s had tremendous weight in the bass and images that were placed with pinpoint accuracy. The M6’s beat the 30.7’s significantly in every single category. They are on a different planet.

Ken
 
The system was the Esoteric Grandioso K1 Player/DAC and G1 Master Clock; Grandioso C1 Preamp; and Grandioso M1 Monoblock Amps. The cables were Cardas Clear Beyond.

Ken

Was this at Overture in DE? If so , I guess that since they are no longer a Spectral dealer that their reference in solid state electronics is now the Esoteric Grandioso line.
 
You heard two completely different systems and you concluded that the M6s are better than the 30.7s? Whatever happened to keeping all other parameters the same...
 
You heard two completely different systems and you concluded that the M6s are better than the 30.7s? Whatever happened to keeping all other parameters the same...

The 30.7’s are stinkers. Not sure what else there is to know.
 
You heard two completely different systems and you concluded that the M6s are better than the 30.7s? Whatever happened to keeping all other parameters the same...

Yes. Both sets of speakers were in optimally sized rooms and paired with synergistic components to sound their very best. Your method of comparison would result in compromised performance for one set or both sets of speakers.

The 30.7’s were well set up with the proper components in the dealer’s “Magnepan Room”, which has historically brought out the best sound for this brand. They sounded excellent. But the M6’s were head and shoulders above them in every way in my opinion. They are on an entirely different level as well they should be with the price difference.

Ken
 
Ken, What were the differences between the two rooms and how the speakers were set up in their respective rooms? There must be a brand of electronics that would work well with both speakers, perhaps Spectral/MIT, but there are no dealers who carry both Spectral and the M6 as far as I know. I do wonder what the M6s would sound like with the Pass amps.
 
Was this at Overture in DE? If so , I guess that since they are no longer a Spectral dealer that their reference in solid state electronics is now the Esoteric Grandioso line.

Correct and correct. They were so busy with all their other listening rooms that they actually let me run the Grandioso/M6 demo for the entire event. It was a lot of fun.

Ken
 
Yes. Both sets of speakers were in optimally sized rooms and paired with synergistic components to sound their very best. Your method of comparison would result in compromised performance for one set or both sets of speakers.

The 30.7’s were well set up with the proper components in the dealer’s “Magnepan Room”, which has historically brought out the best sound for this brand. They sounded excellent. But the M6’s were head and shoulders above them in every way in my opinion. They are on an entirely different level as well they should be with the price difference.

Ken

So the Pass X600's are synergistic with Magnepans, but not optimal. And consequently, the quality of sources - both different, apparently - doesn't really matter. :weird: Did it occur to anyone that perhaps each system was put together based on both sonic merit AND comparable price to the speakers demo'd? And that other than that, they can only be compared as systems, not just speakers? You also say the 30.7's sound "excellent", Mike says they are "stinkers" :hey: but I bet he's kidding.
 
Ken, What were the differences between the two rooms and how the speakers were set up in their respective rooms? There must be a brand of electronics that would work well with both speakers, perhaps Spectral/MIT, but there are no dealers who carry both Spectral and the M6 as far as I know. I do wonder what the M6s would sound like with the Pass amps.

Hi Peter,

The main difference was the size of the two rooms and the bass traps and tube traps. I had previously heard the 30.7’s in their big room (approx. 30’ x 20’) and they sounded terrible, even though they had removed a substantial number of the tube and bass traps. The room was just too large and the 30.7’s sounded lifeless with no bass. In their smaller Magnepan room (approx. 22’ x 15’) that had only modest treatments, bass response was ideal and the 30.7’s came to life. Speaker placement was nearer to the sidewalls to get increased bass response.

The M6’s had no issues filling the big room with plentiful bass with the full compliment of tube and bass traps in place. Sound quality was ideal. Speaker placement was pretty standard. They were previously running the M6’s on the Pass X-600.8’s. They said the M6’s sounded better on the Grandioso gear.

Ken
 
So the Pass X600's are synergistic with Magnepans, but not optimal. And consequently, the quality of sources - both different, apparently - doesn't really matter. :weird: Did it occur to anyone that perhaps each system was put together based on both sonic merit AND comparable price to the speakers demo'd? And that other than that, they can only be compared as systems, not just speakers? You also say the 30.7's sound "excellent", Mike says they are "stinkers" :hey: but I bet he's kidding.

Who said the Magnepan 30.7’s setup was not optimal? I said the room setup in the Magnepan Room was optimal and they sounded excellent. I have listened to the Magnepan 30.7’s in two different rooms on the ARC Ref 160M’s and the Pass X-600.8’s. In my opinion, the sonic performance of the 30.7’s is not in the same ballpark as the M6’s. And I’ve always been a big Magnepan fan and have owned them too. I suggest you listen for yourself if you doubt my conclusions.

Ken
 
Who said the Magnepan 30.7’s setup was not optimal? I said the room setup in the Magnepan Room was optimal and they sounded excellent. I have listened to the Magnepan 30.7’s in two different rooms on the ARC Ref 160M’s and the Pass X-600.8’s. In my opinion, the sonic performance of the 30.7’s is not in the same ballpark as the M6’s. And I’ve always been a big Magnepan fan and have owned them too. I suggest you listen for yourself if you doubt my conclusions.

Ken

Fascinating way to tell one speaker from another: just set them up in different systems and rooms, with what is subjectively synergistic and optimal components, sources apparently do not matter, and evidently if the X600's are optimal on the Magnepans, the better Pass amps would not be - or do we have "optimal" and then "more optimal"?
 
Fascinating way to tell one speaker from another: just set them up in different systems and rooms, with what is subjectively synergistic components, sources apparently do not matter, and evidently if the X600's are optimal on the Magnepans, the better Pass amps would not be - or do we have "optimal" and then "more optimal"?

I suggest you go to the dealer and try both pairs of speakers on the same components in the same listening room and then report back to us with your findings. IMO, there are no components on the planet that could close that gap in performance.

Ken
 
Hi Peter,

The main difference was the size of the two rooms and the bass traps and tube traps. I had previously heard the 30.7’s in their big room (approx. 30’ x 20’) and they sounded terrible, even though they had removed a substantial number of the tube and bass traps. The room was just too large and the 30.7’s sounded lifeless with no bass. In their smaller Magnepan room (approx. 22’ x 15’) that had only modest treatments, bass response was ideal and the 30.7’s came to life. Speaker placement was nearer to the sidewalls to get increased bass response.

The M6’s had no issues filling the big room with plentiful bass with the full compliment of tube and bass traps in place. Sound quality was ideal. Speaker placement was pretty standard. They were previously running the M6’s on the Pass X-600.8’s. They said the M6’s sounded better on the Grandioso gear.

Ken

Thank you Ken, and thanks for your report. Sounds like you had a fun day and heard a tremendous system. It is fascinating how room size and acoustic treatment can so affect sonics for different speaker typologies. I agree with you that the best way to form opinions is to do your own evaluations. I was not aware that any dealers actually have the M6. I thought potential customers were simply encouraged to visit the Magico factory and hear the speaker in that setting.
 
How many of you guys have already listened to the M6 and with what amps?
What do you think would be a really good match for them? Since there are some of you using M3 with D`Agostino M400, do you think the Dags would be as great with the M6?
 
I would assume the M6s sound great with any adequate amplification. Depends on personal preferences what gets the nod.

Heard them in Munich with Soulution. Digital was phenomenal, vinyl was mind bogglingly good.

After that session I was basically done with the show. No use to roam any further, as anything else sounded inadequate.
 
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