Magico M3 Reviewed by TAS

I still have a pair of M Pro’s I’m selling for a client. $65k + ship mint condition.
 
Read Valin's review last night - totally agree they need subs. I actually don't like the M3s so far, and at the core of it is the lack of low-end heft ... and Valin has a small room.
 
Mike said:
I still have a pair of M Pro’s I’m selling for a client. $65k + ship mint condition.
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I wish I had a larger room to allow for them. Don’t think the wife would be too thrilled with moving to let me have bigger speakers ;).
 
Would the M3 work in my room of 12 x 16 x 8 ft or would it be too much ? Keeping in mind I love bass and have 2x 18 inch subs in my room :)
 
So the point of this is to see how big of a speaker you can cram into a small room whether it is appropriate or not? Even though two dealers recommended against it.
 
I don’t see it like that. I thought of it as getting the best speaker for the room, although I would get rid of the subs.
 
Any of the 3's will fit in that size of the room. And I 2nd the opinion to get rid of the 18" subs if it makes for a better fit of a 3 size Magico speaker.
 
Jack said:
So the point of this is to see how big of a speaker you can cram into a small room whether it is appropriate or not? Even though two dealers recommended against it.
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Good point. Many audiophiles want the biggest speaker they think they can get away with, even though this may not be optimal.

But it depends on what you want. If you don't care about imaging, a speaker too big for the room may be fine. Personally, I cannot stand when a speaker does not disappear from the soundstage, and you clearly hear the sound being partially glued to the left and right speaker. I have a room 24 x 12 x 8.5 ft, and I have a monitor / subwoofer system (which works fantastically and creates a rather large soundstage). I am afraid that, because of the limited room width, a larger speaker will not completely disappear from the soundstage in my room.

Of course, everyone will say, "my speakers disappear". But have you ever heard what this really can mean, and how great it is when it happens? I bet many haven't. Or perhaps if they did, they don't care.

Another thing to consider is coherence. With a larger speaker you often have to sit further away for the drivers to completely blend. In my room a larger speaker would be no problem in that sense, because I could sit further away without compromising soundstage depth (my speaker drivers are 7 feet from the front wall) or having to sit close to the back wall which may bring its own problems, especially with bass. And next to avoiding coherence issues, sitting further away may also be necessary with a larger speaker for achieving the act of "disappearing" from the soundstage. Yet having to sit further away in a less long room may give problems (less flexibility with creating soundstage depth, bass issues from having to sit closer to the back wall).

Yet even though I can, I don't want to sit further away than I do (distance tweeter to ear is 8.7 ft) because I would miss intimacy on small scale chamber music, for example, an intimacy I don't want to live without. With those monitors, I even could sit considerably closer than I do.

I am not saying everyone should buy monitors (even though many might be surprised what a great monitor/sub system can do). Yet restraint with the size of a multi-way floor stander, depending on room size, may be a good thing.
 
Al M. said:
Good point. Many audiophiles want the biggest speaker they think they can get away with, even though this may not be optimal.

But it depends on what you want. If you don't care about imaging, a speaker too big for the room may be fine. Personally, I cannot stand when a speaker does not disappear from the soundstage, and you clearly hear the sound being partially glued to the left and right speaker. I have a room 24 x 12 x 8.5 ft, and I have a monitor / subwoofer system (which works fantastically and creates a rather large soundstage). I am afraid that, because of the limited room width, a larger speaker will not completely disappear from the soundstage in my room.

Of course, everyone will say, "my speakers disappear". But have you ever heard what this really can mean, and how great it is when it happens? I bet many haven't. Or perhaps if they did, they don't care.

Another thing to consider is coherence. With a larger speaker you often have to sit further away for the drivers to completely blend. In my room a larger speaker would be no problem in that sense, because I could sit further away without compromising soundstage depth (my speaker drivers are 7 feet from the front wall) or having to sit close to the back wall which may bring its own problems, especially with bass. And next to avoiding coherence issues, sitting further away may also be necessary with a larger speaker for achieving the act of "disappearing" from the soundstage. Yet having to sit further away in a less long room may give problems (less flexibility with creating soundstage depth, bass issues from having to sit closer to the back wall).

Yet even though I can, I don't want to sit further away than I do (distance tweeter to ear is 8.7 ft) because I would miss intimacy on small scale chamber music, for example, an intimacy I don't want to live without. With those monitors, I even could sit considerably closer than I do.

I am not saying everyone should buy monitors (even though many might be surprised what a great monitor/sub system can do). Yet restraint with the size of a multi-way floor stander, depending on room size, may be a good thing.
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+1
 
Jack said:
Even though Mike and Mark Jones have both recommended something different for that room.
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Also a lot of reason my other dealer was against the M3 was also just because of how frustrating it is to install and deal with a 300+ lb speaker. The M3 is not a super massive speaker so I feel it can work especially considering I may have a bigger future basement listening room and the added bass energy would be welcome. Trying to make sure I have something that can scale.
 
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