Magico M3 v Gryphon Trident II v YG Sonja 2.2

Now that’s an interesting idea! MBL didn't cross my mind. I know nothing about them except I recall reading on this forum some interesting posts. Will leave others to advise if they should make my shortlist.
 
Well that seals it then. M3s with Mpods. Subs can come later once I reconfigure my room. :woot:

Now I need to save...
 
Your room is fine for MBL 101e mk2’s. However, it would require a much advised matching electronics change long term. The Gryphon/MSB worked ok with the MBL’s in my showroom, but none better than the MBL electronics themselves.

I’m really starting to figure out the MBL’s. It’s taken many many hours, but I’m really starting to figure them out.

That being said, unless you’re willing to go all MBL long term for that “just right” sound, I would stick with your plan. Again, not saying other electronics won’t work, they will (!), but the MBL electronics really take the speakers to a whole new level of performance.

I think the M3’s are the way to go.
 
I replied right after I posted above, but for some reason it didn't show up. He has no left side wall if he does not relocate the speakers. If he does, he will have no front wall behind the speakers.

I defer to your experience Mike - "your room is fine for MBL 101e Mk2's" - but I am surprised that he does not need both side walls a few feet away from the MBLs, and a front wall a few feet behind them.

Guess it shows that old dogs like me can still learn new tricks... :huh:
 
Mike and Jim - thank you for your advice. No way will I be switching electronics (Gryphon all the way for me), so the MBLs appear to be a no go.
 
FWIW - Not trying to get you to change at all AJR, but I have had the MBL electronics here and they were exceptional. They don't get much press for some reason...
 
Jim Smith said:
I replied right after I posted above, but for some reason it didn't show up. He has no left side wall if he does not relocate the speakers. If he does, he will have no front wall behind the speakers.

I defer to your experience Mike - "your room is fine for MBL 101e Mk2's" - but I am surprised that he does not need both side walls a few feet away from the MBLs, and a front wall a few feet behind them.

Guess it shows that old dogs like me can still learn new tricks... :huh:
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Good question. I have asked Jeremy from MBL repeatedly and he insists you don't need side walls, that they will work fine. I'm about to find out as I have a pair of 120's coming (and there's a hallway on one side and no sidewall on the other in that room. They also work better with natural diffusion like plants and less absorption. They also work amazingly well in the near field (CLOSE to an equilateral triangle). I also removed the stock spikes, gold "rings" and replaced with ISOAcoustics. Those guys at ISOAcoustics really stepped up to the plate and made me some custom adapters and extra long bolts. I asked Stillpoints for the same thing, about two months ago and I'm still waiting. I will be interested to try Ultra 5's. The bandpass bass does well with some isolation. I noted some use custom made Shun Mook discs fitted for the feet on the MBL's. I reached out to the rep, but they seem near impossible to come by these days due to the rarity of the aged Mpingo wood.
 
Got it. Thanks. It would be far too costly for me to switch electronics now. I love the Gryphon sound (thank you Mike), although I have not heard MBL. I preferred Gryphon over Vitus, Soulution, D’Agostinos (although we are talking small margins here and more about sound preference than anything else) and Devialet. It gives me richness but also details, and plenty of attack and slam. So my focus is on improving my speakers within the constraints of my listening room. I think the M3s make a lot of sense - and they give me flex to add subs when I reconfigure my room in line with your advice.
 
Mike said:
Good question. I have asked Jeremy from MBL repeatedly and he insists you don't need side walls, that they will work fine. I'm about to find out as I have a pair of 120's coming (and there's a hallway on one side and no sidewall on the other in that room. They also work better with natural diffusion like plants and less absorption. They also work amazingly well in the near field (CLOSE to an equilateral triangle). I also removed the stock spikes, gold "rings" and replaced with ISOAcoustics. Those guys at ISOAcoustics really stepped up to the plate and made me some custom adapters and extra long bolts. I asked Stillpoints for the same thing, about two months ago and I'm still waiting. I will be interested to try Ultra 5's. The bandpass bass does well with some isolation. I noted some use custom made Shun Mook discs fitted for the feet on the MBL's. I reached out to the rep, but they seem near impossible to come by these days due to the rarity of the aged Mpingo wood.
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What sonic changes do you experience with ISOAcoustics instead of standard feet? Thank you
 
Boogieman said:
Hi,
Do you mind elaborating on this a bit? Thanks
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Sure. Not unlike the Avantgarde’s, I have spent countless hours experimenting with the MBL’s in terms of side wall placement, front wall placement, amplification, source, toe in positioning, cables, playing with the actual adjustments on the back of the speakers and most importantly, seating placement. I am trying to learn the uniqueness of the speakers and how best to optimize them.

The ISOAcoustics are part of that experiment. They have tightened up the band pass bass considerably and allowed greater clarity and focus in the mids.
 
Mike said:
Sure. Not unlike the Avantgarde’s, I have spent countless hours experimenting with the MBL’s in terms of side wall placement, front wall placement, amplification, source, toe in positioning, cables, playing with the actual adjustments on the back of the speakers and most importantly, seating placement. I am trying to learn the uniqueness of the speakers and how best to optimize them.

The ISOAcoustics are part of that experiment. They have tightened up the band pass bass considerably and allowed greater clarity and focus in the mids.
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Thanks. So what's your take? Long wall or short wall placement? And how close to the walls?
 
Boogieman said:
Thanks. So what's your take? Long wall or short wall placement? And how close to the walls?
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Short wall. AT LEAST 31 inches from the middle of the speaker to the side wall. 40-42 inches is better,


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
And coming back to answer the original question, I respectfully disagree with those who recommend Magico M3 for rock music. Magico is outstanding at getting acoustic instruments recorded in real space to sound like acoustic instruments in real space. If that's not your musical diet, I would look elsewhere.

For rock, I would go with MBL, Avantgarde, or Vivid Giya Spirit. YMMV.
 
This is a fascinating post - thank you. I would love to hear from M3 owners on this.

Relatedly - I posted on a separate thread, but I noticed a huge difference when playing rock/grunge on my system depending on what the Class A bias was on my amp. In short, the lower the Class A bias (and the higher the Class A/B), the better rock/grunge music sounded. The inverse was true for all other genres. Interesting.
 
AJR said:
This is a fascinating post - thank you. I would love to hear from M3 owners on this.

Relatedly - I posted on a separate thread, but I noticed a huge difference when playing rock/grunge on my system depending on what the Class A bias was on my amp. In short, the lower the Class A bias (and the higher the Class A/B), the better rock/grunge music sounded. The inverse was true for all other genres. Interesting.
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I suspect you will get a different opinion from M3 owners about their performance on rock music. If you feel the need for additional bass, add the REL subwoofers like Cincy did.

Ken
 
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