Magico S3 mk2 vs Dynaudio Contour 60

AJR said:
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts! Hope you have as much fun testing as I did.

A word to the wise: I tested the C60s and S3 mk2s numerous times and in that order (and on separate dealer’s systems, which is not ideal of course hence the importance of testing at home with your amp, other gear and room acoustics). After listening to the C60s first then shortly after the Magicos, my first reaction was always ‘where is the visceral bass feeling’ with the Magicos (I am a bass-head so bass is always what jumps out at me first). The Magicos would go deeper and were more precise but I wouldn’t ‘feel’ it like I did with the C60s. I then reversed testing order, would love the bass in the Magicos, and then when I listened to the C60s my immediate reaction was that the bass was a bit ‘flabby’ and too dominant. Once I got over that hump, I then realised that the Magicos had more detail in the mid and high ranges and generally produced a more unified, coherent soundscape. And with ‘better’ bass. So a full 180.

Having listened to them for many hundreds of hours now, particularly now paired with the Diablo, I can say that the bass produced by the S3 mk2s is awesome. Deep, rich, precise and also (when cranked up) visceral.

I have also been toying with the idea of an S-Sub. Not because I feel the S3s lack bass, but to see what the overall sonic improvements will be. That is a project for later this year...
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Great post AJR. The C60’s do great bass, and probably more of it, but what I also like about the S3 mk2 is that bass is just as detailed as mids and highs.

I am using a REL 5 SHO with mine, and the bass kicks me in the guts when I crank it up even a little.

Of course, for good bass you do need a great amp [emoji3].


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GSOphile said:
Although I listen mostly to large scale classical and jazz, I came to a similar conclusion regarding the Magico bass after listening at length to Aerial 7Ts, Wilson Sophia 3s, and B&W 802-D3s. If you're not familiar with the Magico bass, IMO it's something of an acquired taste, as AJR describes. Once you've got it, hard to go back.
IMO another advantage of Magico's sealed-box design is that they are less sensitive to room/placement issues to get good results.
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Can only second here, I think it is an acquired taste and you like it or you do not.

But when you get the hang of it for the bass being as precise as the other frequencies, you might start to enjoy it. A lot.

That said, while I am a Magico-head on my third pair by now, I think there are great speakers from other manufacturers as well. Heard recently Sonus Fabers with ARC, or years back WA Sophia 3 with Dartzeel and both were great.


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Agree on other brands. I've owned Aerials and have admired Wilsons for years. Hearing Rockports, Vivids, and others would no doubt be interesting, but not many high end dealers nearby. Probably need to attend RMAF to broaden my horizons, although I must say, I tend to buy long term.
 
GSOphile said:
Agree on other brands. I've owned Aerials and have admired Wilsons for years. Hearing Rockports, Vivids, and others would no doubt be interesting, but not many high end dealers nearby. Probably need to attend RMAF to broaden my horizons, although I must say, I tend to buy long term.
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There’s an easier solution IMHO, just go visit Mike.

I think the line-up is the best I am aware of world-wide (been living on four continents), and you can listen in a controlled, acoustized environment with a selection of high class electronics for different tastes. I think the carries e.g. Vivid you mentioned.

The challenge with shows is that the acoustics ever gets mediocre at its best. Hotel rooms/ show floors have not been designed for an audiophile sound experience.

If I would live in the US, I would be there every other weekend.


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I got to listen to a couple tunes through the contour 60's, unfortunately no piano, lost cause by Beck and a duet from 'the xx' and I have them on my short list. Having your cake and eating it too, I totally get it, not giving up the visceral feel of music for the details, spatial ques, etc. VA The music deserves an audition, I have the C60 on my list and am currently in home demoing the salon2's! Very time consuming when one has to purchase each pair to get them home and then resell to move on to the next on the list, but fun? Oh Yeah.
 
Keep us posted. Love the studio2/salon2 speakers and I’m sure the Dynaudio are great too. Good luck.
 
not to derail the thread but I am going through a similar possible system change. for some reason, i keep having this thought that a contour 60 driven by a soulution stack or even soulution integrated could be an awesome set up. the neutrality, grip, and gentle bloom of the soulution coupled with the laid back, full sounding, forgiving nature of the contours...hmmm. i don't know but it's possible the soulutions could help the dyns coax out some more detail.

anybody have experience with this set up? would love to hear some thoughts. if not...i might just have to try it for myself and report back
 
I ended up going for the Magico S3 mk2s over the Dynaudio C60s. The right decision I think.

But I do like Dynaudio. I am probably going to buy the Dynaudio Contour 20s for my holiday home. I think they are extraordinarily good value for money. And a very different sound to my Magicos. Happy to consider other suggestions.
 
Kuoppis said:
There’s an easier solution IMHO, just go visit Mike...
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We don't have that luxury in Australia, certainly not within 2000 miles of where I live. I have never auditioned anything I have bought. Coincident Pure Reference Extreme, Wilson Audio Sophia v3, Magico S3, Magico Q3, Magico M3. All bought sight unseen and unheard. Together with everything else. Easily in excess of $300K spent on unheard gear, speakers, electronics, whatever. I even bought my last two new cars without taking either for a test drive first. Not because I didn't want to: simply because it wasn't possible to do.
 
brodricj said:
We don't have that luxury in Australia, certainly not within 2000 miles of where I live. I have never auditioned anything I have bought. Coincident Pure Reference Extreme, Wilson Audio Sophia v3, Magico S3, Magico Q3, Magico M3. All bought sight unseen and unheard. Together with everything else. Easily in excess of $300K spent on unheard gear, speakers, electronics, whatever. I even bought my last two new cars without taking either for a test drive first. Not because I didn't want to: simply because it wasn't possible to do.
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That should make the Sharks forum a valuable source of input I guess.

Bold moves, but agree - being w/o the gear would not be a compelling option or traveling the cost of the gear to hear them first might not make too much sense either.


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brodricj said:
We don't have that luxury in Australia, certainly not within 2000 miles of where I live. I have never auditioned anything I have bought. Coincident Pure Reference Extreme, Wilson Audio Sophia v3, Magico S3, Magico Q3, Magico M3. All bought sight unseen and unheard. Together with everything else. Easily in excess of $300K spent on unheard gear, speakers, electronics, whatever. I even bought my last two new cars without taking either for a test drive first. Not because I didn't want to: simply because it wasn't possible to do.
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Rubbish! If you are talking about second hand, the answer remains the same too. Do you live in a remote area without power, roads or internet/phone?? seriously???
 
sharkmouth said:
...seriously???
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I live in the Capital city of a state more than 6 times larger than CA. And I'm talking new. When I bought my Kia 2016 New Sorento Platinum there was not a single one available at any dealership to test drive. True. Same applies for hi-end HiFi, but even worse. I couldn't even demo a Shunyata clock cable here, the nearest cable was 2000 miles away and I had to buy it if I wanted to try it.
 
brodricj said:
I live in the Capital city of a state more than 6 times larger than CA. And I'm talking new. When I bought my Kia 2016 New Sorento Platinum there was not a single one available at any dealership to test drive. True. Same applies for hi-end HiFi, but even worse. I couldn't even demo a Shunyata clock cable here, the nearest cable was 2000 miles away and I had to buy it if I wanted to try it.
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Fair enough, so what you are saying this qualifies when there aren't any in the country & you also refuse to fly somewhere for AUD$300 to hear a speaker well north of $50k that are actually in Australia for demo at times. Most dealers will refund your money within a time frame if you return the goods in the same condition minus freight scuff on the outside packaging.
 
sharkmouth said:
Fair enough, so what you are saying this qualifies when there aren't any in the country & you also refuse to fly somewhere for AUD$300 to hear a speaker well north of $50k that are actually in Australia for demo at times...
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There aren't any M3 for demo in the whole country. And you can't fly anywhere for $300 here.

And like I said before, I couldn't even take the KIA I wanted to buy for a test drive before I ordered one. If you want one you need to order and wait. And the car before that I owned was a Holden Sportwagon, and they are made in Australia! The dealer didn't have any of those to take for a test drive either. The first time I drove one is when I took delivery of mine and drove it out of the dealership. I would have been able to take a LandRover Discovery for a test drive, but when I went to do that the dealer took one look at me, turned their back, and basically said "we don't want your business". I guess, because I looked like a Holden driver. That's the way it is for a lot of things when you live in the most isolated Capital city in the world.
 
Only your own two ears can tell you which speaker to purchase. Don't be swayed by anyone on this website or thread. Your ears will not betray or mislead you. Take plenty of time listening to them.
 
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