From all that i've seen and read, including my friend's semi-technical review of the S5 Mk2 & Mike's listening notes from several listening sessions at Axpona, what comes through for me is how acomplished and mature these speakers are. They are very well sorted loudspeakers built to Porsche standards & seem to be designed not to sugar coat the music, or wow you initially with a hot top end or prominent midrange hump, but to simply present the music naturally, and without dynamic limitations or listener fatigue to enable long-term listener satisfaction. It seems Magico have epitomised the thing my friend loved about the S5's - "they are great allrounders". That sums them up very well.
Magico S5 mk2
- Thread starter vagabundo
- Start date
Ken, congratulations on your new Vandersteen 7 Mk2's! They are certainly great speakers, no doubt. You're right, the equivalent speaker for comparison in the Magico line is the S7. Different horses for different courses; there will be those that prefer the S7, and those that prefer the Vandy 7 Mk2. I'm sure the Vandys are better than the S5 Mk2, though they also cost $24k more. For the money, the S5 Mk2 represents amazing high end value imho :thumbsup:.I concur. In my audition of the Magico S7, I found it to be the second most linear and transparent speaker I ever heard. The first will be arriving at my house in a couple weeks.
Best,
Ken
Thanks Tom! I'm pretty excited. At their price point, the S5 MkII would be hard if not impossible to beat. Please don't take my comment on the S7 as anything but a positive. The S7 are absolutely wonderful speakers and I was impressed as heck with their sound. Driven with the right gear, their sound is world class.
Best,
Ken
You should pinch yourself and tell yourself how lucky you are Ken, as that is dream gear for sure :disbelief:. Yes the S5 Mk2 seems to be playing in a league of its own at its pricepoint. I think they would also give the old Vandy 7's a big run for their money. No prollies with your generous view of the S7. When you get up to that level, audiophiles are spoilt for choice. The trick is finding what puts a smile on your face. I just wish you had a chance to hear the S5 Mk2's with Vitus Signature series gear. I still can't get the sound of my friend's system the first time I heard his S5 Mk1's out of my head. Playing XRCD24's & DXD discs, the sound was haunting:cryforjoy:.
FlexibleAudio
Member
Hi Paul,
I concur. In my audition of the Magico S7, I found it to be the second most linear and transparent speaker I ever heard. The first will be arriving at my house in a couple weeks.
Best,
Ken
Indeed Ken, indeed. The Baby Vandy's sounded great at Axpona!!
Just curious, why would you think that these are better then the S5 (even the Mk1), they sure don't look like it from their measurements
(http://www.stereophile.com/content/vandersteen-model-seven-loudspeaker-measurements).
FlexibleAudio
Member
I am not following the logic here. According to the respective web sites the Vandy's are pretty equal in height and measure 20 inches deep and the S5's are only 15 inches deep. Furthermore the Vandy's have 12 inch drivers and the S5's only have 10 inch drivers. Those measurements plus the fact that they costs more are scientific proof the Vandy's are better. I think the discussion is closed again. What am I missing?
FlexibleAudio
Member
Said too much already, sorry...
Dr Tone
Banned
Ahh the silly games!
LVB takes heart in the frequency response measurements.
LVB takes heart in the frequency response measurements.
I was referring to the Vandersteen 7 Mk2 which is quite a bit better than the older version. Thought admittedly that is based on feedback from CES, forum comments & reviews, not an a-b comparison. Mind you, i'd expect the S5 Mk2 to have the measure of the older Model 7 which I am more familiar with. Anyway, that debate belongs in another thread
. Back to normal programming...I was referring to the Vandersteen 7 Mk2 which is quite a bit better than the older version. Thought admittedly that is based on feedback from CES, forum comments & reviews, not an a-b comparison. Mind you, i'd expect the S5 Mk2 to have the measure of the older Model 7 which I am more familiar with. Anyway, that debate belongs in another thread
+1.
When I spoke with Richard Vandersteen, he said the Vandersteen 7 MkII sounded substantially better than the Vandersteen 7, which is also a tremendously great sounding speaker when properly set up. Improved imaging and more defined bass with the redesigned subwoofer. I would guess they measure the same.
I believe Alon Wolfe stated the Q7 MkII measured the same as the Q7 but has significantly more ease in the midrange and treble due to the new graphene/carbon nanotube midrange and the diamond-coated beryllium tweeter.
Ken
FlexibleAudio
Member
LVB,
I am serious about my question regarding your logic. I am very familiar with the S5's sound and its measurements. When I look at the the metrics of both speakers I see two exceptionally well designed transducers both of which measure exceptionally. Both sets of measurements are well beyond the threshold necessary to achieve an exceptionally fulfilling acoustical experience on a deeply emotional level. The fact that the S5 has taken FR and other measurements to a level beyond this threshold IMO does not correlate to the depth of this emotional experience for many listeners. I do not understand the logic you employ in concluding that it does. Can you please enlighten me with your reasoning?
I am not sure how you could conclude that the Vandersteen measures exceptionally, far from it (please don't repeat JA finding, he will bend it as he sees fit). Please compare with the S5 measurements here: http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/in...&catid=77:loudspeaker-measurements&Itemid=153
In terms of empirical performance the S5 trumps the Venderstten in all departments (Of course the V7 with its power subs will go lower if you boost it, but at what cost - time delay, look at the breakups smack in the middle of the midrange only 10 db down in output, sub optimized transition to the mids, look at the suck-out between 100Hz to 500Hz, etc). You can still say that you do not “hear” it like that, and that is just fine, however, like I said before, it has been proven that in blind testing people preferences tend to correlate to good engineered loudspeakers, i.e. those who measures well.
Kuoppis
New member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2015
- Messages
- 5,203
LVB, why do you always suggest to move on when asked to elaborate on questions you have put up yourself?
If you make statements you can't offer any substance to solidify, maybe it would be wiser not to make such statements.
There are quite a few sharks around here who have been around the block a couple of times. Rest assured, no-one makes an investment of 50K into a product like the Vandy 7 mkII, who does not have the experience to justify it.
KeithR
Active member
JA did the measurements on the 7s with the filter at the wrong setting - which screwed up the lower midrange that LVB is referring to. will be great to see the mk2s reviewed soon.
Vandy and Magico couldn't be more differently designed speakers. one is all about first order xovers with time/phase coherancy - other is high order xovers with super flat frequency response. there isn't a "right" answer as they are somewhat different objectives. Perhaps Ryan can comment a bit on this topic of xover design and the choices he has to take.
Vandy and Magico couldn't be more differently designed speakers. one is all about first order xovers with time/phase coherancy - other is high order xovers with super flat frequency response. there isn't a "right" answer as they are somewhat different objectives. Perhaps Ryan can comment a bit on this topic of xover design and the choices he has to take.