My Thoughts on Axpona

BayStBroker said:
This was my first show so my bases for comparison are very limited. I spent a long time on both days in the ARC / SF room and I agree that nothing sounded better. The Reps stressed the very human presentation of the sound versus that of competitors. Down the hall, a pair of Aesthetix Atlas monoblocks were driving the Magico Q7, and something was off. It sounded bright and (by comparison) mechanical. I heard second-hand that they were working all night on Friday to improve the sound. (Meanwhile, in rm 550 the host had some big Octave tube amps driving a pair of M Series that sounded like heaven.) My best experience was at the tape event late on Friday night. Jeremy from MBL was playing his reel-to-reel mix tapes at high volume in low-lighting and it was bliss.
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We have agreement on the SF/ARC room. The Q7 with Atlas amps didn't gel for me either. The sum total of the sound didn't equal the cost of the system. Here is where we diverge though. You thought the M Pro"sounded like heaven" and many of us that heard them thought the room sounded bad. The sound was thin, thin, and then thin some more. Does that mean the M Pros are thin and they won't sound great carefully placed in someone's listening room with the right gear? I sure hope not and given Magico's reputation for building great speakers, I doubt it.
 
BayStBroker said:
Down the hall, a pair of Aesthetix Atlas monoblocks were driving the Magico Q7, and something was off. It sounded bright and (by comparison) mechanical. I heard second-hand that they were working all night on Friday to improve the sound. (Meanwhile, in rm 550 the host had some big Octave tube amps driving a pair of M Series that sounded like heaven.)
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Magico need warm, tube-like ss amps such as Vitus or big tube amps such as Absolare, VTL or CJ Art/Gat, otherwise they can sound unmusical. The Atlas mono's are quite good for the money, but should be matched with an Aesthetix Janus Signature of partial Eclipse for best synergy. Or if we're talking about tube hybrid amps, Tenor would spank them! :ko:.
 
Bodhi said:
Magico need warm, tube-like ss amps such as Vitus or big tube amps such as Absolare, VTL or CJ Art/Gat, otherwise they sound unmusical. The Atlas mono's are quite good for the money, but should be matched with an Aesthetix Janus Signature of partial Eclipse for best synergy. Vitus are playing in another league though. Or if we're talking about tube hybrid amps, Tenor would spank them! :ko:.
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Does anyone else find it sickly humorous that a $225k/pr speaker needs a specific type of amplifier to sound musical??
 
rbbert said:
Does anyone else find it sickly humorous that a $225k/pr speaker needs a specific type of amplifier to sound musical??
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I was thinking the same thing, but I will admit there is such a thing as speaker/amp mismatch, but we seem to be just making excuses for now. Let's just give it more time until we've had a chance to hear them in more venues. I've only ever heard two speakers over $200,000 worthy of their asking price: Raidho D5's and MBL 101 Xtremes.

IMHO I think the S7 is the Magico speaker to watch and it will sonically and financially have much broader appeal.


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rbbert said:
Does anyone else find it sickly humorous that a $225k/pr speaker needs a specific type of amplifier to sound musical??
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Really, I don't find it humorous-sickly or otherwise. Even cheap speakers need to be mated to an amplifier that is 'right' for them. Some speakers demand to be run by SS due to their inherent design characteristics while others shine with tubes and yet others will shine with either. The Atlas amps used with the Q7s are hybrid amps with a tube input and SS output stage. They have garnered good reviews. Are the Atlas amps to blame for the less than spectacular showing of the Q7 speakers? Why not look elsewhere in the system and the room?

As I have said before, it's nothing short of miraculous that anyone can set up a system in a hotel room and get great sound. Most of the best rooms that I have heard over the last few years at shows have been in rooms that were much larger than the typical hotel room. The Magico Q7 room was a large room and so was the ARC/SF room. The ARC people pulled off a miracle and created a system that played music beautifully and showed what this crazy hobby is all about. The Magico Q7 room as well as the Magico M Pro room were busts by comparison (with the Q7 room being better sounding than the M Pro room).
 
I am curious if the views on the Magico M came from vinyl, the Vivaldi stack, or both? I felt the vinyl (Goldfinger or Optical) was significantly better than the digital. It seemed something was just not right in the Vivaldi chain. To me the difference was striking. On the other hand I found the Q7's hard to listen to regardless of source including the hundred billion dollar ClearAudio Statement TT that comes stock with the Goldfinger and can also shake a Martini.
 
mep said:
Really, I don't find it humorous-sickly or otherwise. Even cheap speakers need to be mated to an amplifier that is 'right' for them. Some speakers demand to be run by SS due to their inherent design characteristics while others shine with tubes and yet others will shine with either. The Atlas amps used with the Q7s are hybrid amps with a tube input and SS output stage. They have garnered good reviews. Are the Atlas amps to blame for the less than spectacular showing of the Q7 speakers? Why not look elsewhere in the system and the room?

As I have said before, it's nothing short of miraculous that anyone can set up a system in a hotel room and get great sound. Most of the best rooms that I have heard over the last few years at shows have been in rooms that were much larger than the typical hotel room. The Magico Q7 room was a large room and so was the ARC/SF room. The ARC people pulled off a miracle and created a system that played music beautifully and showed what this crazy hobby is all about. The Magico Q7 room as well as the Magico M Pro room were busts by comparison (with the Q7 room being better sounding than the M Pro room).
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After the completion of a phenomenal classical piece the ARC/SF room simultaneously erupted in applause. You don't see that everyday. Pretty cool.
 
FlexibleAudio said:
After the completion of a phenomenal classical piece the ARC/SF room simultaneously erupted in applause. You don't see that everyday. Pretty cool.
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The Lilium combines the soul of the old Sonus Faber, gorgeous modern, slim look, with some fabulous new technology, bass adjustability and precision sound. The GS150 added texture and tonality. It was, as I said on day one, the best room so far and in the end, the best room period.


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Mike said:
I was thinking the same thing, but I will admit there is such a thing as speaker/amp mismatch, but we seem to be just making excuses for now. Let's just give it more time until we've had a chance to hear them in more venues. I've only ever heard two speakers over $200,000 worthy of their asking price: Raidho D5's and MBL 101 Xtremes.

IMHO I think the S7 is the Magico speaker to watch and it will sonically and financially have much broader appeal.


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Then you need to hear these to make it three! Yummy.

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FlexibleAudio said:
I am curious if the views on the Magico M came from vinyl, the Vivaldi stack, or both? I felt the vinyl (Goldfinger or Optical) was significantly better than the digital. It seemed something was just not right in the Vivaldi chain. To me the difference was striking. On the other hand I found the Q7's hard to listen to regardless of source including the hundred billion dollar ClearAudio Statement TT that comes stock with the Goldfinger and can also shake a Martini.
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Paul-I heard it with both cartridges. Something is wrong with their Goldfinger. Either the cartridge isn't setup correctly or it's damaged. The optical cartridge sounded better than the Goldfinger, but it didn't sound really good. However, ARC was using the same optical cartridge to stunning effect in their room. The bottom line is that the M Pro room was a bust for me regardless of the reason(s) why.
 
Mike said:
I have heard those. Meh. Not my cup of tea.


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Not likely. They were just released and only very few exist (Anattas). They are ramping up for production now.
Unless you really get around more than we think. LoL

I liked them better than the Apologues.
 
wisnon said:
Not likely. They were just released and only very few exist (Anattas). They are ramping up for production now.
Unless you really get around more than we think. LoL

I liked them better than the Apologues.
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I heard something like those at Bob's.


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FlexibleAudio said:
After the completion of a phenomenal classical piece the ARC/SF room simultaneously erupted in applause. You don't see that everyday. Pretty cool.
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That's what I'm talking about! That's the kind of feelings/emotion the ARC/SF room engendered in lots of people who heard the room. I know it took me to a whole other level of sound quality.
The fact that they pulled this off under show conditions was simply stunning. I know that Myles said Axpona left him with the feeling there was nothing he heard that made him want to take something home and review it. I would pack up the entire ARC/SF room and take it home with me if I could.
 
Mike said:
The Lilium combines the soul of the old Sonus Faber, gorgeous modern, slim look, with some fabulous new technology, bass adjustability and precision sound. The GS150 added texture and tonality. It was, as I said on day one, the best room so far and in the end, the best room period.


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Amen brother! This room was damn near breathtaking it was so good. And it was equally good playing digital and vinyl.
 
Mike said:
I heard something like those at Bob's.


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Probably the Logos 1 and 2.

These Anattas have similar sound signature to the ProLogos and are active/wireless with the Alize 7 Dac built in too. Thus the Mimesis is a digital preamp that "feeds" it wirelessly.
If you ever get a chance to hear these, do so. The most impressive demo I have ever hear with Goldmund gear. Full Leoonardo/Proteus DRC implementation.
 
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