New Magico speakers arriving 04/2015!

[Elberoth]

Edgar Villchur is the man who invented sealed speaker enclosures using the acoustic suspension method. AR brought their first sealed speaker to market in 1956 so this is a very old technology. The ironic thing is the acoustic suspension speaker was designed as a way to get deeper bass from a smaller enclosure compared to ported speakers. Now we have giant sealed enclosures.

But sill much smaller than in the 50s, when the acoustic suspension was developed. But first and foremost, suspension provided an elegant solution to the age-old problem of bass distortion in loudspeakers caused by non-linear, mechanical suspensions in conventional loudspeakers.

Acoustic Research - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[bthomas9]

Is there a thread for us grammatically incorrect, technically incompetent , "regular consumers" to educate themselves about the new s7 speakers somewhere??

And don't say over on AA


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[rbbert]

Is there a thread for us grammatically incorrect, technically incompetent , "regular consumers" to educate themselves about the new s7 speakers somewhere??

And don't say over on AA


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JMO, but doesn't it make more sense to wait until the S7 is available and you can hear how it sounds?? Who buys a speaker based on reading about how it is built?

BTW, I suspect YG and Rockport (at least) might challenge the claim made about Magico's engineering prowess...

 

[MDP]

JMO, but doesn't it make more sense to wait until the S7 is available and you can hear how it sounds?? Who buys a speaker based on reading about how it is built?

BTW, I suspect YG and Rockport (at least) might challenge the claim made about Magico's engineering prowess...

I couldn't agree more. Even if they were at the leading edge of all things from a technology standpoint, who cares ???

I don't give a rats ass about anything but the musical presentation and sound quality. It may be a technological marvel, but if it doesn't make my toe tap, it's not a great speaker.

 

[Ritmo]

+1 ^

 

[BlueFox]

JMO, but doesn't it make more sense to wait until the S7 is available and you can hear how it sounds?? Who buys a speaker based on reading about how it is built?

On the other hand, Magico didn't have any problem selling 50 pairs of the M project, at twice the price of the S7s. However, since there should be no upper limit on how many S7s will be built there really isn't any rush to buy one.

 

[bthomas9]

I couldn't agree more. Even if they were at the leading edge of all things from a technology standpoint, who cares ???

I don't give a rats ass about anything but the musical presentation and sound quality. It may be a technological marvel, but if it doesn't make my toe tap, it's not a great speaker.

That's kinda what I meant...this thread was full of hypotheticals, speaker design, and argumentative comments. It made me go to my basement, spin up some Zeppelin, and go to audio nirvana-land. Ps, if I'm going to spend that much money on speakers, my first stop will be the Lilium's that sounded amazing this weekend


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[Elberoth]

BTW, I suspect YG and Rockport (at least) might challenge the claim made about Magico's engineering prowess...

We could argue about YG (although I personally disagree on that) but ... Rockport ?

What is especially innovative or hi tech about Rockport ? Don't get me wrong - those are wonderful sounding speakers, I have heard both Atria and Avior and liked them a lot - but there is nothing really extraordinary in them in terms of technology.

Wilson has been using phenolic resin enclosures for years (and those are only used on the two most expensive Rockport models - cheaper ones are made of MDF), the tweeter is a standard Scan Speak model and even mid / woofers with diaphrams made of carbon fibre are nothing really special today.

 

[MDP]

I'll go one step further. It's funny that all the great sounding speakers that I enjoy, all have wood cabinets. Now I understand that this is only my opinion, and I'm not saying that speakers that have cabinets built from something else can't sound good. I'm just saying that that's "my" personal preference.

 

[Elberoth]

I'll go one step further. It's funny that all the great sounding speakers that I enjoy, all have wood cabinets. Now I understand that this is only my opinion, and I'm not saying that speakers that have cabinets built from something else can't sound good. I'm just saying that that's "my" personal preference.

Since there are literally 1000s of speakers with MDF cabinets, and only a handful with aluminium / phenolic resin / CF ones, you certainly have a greater chance to find your favourite one in the MDF camp.

Afterall, aluminium speakers do not sound the same (you got Goldmund, Magico, Stenheim, YG, Krell), phenolic resin speakers can sound vastly different (Wilson vs Rockport).

Add to that individual tastes + limited experience most people have (often limited to show conditions; for what it is worth - I have never heard a Magico demo in show conditions I would like) and the outcome entirely possible.

 

[mep]

The first speaker company to my knowledge that brought aluminum enclosures to market was Celestion with their SL600 speaker made from honeycomb aluminum and that was in 1983.

 

[MDP]

I agree with you Adam. I'm just saying it's what I prefer. I've listened to a lot of the speakers you mentioned. My personal preference is a wood cabinet, it just sounds right to me.

My point is that just because a speaker manufacturer uses materials that are high tech, doesn't mean it will sound good.

 

[KeithR]

Krell had aluminum speakers 15 years ago. Piega has long used these enclosures as well.

Its more about implementation these days.

 

[mep]

Krell had aluminum speakers 15 years ago. Piega has long used these enclosures as well.

Its more about implementation these days.

My points were that sealed enclosures have been around since 1956 and aluminum enclosures have been around since 1983. Neither are new revolutionary ways of designing and building speakers. What Edgar Villchur did in the 1950s was new and revolutionary and it spawned entire new companies to build high power amps and certainly influenced the "east coast" sound for many years. Henry Kloss cut his teeth with Edgar Villchur and Henry went on to found KLH and Advent.

As for carbon fiber speakers, I do think that Wilson Benesch was the first manufacturer to introduce carbon fiber speaker enclosures. I had a pair in my room for months while I was waiting for my Nola KOs to arrive and they are damn good speakers.

 

[Alpinist]

When I think of speakers that are using cutting edge technology, Raidho, Magico and Vandersteen immediately come to mind for me. Of course this is by NO means an all-inclusive list. There are numerous companies implementing speaker advancements right now. Of course, all the advanced technology in the world doesn't matter if the speakers don't sound terrific. Advanced components are only part of the battle, the rest is in the design and execution of that design. I really feel we are in the golden age of speaker design. So many great ones out there. Just make your pick and sit back and enjoy the music!

Ken

 

[MDP]

When I think of speakers that are using cutting edge technology, Raidho, Magico and Vandersteen immediately come to mind for me. Of course this is by NO means an all-inclusive list. There are numerous companies implementing speaker advancements right now. Of course, all the advanced technology in the world doesn't matter if the speakers don't sound terrific. Advanced components are only part of the battle, the rest is in the design and execution of that design. I really feel we are in the golden age of speaker design. So many great ones out there. Just make your pick and sit back and enjoy the music!

Ken

Again Ken, I couldn't agree more. I think todays speakers are truly amazing. I also agree that implementation of whatever technology you choose is key.

 

[Mike]

I agree with you Adam. I'm just saying it's what I prefer. I've listened to a lot of the speakers you mentioned. My personal preference is a wood cabinet, it just sounds right to me.

My point is that just because a speaker manufacturer uses materials that are high tech, doesn't mean it will sound good.

When they start making violins, guitars, pianos, etc. out of aluminum and carbon fiber, you will have my attention with these new materials. It's the resonances which give the music it's richness and as I like to say, soul. It's like comparing an electric keyboard to a Steinway. Some prefer the electric keyboard because it can do more and make different sounds. Others prefer the Steinway because of its natural sound and beauty.


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[Paul]

When they start making violins, guitars, pianos, etc. out of aluminum and carbon fiber, you will have my attention with these new materials. It's the resonances which give the music it's richness and as I like to say, soul. It's like comparing an electric keyboard to a Steinway. Some prefer the electric keyboard because it can do more and make different sounds. Others prefer the Steinway because of its natural sound and beauty.


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Amen !

 

[MDP]

Good post! A lot of the newer speakers sound "technically perfect", but they lack soul and that "toe tapping" sound that I love.

Again people , this is just a generalization on my part, not an absolute.

 

[asiufy]

When they start making violins, guitars, pianos, etc. out of aluminum and carbon fiber, you will have my attention with these new materials. It's the resonances which give the music it's richness and as I like to say, soul. It's like comparing an electric keyboard to a Steinway. Some prefer the electric keyboard because it can do more and make different sounds. Others prefer the Steinway because of its natural sound and beauty.

I used to think exactly like that!
But a violin is designed to RESONATE. It's SUPPOSED to. So it needs the material it's made of to cooperate, and resonate accordingly. Same for guitar, pianos, etc.
A speaker, OTOH, it's supposed to be neutral, and avoid distorting the signal, as much as possible. So, NOT RESONATE. Or at least that's the way I see them
I completely understand people (like MDP) that prefer the sound of wooden speakers. I also understand it's possible to get distortion on such a speaker down to very low levels.
I just think that a neutral speaker transmits more of the music (TO ME!), and allows downstream components to impose their sound, if necessary. Now, if the speaker itself is coloured, what hope do you have to judge components?


alexandre