Thank you to everyone who attended the first Ultimate Magico Experience. A great group of Audioshark members and Suncoast Audio clients. Like Magico, the entire experience was first class all the way.
We started out with a nice meet and greet and beverages in the main entry of Magico's new facility. Alon, David and Peter were gracious welcoming hosts.
Just walking in and seeing the history room with many of the Magico speakers produced since 1994 and their wall of awards and accolades and magazine reviews was very impressive.
Dave Shackleton of Magico guided the tour with Alon providing intricate technical details regarding dozens of topics and questions along the way.
Following through the R&D and manufacturing processes was an amazing experience and one that leaves you saying "Magico is no 'two guys in a garage'." This is a real company, with real SOTA R&D and almost 40 employees engaged in many facets of the organization from R&D to manufacturing, design, production, shipping, marketing/photography and sales and customer support.
In the world of hi end audio, I cannot imagine a more sophisticated, bigger in scale organization. I have toured a few and none come close to the scale, R&D and overall corporate presence of Magico.
You get a sense for the size of Magico as you walk through the various stages of production and see the various C&C machines and examine the complexity and build quality of their many loudspeakers throughout various stages of production. One look inside the new M3, with its two crossovers, intricate internal structures and you appreciate the R&D and excellence in product parts that goes into every Magico Loudspeaker.
After the tour, we took a break and then proceeded into the listening room....and that's when the fun really begins!
The system was composed of the new Magico M3's, Soulution 701 Monoblocks, Soulution 755 phono and 725 preamp. In this configuration, Alon told me we were only using the Soulution 755 as the preamp/phono combo. The Soulution 755 is an amazing phonostage which also has a few analog inputs for other sources like a DAC. It also has volume control. Definitely unique for a phonostage.
The DAC was the new Berkeley Ref 2 and analog was Kronos Pro.
The first track was redbook and was incredibly impressive showing off the delicacy and air in upper frequency detail of the new M3. It really showed off the impressive new tweeter.
As we moved through various tracks, I kept noticing absolutely perfect, seamless driver integration, completely in sync in terms of time and phase. The M3 and pro before it, represent a new stage, a new level in dynamic loudspeaker design not heard from any other manufacturer. The new M3 I am certain, will break new ground for measurable performance for a loudspeaker.
The M3's produced incredible bass, smooth, yet detailed upper frequency and palatable vocals. I joked with Alon in the car afterward and said the M3's gave male vocals some real balls.
As we moved to Vinyl on the Kronos Pro, the speakers responded in spades being fed from such a world class source. When Alon played 'A Case of You' from Diana Krall's Live in Paris, a song I've heard hundreds of times in many systems, I have NEVER heard it sound this good. From the closely mic'd note in the beginning sailing through with smoothness and flying colors and not the normal bite and ring you heard with almost every other loudspeaker, to the weightiness of the lower piano notes, to the fabulous female vocal, it was the most impressive I have ever heard this song.
Like the M Pro before it, the Magico M3 represents a new mile stone in Loudspeaker design. It's the right size for almost any room, big or small, with "best" in world class loudspeaker performance regardless of price.
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