Magico M5 Loudspeakers
For Magico lovers and the just plain curious, here's a little photo journal covering the delivery of the fabulous Magico M5 loudspeakers.
1) Here they are in their cartons on the delivery truck--about five hundred pounds in their crates ( the structure of the shipping crates has not been finalized yet, so this may not be precisely the same shipping crate in which the M5s will come to you when Magico starts shipping to customers):
2) The truck driver uses a lift gate to gets them down to the street:
3) The mighty Elam brothers arrive to uncrate the speakers, get them in the house, and carry these 360-pound monsters up four double flights of stairs to my third floor listening room:
4) The shipping carton disassebles easily and the top and side parts of the crate slide away, leaving the speaker sitting on a cushioned base piece.
5) The speakers come with (locked) casters attached to their aircraft-grade aluminum base plates. A small ramp (supplied) allows you to wheel the speaker off the crate's base (once the casters are unlocked) and onto your listening room floor (or, in this case, onto the pavement outside my house).
6) Here is the speaker, wrapped in plastic, fully removed from the crate and sitting on its casters on the sidewalk outside my house. Shaun Elam gives a thumbs up--so far so good.
7) The Elam Brothers are professional piano movers and incredibly skilled at safely moving large extremely heavy objects. After carefully dressing lifting straps beneath the speaker's bass plate, James Elam gives the thumbs up as the boys prepare to carry the M5 into my house and up to my listening room.
8) The boys make it to the first-floor stairwell and get ready for the long climb up.
9) They begin. You'll note that James tore holes in the wrapping around the speakers so that he could grasp the M5's enclosure by its sides. Under no circumstances should you move these speakers by grasping their front panels (where the drivers are located) or lift it by its aircraft-aluminum base plate.
10) The first landing.
11) On the way to the third floor:
12) The Magico M5 in my third floor listening room, still on its casters. I'll cover removing the casters, situating the speakers, and hooking them up in a subsequent post.
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Comments
Wow , that looks great , as a V3 owner i am very interested to see how great these sound. I cant wait for your review JV
Chris
If you had to move the speakers yourself, would you of considered them? I use to be a professional mover for years and can tell you what they did was no small task. I move ALL my gear and believe me, a 100lb amp is NO small thing to move with any care. Why your sound room is on the third floor.... you must have a thing against movers.
Speakers are gorgeous though, are the loners or your own? If my finances ever permitted these would be on the list...
Blackfly,
The Elam Bros. are the most professional "moving men" I've ever dealt with (and over the years I've dealt with a few, God knows). It is kind of amazing to watch them work: They are very very careful not just about securing the object they are moving and not damaging it or anything in the house around it but also about not damaging their own bodies. They talk to each other constantly as they work, telling each other where they will be stepping or how to negotiate this or that stair or turn. They are, of course, body builders--so they are incredibly strong human beings as well as incredibly experienced moving men. And they are used to moving pianos--which are enormous, very expensive objects. If you spent any part of your working life as a moving man, then my hat is definitely off to you--it is anything but an easy job and the risks are staggering.
The speakers are, of course, loaners. At $90k, there is no way I can or ever could afford a pair of M5s (alas). But if you can afford them...buddy, I can already tell you that this is one of the world's greatest loudspeaker systems and a must-audition for anyone who loves music and who has the kind of money that it takes to buy them (and to buy the ancillary equipment that they deserve to be driven with).
Jon
Jon,
Do you still have the MBL Extremes for a live comparison ?
Do you have a "preconceived expectation" of a speaker prior to a review based on the speaker"s size, components, technology, design, etc. And I don't mean in a negative way. Because at this price level, it should sound state of the art. But in a "familial sound" sort of way, e.g. Bob-? called the new Vandersteen 7's the Audio Research of loudspeakers. And to most of we audiophiles that did convey a "certain image" of what one would hear from this speaker.
Redell,
No, I don't have the MBL X-Tremes around for comparison. It would've been impossible to fit two large speakers (particularly speakers as large and complex and impossible to move around as the X-Tremes) in my listening room. So...the MBLs departed, although after almost a year of listening to them I have a very clear idea of how they sound, and, as you will see when I begin to report on the M5s, the Magicos seem to do something that I thought that the MBLs alone were capable of doing. Even on first listen, this took me by surprise.We will see if further listening bears this observation out.
To be perfectly frank, yes, I do have "expectations" about different technology loudspeakers (and electronics). After all of these years of listening, it would be impossible not to bring certain preconceptions to the table.Coming to the M5s directly from the CLX electrostats and the MBL 101 X-Tremes Radialstrahlers--two of the very best loudspeakers I've ever heard and two radically different technologies--I expected the M5s to sound like, well, cones in a box. Very, very, very good cones in a standard-settingly good box, but cones in a box, nonetheless. But what surprised me at CES (and already on brief listening in my home) was how close the M5s came to the nonpareil neutrality, clarity, and transparency to sources of the CLXes (which I still do have in my second floor listening room), while adding the weight, three-dimensional imaging, bass, density of tone color, dynamic range and impact (on the f-to-ffff side), and soundstaging width and depth of dynamic speakers. I have now discovered (as I've hinted above) that the M5s seem to have something very very good (and very very lifelike) in common with the MBL Radialstrahlers, as well as something very very good (and very very lifelike) in common with the best horn speakers, although it is way to early to be certain that these qualities are repeatable on all sources or anomalies of specific reocrdings that the M5s seem to like.
I don't want to spill these beans too soon or too rashly. I mean I've only had the speakers for a day and a night and a morning and an afternoon, and they (and the electronics driving them and the cabling hooking them together) are far from being broken in. I think this much is safe to print: Calling the M5s "promising" would be an understatement and saying that they seem to exceed conventional "expectations" and "preconceptions" about cone speakers in a box would also be an understatement.
BTW, I think it was I who called the Vandersteen Model 7s the "Audio Research of loudspeakers."
Jon
Here's a photo of the whole system (final placement has not yet been determined).
And here is a photo of the back of the M5. Note that there are two sets of binding posts in the aluminum base plate: Ideally, the M5 should be bi-amped or bi-wired, although Magico does supply jumper cables for a single-wire setup.
Jon,
Thank you for your thought filled response on the M5's. I think that Magico is a very innovative company that is challenging the status quo and striving for the state of the art.
I wasn't sure who made the comment about the new Vandersteens, hence the ? mark. Are there any plans to review the Model 7? Another reviewer described Vandersteen's as "comfort food". I do agree. I've been a proponent of Vandersteens since the 80"s when Walter Leaderman in Atlanta turned me on to the brand. I have Model 2CE Signatures in my bedroom system. Great sound, Great Value.
regards,
Redell
Redell,
I'm sure that TAS will review the Vandersteen Model 7, although I don't know if I will be the reviewer.
Jon
Hi Jon, Seen your posts and like them (your openness, frankness and individualness) - am looking at the Magico Mini 2 as a speaker option. Looking between a cross between Quad 63 and Sonus Faber (I have had the Mementos in the past) musical ease but not the lightly dark coloration of the Sonus Faber. I have had the JM Labs Utopia Be but found them too detailed at the tweeter end. I have also had Wilson Sophias and am not a fan of Wilson bass (overwhelms the sound). I Have also had Analysis Omegas panels and found them a joy but missed the speed of an electrostatic. I finally have had the Finalsound ESLs which are very good. There is something about a drive unit that makes you feel present in the sound field that I like. I am using 500 watt solid state monos for amplification.Thanks for any thoughts.
I know some of you are eager for a first impressions listening report. Keeping in mind that it is very very early and that the speakers and electronics aren’t close to being fully broken in, I have a few initial observations.
First, about the M5's bass: It's just terrific. The M5's dual, nearly flat (as opposed to concave), 9" Nano-Tec woofers ("tension-coupled" to a convex baffle of 6061-T aircraft-grade aluminum—CNC-machined from a 200-pound slab of metal--and sealed in Magico's 17-ply Baltic birch cabinet) start and stop on a dime, go exceptionally deep, are extremely high in resolution, are gorgeously rich in tone color when notes are sustained (the harmonics of pedaled bottom-octave piano seem to rise and hang almost visibly in the air like steam above a pot of boiling broth), are sensationally quick and powerful on staccato notes, and perhaps most impressively are so flat in frequency response vis-à-vis the midrange and treble octaves, so much audibly lower in the usual harmonic and Doppler-like distortions, and so well integrated with Magico's own midrange and treble drivers that they never stand out the way woofers always seem to do when you turn up the juice (or turn it down). Frankly, it took listening to the M5s to teach me why I generally prefer two-way cone loudspeakers (like the Magico Mini and Mini II) or bass-shy planar loudspeakers like the MartinLogan CLX to cone multiways. It is not because I don't like bass instruments; it's because I don't like dynamic loudspeaker bass (and the room/setup problems that inevitably accompany it). I think I could almost truthfully say that I hate dynamic loudspeaker bass, but it took the M5s to show me why, simply because--thus far—they aren’t doing any of the things that make dynamic loudspeaker bass (and dynamic woofers) stick out like sore thumbs. The gains here in you-are-there realism are substantial.
Second, Magico's MR-1 ring-radiator tweeter is a big step forward from the stock ScanSpeak Revelator in the Mini II (and the Revelator wasn't chopped liver). This is, audibly, a much smoother, flatter, more extended, lower-distortion driver than the Revelator, capable of delivering the exact same combination of nuance and power that the Nano-Tec woofers deliver and thus far, just like the Nano-Tec woofers, never sticking out the way dynamic tweeters with rising or ragged frequency response so often do--and as the Revelator, for all its virtues, sometimes did. (Substantial credit for the buttery smoothness of the treble must be given to Magico’s Nano-Tec midrange drivers, whose break-up modes are so high in frequency—above 20kHz--and so well controlled by Magico’s superb crossover with its extraordinarily high-performance Mundorf caps that you hear none of the upper-midrange/treble roughness or peakiness that we sometimes attribute to tweeters but which is really caused by the midrange driver.) Like the Nano-Tec woofer, the MR-1 tweet seems to blend perfectly with the other Magico-designed drivers.
Which brings me to three: The reason that the M5 reminded me of the CLX at CES—and has done so again in my listening room—is because all of its drivers are so seamlessly blended, so equally high in resolution, and so equally low in distortion that none of them stands out or apart. This is the polar opposite of the kind of speaker where you’ll say: “Listen to that woofer!” or “Listen to that tweeter.” It seems to come closer to the single-driver ideal than any cone loudspeaker I’ve heard in my home (or at shows), eclipsing my beloved two-way Mini IIs, which set the previous standard for seamlessness in a dynamic loudspeaker. This, in and of itself, makes for a far more holistic and realistic presentation, because it makes you far less aware that you're listening to individual drivers in an enclosure.
Fourth, the M5, driven by the Soulution 700 monoblocks, is a majestic and (given a first-rate source) breathtakingly gorgeous sounding loudspeaker, capable of the highly realistic, diorama-like, three-dimensional soundstaging, imaging, and presence which I thought the MBL 101 X-Treme had sole proprietorship of and the seemingly magical importation of another time and space into your listening room that the CLXes are so great at—that uncanny sense of peeking over the recording and mastering engineers’ shoulders as they work with the musicians in the hall or studio or the work parts in the mastering lab. I’m not prepared to say, at this point, that the M5 equals the X-Treme in invisibility or the CLS in transparency to sources, but it certainly has the same chops as these two great speakers--in addition to its own phenomenal virtues.
Fifth and finally, a word about the Soulution 700 monoblocks. At this early stage of break-in, the 700s are somewhat darker, considerably (and perhaps inherently) richer sounding amplifiers than the utterly neutral 710 stereo amplifier with the same extraordinary resolution, vanishingly low distortion, much more power on tap, and much better control, impact, and extension in the bass (and everywhere else).
JV,
Enjoying the play by play. i have spent a few days demoing the Soulutions vs. Zanden and VTL. I went in with my mind (and wallet set on the Zandens) - they produce a beautiful sound, much like the Kondo's and are easy to fall in love with, especially with the Zanden phono stage driving any turntable. Anyway, i have heard the Soulutions before but really wanted to get into an all out comparison. (i was testing the 710). I was surprised when at the end of multiple sessions i bought the Soulutions (i bought the 700s so i am very curious to better understand if it keeps that 'somewhat darker' sound than the 710). I bought the Soulutions at the end because they were presenting more of the music. What i mean, is that every instrument was perfectly on display, right were it was supposed to be and sounding just like it was supposed to sound. We only came to this conclusion after listening to one song over and over again. Everytime the Zanden was on, we would fall in love with the women's voice and forget that this beautiful sound was overpowering the rest of the sound stage. Finally, we started concentrating on the precussions and realized that her beautiful voice was overpowering the precussions (especially a brush on the snare drum). when we flipped back to the Soulutions, we realized that here voice was still beautiful (but not enhanced, just her natural beautiful voice) but we could hear that brush going over the snare drum exactly how it should. i am not saying the solution is more exact than the Zanden's just that they presented the actual music the way i expect it to be in a studio. Anyway, it was awesome and i can't wait to get the 700s which i expect to be better. regarding the speaker, i was listening to the new Utopia Grand's. they sounded much better this time around. the guy from Focal came and positioned them perfectly and they started to dissappear the way you would exept a speaker of that quality to. I probably wont purchase them as they are too large for my room (not dimension wise, just the idea of a six foot speaker in our living room gets my girlfriend upset). So am very interested to hear more about the M5s but also think that the Soulutions are going to make every speaker sound better.
is because all of its drivers are so seamlessly blended, so equally high in resolution, and so equally low in distortion that none of them stands out or apart. This is the polar opposite of the kind of speaker where you’ll say: “Listen to that woofer!” or “Listen to that tweeter.” It seems to come closer to the single-driver ideal than any cone loudspeaker I’ve heard in my home (or at shows), eclipsing my beloved two-way Mini IIs, which set the previous standard for seamlessness in a dynamic loudspeaker. This, in and of itself, makes for a far more holistic and realistic presentation, because it makes you far less aware that you're listening to individual drivers in an enclosure.
JV, I've gotten to hear them for 20-30 hours and couldn't agree more. Perhaps their defining (non) characteristic.
Wish I could think of a reason to go to Ohio, other than to check out your sound!
How 'bout having a great meal at Nicola's and going to the CSO? Although you could count me out, there might be a Nazi rally you'd be interested in.
I wish I was Mr Valin he seems to have all the fun!
Magico 2,
First thank you for the kind words.
What I can tell you about the Mini II is that it was, up until I listened to the fthree-times-as-expensive and far bigger and bulkier M5, the single best dynamic loudspeaker I'd heard in my system. I think it is just plain marvelous and I also think that it will provide the blend of electrostatic virtues and cone virtues that you're looking for (although the M5 does this par excellence), without any darkness or high-end etching. Its great virtues are top to bottom coherence and neutrality. (Do remember, however, that no cone speaker is going to be quite as fast as a 'stat.)
Jon
Those of you with an interest in the Magico M5 may want to look at the thread http://www.avguide.com/forums/magico-m5-loudspeakers, where you'll find ongoing commentary about the sound of the speakers (and other ancillary gear).
Anyone who pays $90K or even 45K for a pair of speakers has more money than commonsense
<<Anyone who pays $90K or even 45K for a pair of speakers has more money than commonsense>>
Anonymous,
Maybe--and maybe not. Take a look at this RTA of the M5 taken with Liberty Instruments Praxis Suite software and Liberty's calibrated mike in my room just last night. I'm not a believer in measurements, but honestly I have never seen a full-range speaker measure this flat before. More importantly, I've never heard a cone speaker sound this flat, coherent, and low in distortion before. This is an exceptional loudspeaker.
Jon
Hi Jonathan,
How correctly scaled is the image size of simple vocals you're getting through the M5s in your room? Do they have the localization and tight focus -the sheer "disappearing act" intimacy- I heard on the Minis in your system, especially on the Peter, Paul & Mary LP? Given the multiplicity of mid/bass drivers in the M5, it seems like a natural point of comparison. By the way, do you have any idea of the complexity of the crossover vs. the Mini? At the show, on vocals such as the Bozz Scaggs jazz ballads being demo'd (with which I'm quite familiar), the size was between L and XL at times. My gut feel is the smallish demo room was not allowing the speakers to breathe/unload, image and soundstage at anywhere near their potential, and optimally they need to be somewhat farther from the room boundaries as well as farther apart. Your thoughts...?
That is really something special Jon you must have a really good room there as well.
I am sure that is a lot better than CES room :)
Warren,
Hey, man! Why don't you come back and hear for yourself? You know you have a standing invitation!
To answer your question: Yes, the M5 images and disappears as well as the Mini II--better in fact. Voices are anything but XL (although they aren't miniaturized, either). This is just a great loudspeaker, Warren. The best cone speaker I've ever heard in my home. It's so incredibly full-range, so finely detailed, so gorgeously rich in tone color, and so you-are-there realistic, with the best bass I've heard regardless of technology (including the fabulous MBL 101X).
Jon
Elliot,
I do have a good room. Not big, but wonderful sounding. I wish I could take credit for that, but I think it's mostly the solidity of its mid-nineteenth-century construction.
Jon
a year back I had the luck to listen to a pair of Marten Coltrane Supreme at a friends remote relative,they were being driven I guess with kondo amps,in aword they just sounded like a pair of full range no compression studio mini monitors which got me completely transfixed so I wondered if you have ever had any experiece with that Martens to draw a comparison between them and the M5?
and second I wanted to have your opinion on the feasibity of driving the M5s with superlative SET amps.
I also wanted to take the chance and make a compliment on your taste in equipment pick outs, your capability to give a clear description of their sounds in your reviews and moreover to thank you for putting your time to discuss points and make further clarifications in length on this blog.
Falco,
Thank you.
I haven't heard the Marten Coltrane Supreme at enough length or in ideal circumstances, so I can't comment on how it compares with the M5, save to note that speakers that use ceramic and/or diamond drivers typically have a slightly brighter, crisper, somewhat more "analytical" sound than speakers, like the M5, that use carbon drivers. (I think the signature sound of ceramic/diamond drivers is one reason they fare so well with Kondo SET amps, which add a little juiciness and richness to the presentation.)
As for the feasibility of an SET amp with the M5s, I too heard a world-class speaker--the Kharma Grand Exquisite (see my blog at www.avguide.com/blog/kharma-grand-exquisite-loudspeaker)--being driven by Kondo amps in four different systems in Istanbul and in Breda, and the Kondo amps sounded wonderful in all four. Of course, the Kharma Grand Exquisite has a sensitivity of 93dB; the Magico M5 has a sensitivity of 89dB. That is a considerable difference. Moreover, the M5 is a sealed box design with carbon drivers; the Grand Exquisite and the Marten Coltrane are ported boxes with ceramic/diamond drivers. (Sealed box designs typically take more power to drive in the bass, and carbon drivers are inherently a bit denser in tone color than ceramic ones.) Although Magico specifies recommended power of 50W-1000W (!), I would think that a 50W SET might be a little underpowered and a little overripe with the M5. But...I haven't done the experiment so I don't know for sure. I have a pair of superb Audio Space Reference 1 monoblocks (300B/845-based 75W amps) and at some point I will try them out with the M5s and let you know how that works out.
Jon
Jon,
Thanks for the reviews. That plot of the speaker response is impressive. Looks like +3 -1 dB from 20-20K (and probably well beyond), and in the room. If it sounds as good as that curve looks, it must be something to behold.
Way out of my league, but it's always nice to dream. And then there is that part about my career running around on the flight decks of aircraft carriers, close -up exposure to jet engines, and in general having 60+ year old ears.... Sometimes I'm not sure what I can really hear, but I know what sounds good to me.
40 years ago I remember hearing KLH-9's for the first time in a good room. It was then I found out that there were differences in the sound that could come with improved technologies (and cost). I never did get those 9's, and will never have the room that would make them, or the current top offerings, worthwhile. One satisfaction was getting my wife to listen to a demo system in a local high-end stereo shop in Albuquerque, and, in the end, she admitted she could tell a difference (it was partly a home theater system, Runco, etc., I believe, with amps nearly the size of footlockers driving some large speakers, Martin-Logans, maybe?). The fact that the cost of the system exceeded the cost of our house by about $100K was sobering. It sure sounded good.
Thanks again. Now I'm back to work, and reality.
Guy
Guy,
You're welcome, and if it's any comfort the M5 is way out of my league, too. I'll never own one, but it sure is something to behold (and behear).
Jon
I'm a snob. I see speakers with cones, and I'm immediately turned off. I can't get used to the sound of cones anymore. As a Maggie owner (1.6), I can't ever see myself owning a coned speaker ever again. I recently heard the Vandersteen's. Their top of the line model. To me, it sounded congested and, well, cone-like. I ran from the room. The Maggies have spoiled me. Their bang-for-the-buck is unsurpassed. I see reviews of cone speakers that are classified as great for the money. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Compared to the Magnapan line, I say balderdash. "Balderdash" is the snob in me rearing its ugly head. The Magico line is overpriced. Built well, but put it pound for pound next to the Maggie line. The value of the Magnapans soon becomes apparent. I know, I know -- It's a matter of taste and personal preference and blah, blah, blah. But once you get used to planar, or for that matter electrostatics, it's hard to go back to cones.
The Maggie 1.6QR is the best buy in high-end audio, IMO. No one in the audio press has recommended it more often than I have. But it is simply no competition for the M5.
Hi JV:
I know you've recommended the 1.6's more than anyone. And I value and respect your opinion on matters audio, but I know you understand me when I say cone coloration is hearable. Once it's identified and recognized, it's hard to accept when put side by side with planar designs or stats. I guess I've developed a prejudice for thin diaphragm speakers. One coloration over another.
Also, one can't dismiss the value planars have over elaborate cone designs. There's a bang-for-the-buck issue that simply can't be ignored. It seems that cones, in order to really compete, must have expensive cabinetry with fancy internal bracing and exotic woods. Damn, the cost of a Wilson is mostly cabinet related. A beautiful cabinet, I grant you, but it's furniture! I don't want to buy furniture when I'm buying a speaker. I want more speaker, not more cabinet. Simplistic? Maybe. But hey, it floats my boat.
Keep on pushing the envelope,
Bob
Man, you should go out more often. Listening to Vandersteen and concluding that you do not like cone speakers would be like driving a Mazda and concluding you do not like sports cars.
Hey Matt,
If I got out more often, society would suffer!
Anyway, I'm not saying the Vandersteen is a bad product. I'm just saying that I can't stand cones anymore. I can actually here the "cone" and it bugs the hell out of me.
That's my 2 cents,
Bob
Bob,
You hear the “cone”? And what about the Maggie's ribbons or the Mylar sound ? You do not hear that? Not to mention their lack of dynamics, precise imaging depth and soundstage. Everything is the same size. What about bass?? Or highs for that matter. They are a lot of fun for the money, I would give you that. But ultimately, after you realize everything sounds more or less the same, a bore.
Yeah Matt, I hear the cone. I hear the planar membrane too. I hear the stat's membrane too. All, to me, sound different. The Maggies need a sub -- granted. The highs are soft -- granted. Dynamics? They're ok in that category provided you have oodles of power and the right amp. There are other considerations involved in my purchase of these speakers. Cost, for one. And it's a big factor. You said that they are fun for the money. Agreed. Before you get more fun for the money, you need to spend 3 to 4 times their cost.
Anyway, I'm just prejudiced against cones. I admit it. It would take probably something like a Magico to persuade me. But I'm not persuaded yet.
Matt and Bob,
I wouldn't call the 1.6s (or any Maggie speaker) a "bore," but Matt has a point about some of Maggie's telltale "weaknesses." (He might have added large physical size, room placement challenges, the necessity of high-powered amplification, and less-than-stellar performance at relatively low SPLs.) Every kind of speaker--dynamic, planar-magnetic, electrostatic, horn, Radialstrahlers--has signature strengths and weaknesses. One of the things that is so remarkable about the M5s is how many of those typical dynamic loudspeaker weaknesses have been markedly reduced or eliminated. Driver and enclosure colorations are lower here than in any dynamic speaker I've heard, making for one hell of a disappearing act (especially impressive given the dynamic range and frequency extension of this speaker).
Don't get me wrong: I like Maggies, too. A lot. But don't write the M5 off as just another cones-in-a-box loudspeaker without first listening to it.
Jon
Hi J.v
Please tell us how the M5's sound at low spl's,are they as enjoyable for late night listenings?
and by the way what are they internally wired with?
JV:
I succumb to your wisdom. I won't write off the Magicos. But it goes against my prejudices.
This bit of history might explain alot about me.
Many moons ago, in my younger days, I ripped apart a Bose 901 to see what was inside it. It belong to my friend and believe me, he was pissed when I duplicated it for pennies on the dollar. I used speakers from parts express and a Metrotech equalizer! I snuck in a piezo tweeter for good measure. It was just as good as the 901, if not better. And as an added bonus, I made it in the wood of my choice to match the living room. Cost? Less than $200.00 total, including the eq. Since then, I've been tainted.
Wait until I tell my Crazy Eddie stories. Yikes!
Anyway, keep up the good work, JV. You're aces with me.
Bob
Any chance of getting the M5 blogs to merge to the M5 forum
Jonathan,
thank you for the reviews and comments here. And of course for your valuable contribution through your articles. I tend to be a bit cynical of the motivations, knowledge and subjectivity behind reviews. But your standard and professionalism is a shining exception to what I think is the disappointing majority. Please keep it up.
I own the Soulution preamp and have had extensive listening sessions with the marten products including the supreme. I could not agree with you more that ceramic drivers, especially with Marten, tend to have what I call a dry sound, albeit very analytical. They often provide excellent imaging but overall they tend to be noticeable. I found that toe-in makes a huge difference in combating this issue but never got as comfortable as with more "conventional" drivers. I ended up opting for the Gryphon Poseidons which I find offer the advantages of these bigger speakers with dynamics that are simply unparalleled. Call me a traditionalist, but I want my bass sealed!
I find the Soulution preamp (which is in my system with other preamps such as Gryphon's Mirage, Wavac, Vitus, MBL, VTL, etc etc) to be one of the better all rounders. Excellent detail, imaging, goldmund-like sound but without the leanness that some associate with the Goldmunds. I also find its dynamic range to be excellent and superior to most. In my system, there is no question that this is a superior preamp to the MBL and VTL which are well below this sort of performance. I know MBL has a lot of fans but I found it lacking in representing the speed/dynamics of the music, as well as the timbral accuracy I get from superior preamps. I sold it together with my 9011s to a very happy recipient. So, clearly, opinions vary on this one.
The best of the best in my opinion is actually wavac. Then, the only preamp that can approach the transparency (for me very important) of this tube design is the Gryphon. No grain, no electronics, no sstate residue. Soulution is close up there and as it is not yet fully broken in, i should refrain from silly "who is the best" comparisons.
Take my opinions for what they are, amateur subjective views. I like to express them, though, as I have been fortunate to play around with most of the "high end" equipment and by comparing them in one system/room I have gotten to form opinions which in general seem to be supported by most visitors.
Best,
Michael
Mihalis,
In my experience with the Soulution, it was a matter fo the full pre-amp/amp solution. in otherwords, i think the 710 or the 700s with the 720 really make the package. i am a tube guy but the full soulution front end (with dCS Scarlatti or Zanden/Brinkmann) really blew me away.
BH
BMH
BMH,
that is very well possible. I also like combining amps and premps where possible from same manufacturers because at a minimum you get the design intentions right. My point though was that running the Soulution vs the wavac through a third party amp, or the wavac amps, offers a wonderful matchup which the wavac (imho and that of most visitors) would have a leg up. I have not found a design that can compare with it. So long as you can deal with the lack of remote...
Amazing combination!
Amazing combination!
I just wanted to compliment you on your M5 review in TAS. Although I might disagree with you on its sonic merit a bit (I'm not a big fan of the tweeter's performance), I think its a superb piece of audio writing and one of your best ever (and I've been a fan or your writing for along time, including move reviews in TPV). You really addressed some key issues about big full range loudspeakers with insight and clarity. It's a worthy TAS piece on a major new speaker and a really wonderful and enjoyable read. Thanks.
What can I say?
Thank you.
Think of how much better your reviewing and writing could be once you straighten out that middle panel on the back wall of your listening room! I'm currently gathering the necessary glue, velcro, epoxy, duct tape and if all else fails, one big nail to get you all squared away.....
Heh-heh!
Wow. It seems you managed.
Tripods
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