Magico S5 review


I've been auditioning the Magico S5's on loan from my dealer Scott Walker Audio of Anaheim for several weeks now.
The S5's are an all aluminum cabinet, a trickle down version of the Q series. They are 90 DB, 22HZ-50KHZ, 190#,and sell for $28,600. After some considerable work by Scott he got the speakers locked in perfectly.

My current system consists of Focal Nova Utopia BE speakers
($45,000), An Ayon CD-5 cd player, An Ayon Triton 2 amp,Grand Prix Monaco racks,and a slew of Synergistic Research equipment: Tranquility bases,Migs, Hologram A,D, and AC Precision power cords, Element interconnects,an 11 piece Acoustic Art system, SR fuses and even the new Ayon BT KT-88 SX tubes made in the Czech Republic

I thought I had a pretty great system......Until the S5's came into the picture. The first thing you notice about these speakers is their sealed rather than ported bass. Oh my god! I am not a bass freak but the Magicos had incredible bass.....taut with a visceral punch to the stomach on the right tracks. And this with a tube amp.On certain bass heavy tracks it was like having two subwoofers in the room.

The tweeter was smooth and delicate and completely integrated with the midrange.....it was like one driver.

The midrange is where the Magico Magic comes in.....a strong center vocal image (I like female vocalists), not only more "there" than my Focals but violins had more sheen, cellos sound deeper and you could hear deeper into the subtleties and nuances of the human voice. The tonal characteristics were denser and more real.

The real surprise came when I put the Focals back in the system. I was disappointed. Very Disappointed. The Focals bass in comparison to the Magicos sounded flabby and weak,midrange presence was lessened along with the Magicos wonderful tone. It was easy to discern that the Magico S5's sounded more holographic, 3D, with a smoother yet more detailed mid and top end.

Things I particulary liked about the music reproduction of the S5's:

Dark Side of the Moon: Listen to the bells and the cash register on the song "Money" Stunning.

Warren Zevon, Life Will Kill You: Warren knew he was dying and wasn't in great shape vocally but when you hear the title track you can hear EVERY nuance in his voice....you can hear all his despair and humor.

Sarah McLachlan, Surfacing: I was amazed at how good this Cd sounded, absolutely gorgeous. I heard guitars, Synths, and faint almost out of hearing range background vocals by Sarah. I heard sounds on this Cd I have never heard before.

Melissa McClelland,Thumbelina's One Night Stand: A cd with country folk sensibilties but with a sort of Southern guitar crunch to it. Listening to this on the Magicos was like having Melissa in the room.....Holographic, real vocal tones, and absolutely haunting.

So after saying all this what's an audiophile to do?
My dealer Scott Walker is taking my Focals in on trade along with a check. I understand the S5's take two months to build and get here so Scott is loaning me his demo pair for the duration. That will certainly make waiting for the next two months a lot easier.

mreapoe100
Have been thoroughly enjoying my new Magico S5 speakers - as if someone
combined what I love about Maggies (speed, transparency, large presence) with
the imaging, dynamics and force I find with best box/monitor speakers. Alan
Sircom just published a review in HiFi Plus (December 2012) on the S5 speakers.
Of any review I have read on any equipment I own, how he describes the S5
speakers lines up perfectly in every regard to what I am hearing. He even used
two words in the review that captures the essence of what these speakers bring,
"stunning capacity". I am a happy camper - and a great pairing with
my VAC 450. I was afraid that these S5 would be a bit forward and analytical
like some other Magico speakers I had heard in a dealer's setup (my ears are
super sensitive to any brightness or beaming), but the S5s are not even
remotely forward. Transparent and open and extended, yes, but perfectly well
behaved.
you were afraid that the S5 is a bit forward and analytical..... in reality they are just transparent: if you mate them with an analytical amp like Spectral, they get analytical. If you mate them with a Gryphon,Vitus, Dartzeel or tubes, they become extremely musical. You can really chose upstream components based on your taste.
I agree it is an amazing speaker. I sold my MM3 and bought a Q1 and a pair of Q7 (still waiting for the Q7). In the process, I probably listened to 200 speakers across the globe... So I am quite sure I did the right choice (for me)!
And yes, for people who want to understand how the S5 differs from the Q serie, you should read the review in Hifi+. I cannot agree more on how he decrisbes the sound.
Right - any of previous Magico speaker auditions were with big solid state that are known for muscle not finesse.