David Wilson must be a little annoyed...


the Absolute Sound has pronounced the relative new-comer Magico as having designed the least-flawed loudspeaker in the world (the Q7). the Wison XLF is described as the best "cost-no-object" speaker, and while "flawed" in some respects, is the company's best effort yet. given the lengthy history of attempts at making a perfect transducer, Wilson and its many devotees might take all this as a funny way of saying "better luck next time" instead of "this by far exceeds all that has come before which was already pretty darn good".
i have little doubt that, for $180,000 (or name another huge number) the Q7 is very VERY good. the cabinet is "inert", the drivers weigh next to nothing, and the crossovers are made from premium parts arranged as carefully as technology allows. But once upon a time, the B&W 801 Matrix ($5500) was
called the "audio end of the road" by Stereophile. so ACCURATE was this loudspeaker that you could tell what kind of bassoon the guy in the orchestra was playing, and on what row, completely distinct from every other instrument being played. you needed a chain of superior components upstream of course. but i will never forget personally auditioning this speaker and thinking "WOW"
as the music was clearer and cleaner with the best bass extension than anything i had ever heard before.
of course better speakers HAVE since been designed and the bass i was so impressed with turned out to lag behind the other drivers and needed a better design, better parts, etc. to catch up. but the Kevlar midrange unit is still with us in various forms, and the isolation of the "head unit" from the low-bass is also still a common technique. but how many multiples of $5500 (even allowing for inflation) does it take to clean up the sound of a loudspeaker, and also keep it from "shaking and baking" if you really crank up the volume?
I think everyone knows that probably $20K, maybe $30K, should give the speaker manufacturer a lot to work with. And for $50K you could wrap it in the most attractive materials on the planet Earth.
After 60 some odd years of reading about "OMG" components in the audio press, I would love to congradulate Magico on the one hand, and express my annoyance from another (and another ad.infinitum) article about the new greatest hi-fi thing for [you can't afford it]. personally i just happen to like the shape and appearance of the Q7 a lot, very clean, very uncomplicated. i do favor using grill coverings however, and feel that should always be an option
lest someone comes along "poking" the drivers to see how they move. there might even be some "contour" controls on the back turning up or down the tweeter or attenuating the bass to allow for a less than perfect room (although how could one place a "perfect" speaker in an imperfect environment?)
if this entire argument is exciting, or conversely tiresome, i just would like other persons' reactions to these pronouncements in the audio press.
and WHAT IF the Wilson XLF was placed side by side with the Q7 and you asked pro reviewers as well as music lovers to decide which speaker was better and/or which would be easier to live with long run?
while you're at it bring in a Rockport, MBL, Kharma, Nola, etc. set of speakers and try to decide all over again. Make it even more fun, and limit
the selling price to $50K or below, and see just how close you can come.
Just some random thoughts as we enter into the Audio Cliff....
french_fries
"So now I am married to a very good system, that I learned love and live with. I think it is like this for most of us, at any level of budget for our system."

I believe you have the perfect approach: chose something you like, and stop looking around, just enjoy music for a few years. Personally, I kept the MM3 for 5 years without any change in my system before upgrading to Magico, and even stopped visiting audiophile websites. But when I decided it was time to change, I spent more than one year listening to a lot of systems before choosing the Q1 and Q7. Listen to your shortlisted speakers in different set ups, with different upstream components (e.g., I don't like Magico with Spectral (too cold), I love them with Vitus or Constellation). Don't trust opinion on forums.... every time I bought something based on online opinion and without listening in advance, it ended up being a big disappointment.
"But to hear someone trade in a Q7 due to the sound of the MM Micro One just blew me away"
Seriously... how many people do you believe would buy a 100k+ speaker of brand X after comparing their current superspeaker with the 2k, made in China, entry model of brand X, without direct listening of speaker they want to buy? heloooo? People may be rich.. doesn't mean they are crazy...
Would you believe such a story if posted by owner and "head of sales" of brand X?

Yes... someone may have replaced a pair of Q7 by a MM7... but I doubt this is the full story...
Edorr, you are exactly right. And our ears change, our listening psychology changes, etc. etc. How many times have we reached semi-nirvana, only to begin to find faults or realize that our expectations and listening experiences have somehow mutated.

Mapman, you simply can not be serious calling Ohms high end on the same level with Magico, Evolution Acoustics, or even the flawed but still enjoyable Wilsons. I owned and enjoyed the F's waaay back in the day, but everything Ohm has made since is boring and quite simply average mid-fi, regardless of so-called call 'refinements'. I think your comments and marketing here may be the only thing keeping Ohm going. Give it a rest - enough already.
And if you need something else to whine about then I think your dog is also stupid.
Stereotaipei,

if you really need to verify what happened just ask the dealer who sold the Q7's to the guy. Alon can put you in touch with him.

i know where all the MM7's are and that the Q7 owner has not heard any of them yet. at some point he may travel to hear them.

it's not the end of the world. someone simply preferred one speaker to another. just like you.

time to listen to more music and kick back.