Magico S5 vs Tannoy Westminster Royal SE

Magico always sounds good when I hear them. Just so damn expensive!! Many competitors I hear for lower cost do as well. Can't deny the build quality though.

Hi Peter - excellent questions. I had ~1000 hours on the S5's. I would turn them on in the morning and let them play until I went to bed. This happened for over two months straight. After that, I had another three months of on/off listening. I tried different electronics with them (D'Agostino monos, VAC, McIntosh, etc.) and I really thought they sounded best with the VAC phi200's. That being said, I thought Vitus with Magico was incredible when I demoed it. I just couldn't bring myself to buy those big babies.

I always felt that yes, to be honest, the S5's could have used another few thousand hours. I've heard a number of 5000 hours to be full broken in. But I don't think they would have had a chameleon like change....but I could be wrong.

The Alexia's I tried in the same room briefly and they sounded great - but they have been in my main dedicated listening room most of the time. They are well broken in. I would estimate 1500+ hours.

The Alexia's were the hardest speaker to part with. They did so many things right. I spent over $15,000 on room treatments (ASC bass traps and Vicoustic panels) and still could not rid the 73hz bass hump in my room that they produced. I even tried a Spatial Black hole (cool little device). It helped, but not completely. You know that when you get that "boooooom, boooooom" that just completely overpowers the room at a certain frequency, it can drive you bonkers. I tried different amps, cables, etc. and it was always there.

I've always wondered why more speaker manufacturers don't have room tuning/adjustability on their speakers like Revel has. But I digress....

I never had this problem with the Alexia's in my Family room (where the S5's were and Tannoy's reside now). I regret not trying the S5's in my main listening room....I bet with the sealed enclosure, I wouldn't have had those bass issues....but we won't know. From an audiophile standpoint, the S5's did nothing wrong. They just didn't grab me emotionally. I'm not going to bash them....they are great speakers and to be honest, a crazy good value vs a lot of what else is out there. I think paired with some nice tube amps or Class A topology amps (Vitus, Pass) - the S1/S3/S5's can be the ticket for many.

It's easy to say "try this speaker in this room and that speaker in the other room", but hauling speakers up and down two flights of stairs is just not my idea of fun....so yes, I would love to try every speaker in every room....but sometimes, its just not an option.

I had no intention of buying Tannoy's. I had heard the Kingdom Royals several times at RMAF/CES and thought they were awful to be frank. But I went to visit friends in Toronto a while back and one has the West Ministers GR's and the other has the Canterbury GR's. I listened to them both extensively over a period of two weeks during my visit and couldn't believe how different they were from the Kingdom Royals. I found them very musically engaging and effortless. I would classify their sound as "sweet". I've also spoken to Jim Smith several times about his Canterbury's and he seems to really like them.

Now that I have the Canterbury GR's in my family room (my wife loves the looks), I have been playing with different amps (Mc 275 monos, Mc275 stereo, VAC phi200 stereo, Cary 300b SE monos). I really like a single Mc275.....but honestly, everything sounds good so far. Right now, I have a single VAC phi200 driving them and they are sounding great. I'm eyeing a Line Magnetic 219ia, but will need to hire a football team to lift it!

So yes, I love to experiment with gear. I've been an audiophile since the 70's when yes, I actually had a quadrophonic setup. I like to try different gear and gain different experiences. I could write a book on my experiences with Klipsch, B&W, Magnepan, Sonus Faber, Revel, WIlson, Magico and countless others.

I have a friend who trades cars every 3-6 months....I think he's nuts.....he thinks I'm nuts....I get it. For some, being an audiophile is about the journey and not the destination. Those that don't swap gear will NEVER EVER understand those who do.

"Those that don't swap gear will NEVER EVER understand those who do."

I'm one who doesn't understand...but I still really enjoyed your post and the several interesting points you made/addressed.

Mike- interesting your MC275 sounds best. I would expect this as a more neutral tube amp (KT88-based) would work best with your new speakers which are quite warm or "sweet" as you say.

I've heard Tannoy/Cary several times and found it so syrupy and euphonic that I couldn't stay in the room (the 55k Tannoys with Cary 805s). Several people told me this was best in show. Maybe, most coloured in show :)

I've also heard Magicos and Spectral/Soulution and wanted to run from the room. Again, people told me this was the best of show.

There are many ways to skin a cat and it all comes down to preference. Folks need to relax a little.

Keith - I think you are correct. The MC275 V6 has great drive and dynamics. That being said, I dipped way way deep into my stock of tubes and brought out some NOS GoldLion KT88's and 1940's RCA 6SN7's - put them in the VAC phi200 and it took that amp to a whole new level.

I would say the VAC phi200 is now a notch above the Mc275 right now. I can't tell you just how bad the stock tubes are in that amp.

In the 275 Mk6, I'm using SEC 6550C's in V8, V9, V10, V11 and 18ECC''s in V1 & V7, CV4024's in V2 & V6 and E83CC's in V3 & V5. In V4, because its not used when using XLR outputs, I'm using some throwaway 12AX7 tube.

That being said, I am eyeing the Line Magnetic 219ia to try - the beast!