Magico Comparison

What I meant by my earlier comment is that this thread reads just like various Wilson loudspeaker threads. "Should I buy a used Alexandria I or a new Sasha?" Wilson owners then say all the Wilsons are fantastic, but different sounding and Wilson haters beg to differ. Wilson owners then get overly defensive and take the criticism personally while the haters make go overboard and call Wilson a white van speaker. Yada yada, yada yada...

I've never heard any of the Magico loudspeakers, but I do have a question about them. Engineering-wise, if you have to go to that much effort to suppress cabinet sound, then why not get rid of the cabinet altogether?

I don't see any point in making this a Magico bashing thread, what will that serve? There are very proud and content Magico owners who have contributed to this thread.It they're happy that really is all that matters, I happen to love products that others may not care for, why should that bother me?

My reason for posting was to reply to Mariv26 who suggested that people are ignorant, closed minded and think the world is flat if they can't recognized Magico as a world class and state of the art speaker. That attitude struck me as ludicrous and narrow minded. He can admire the speaker all he wants but it's foolish to denigrate those who simply don't share his viewpoint. Whatever component you find that brings great sound into your home, buy it and be happy.If others have alternative impressions, that's life.
Regards,

I think that if you are looking to purchase any speaker at these price points you are one lucky audiophile. There's a lot of people out there who are just jealous of your committment to the hobby and the money you have to spend on it.

Speakers are an individual choice. It is often confusing when other people hear the same demo I hear and come away with a distinctly different impression than me. But that's what makes thew world go round.

Enjoy the purchasing process, and your new speakers, whatever you decide.

"Engineering-wise, if you have to go to that much effort to suppress cabinet sound, then why not get rid of the cabinet altogether?"

Cabinets are generally needed for good full range bass in a larger room. Downside is if/when unwanted resonance occurs.

I think its a good question how much cabinet rigidity is needed and how to get it most cost effectively. Obviously, larger cabinets are more prone to unwanted resonance issues. Magico likes aluminum cabinets these days I believe. The result is quite an impressive piece of engineering. But metal tends to ring like a bell so perhaps that changes the equation in terms of what is needed to provide SOTA performance overall.

Consider new KEF ls50 monitors for comparison. Most say these are the cats meow in terms of design and build quality. But they are small and sell for $1500 list. Is anything more needed for a smaller room that these might be suited for? Could this design be scaled up effectively for somewhat larger rooms? How cost effectively compared to Magico? I suppose the answer is the KEF Blade that sells for $30000 or so I believe, half the price of Magico. If the two are comparable at all, that would mean something.

Just some food for thought.

Mapman, I dined on that thought at the recent NYC Audio show. I heard the small Kef 1s50? for $1500. I heard the Kef blade for $30K. I heard a mid level Kef floorstanding speaker. And I heard the Kef sponsored "live" show with electric/amplified guitar, bass, drums and vocalist.

I prefer my Magico based system to each of those four Kef demonstrations, even the "live" event - respective of cost. But that is just me. Kef is developing an interesting concentric driver. TAD has another. It just did not sound convincing to me in those show conditions.

Magico goes to a lot of effort to reduce cabinet resonances. I think the reason they don't get rid of the cabinet all together is because this is how they want to present bass reproduction in their close-to-inert, sealed cabinets. Magico bass does sound different from some that of some other brands that have no cabinets, ported cabinets and purposefully resonant cabinets.