Axpona

What were they playing in the magico room that was so irritating I wonder?

I've heard a few Magico demos and though I am not sure or not if they would be my cup of tea over the long, especially for the cost, I don't recall thinking there was anything bad going on necessarily. The mini's in particular I thought were just too undersized to deliver all the goods like a true fullrange but used in teh right way in the right room I found nothing offensive about them.

Still waiting to hear about the one sound that everyone agrees is even good much less the best. Choice in sound is much like most other things life, a highly personal choice. So nothing surprises me much anymore.

I am referring to the room where Magico paired with Audio Research. Not sure of the Magico model, but they were huge! No matter the type of music played they simply sounded sterile and boring.

The larger MBL room was specatular and I would think all agree. At least that was the sense at the show.

What Magico speaker were there??ARC no big deal.

ARC/Magico both tend towards high resolution/detail so might not be my preferred pairing unless one wants very high-res with a tube amp and all that goes with that. Some might, others not so much.

Many larger, more expensive setups I see at shows shoot to raise the bar in all areas including detail/resolution. That's not always my cup of tea but I can appreciate it when done well.

Magico had Q7 and the new M series. My assessment of them is right in line with the others. They check all of the audiophile boxes and are incredibly over built. They were also completely not involving. The sum was definitely way less than the parts. For 200k and 125k respectively, I expected a much more involving presentation.

The Acoustic Zen were excellent as they have been when ever I have heard them. For under 6k, the Odyssey Kismet and Audiokinesis Zephrin were both very, very good. I liked the Jantzen speakers were very good also. The HHR Exotics were very good as well.

My second favorite of the show were the Mosaic Audio Illuminations. I am a fan of Dale Pitchers speakers, having owned a couple and still having a pair in my possession. They take all of the things that his other speakers do so well and take it up another notch. They also had Scaena extenders there filling in the very lowest frequencies. Outstanding speakers that have every detail thought out to the nth degree.

I am surprised that no one has mentioned the Muraudio room. They have 360 degree, vertically curved electostatic panels atop a trio of woofers in a solid cabinet. Sunday afternoon I had about a half hour in that room essentially with the manufacturer and myself. I could walk anywhere around that room and the stage did not fall apart. To my ears, they had the best traits of electrostats and omnipolars all rolled into one. Great tone, scale, resolution, extension at both extremes, and completely believable 3d imaging. If I had the coin, my search might well start and stop there.