I was going to remain quiet but Usermanual, your last comment put me over the edge. If anyone is making "weak points" it is you unfortunately. So let me pick them off for you one at a time:
First of all, Sibelius was commenting about the Magicos smoothing out the trumpet's sonic signature as compared to the real instrument's bite at fortissimo levels. I believe my example was talking about the Magico's bass as sounding dry to me, lacking in harmonic overtones. Unless I took a wrong turn somewhere, the trumpet's register does not go into the bass region, rather it remains largley in the midrange band and at the higher registers reaches into the treble region. So his comments do not contradict mine. Secondly, dry and smooth are not polar opposites. Dry means it lacks harmonic overtones and body. Smooth in audio lexicon suggests that a speaker can fully reproduce attack, the fundamental, and the decay of a note, leading notes to flow from one to the next, giving music a continuous flow. Two very different sonic phenomenon, so the one does not negate the other.
With all due respect, I cannot imagine giving anyone any worse advice when it comes to selecting high-end audio equipment. You may be comfortable parting with your hard earned money based on what reviewers tell you you should want, but for anyone who wants to be satisfied and happy with their purchases, I would submit that one's ears are the only ones to trust. At the end of the day, if a speaker (or any high end audio equipment) does not emotionally pull you into the music (for whatever reason), then you can kiss your hard earned money goodbye, because I guarantee you, you will end up with gear that you listen to less and less, and that you will eventually "upgrade."
Hmmm...YES! This may come as a shocker to you, but audio reviewers work for audio publishing concerns that generate the majority of their revenue from advertising.
Absolutely not true. I believe I stated above that I have always walked away from a Magico audition, admiring the speakers but not falling in love with them, because I just could not get emotionally pulled into the music when listening to them. I believe Sibelius mentioned that he thought Magicos did a lot of things extremely well but that he was not a fan of their ability to reproduce tone, harmonics, body to his liking.
I could go on but this is getting a bit tiresome. That you are a Magico fan is clear and great for you. That you probably own a pair also may explain why you are being so defensive when comments are being made that may differ from your perspective. That's too bad but it is what it is. That you also depend on reviews as crutches to justify your own choices is also clear. If you want to gobble up marketing materials, reviews, and spew them back to the Agon community that is fine but please do not presume to know more about this hobby than others. I do not care how many reviewers agree with you.
In any case, this is getting to be counter-productive and I apologize to the OP who has seen his post devolve into a pissing match. So after this I will bow out, having contributed my "opinion," one of many and that is all it is. For the OP, once again, my best advice is to hop on a plane and listen to both Magicos and Rockports and make your own mind up. As has already been mentioned many times, Goodwins carries both speaker lines. Good luck.
You are claiming a lot of (dry) details, yet Sibelius here just claimed it is too smooth and pretty. You claim lacks of natural harmonic overtones in the low frequencies where even MF, the bass freak that he is, admitted that they have the best resolving bass he ever heard. In theory, and in measurements, Magico bass alignment is more accurate and extended then ported design.
First of all, Sibelius was commenting about the Magicos smoothing out the trumpet's sonic signature as compared to the real instrument's bite at fortissimo levels. I believe my example was talking about the Magico's bass as sounding dry to me, lacking in harmonic overtones. Unless I took a wrong turn somewhere, the trumpet's register does not go into the bass region, rather it remains largley in the midrange band and at the higher registers reaches into the treble region. So his comments do not contradict mine. Secondly, dry and smooth are not polar opposites. Dry means it lacks harmonic overtones and body. Smooth in audio lexicon suggests that a speaker can fully reproduce attack, the fundamental, and the decay of a note, leading notes to flow from one to the next, giving music a continuous flow. Two very different sonic phenomenon, so the one does not negate the other.
...but you should Google the subject, keep your mind open and trust your ears less because they are lying to you all the time). That is in theory, but also how, I and many reviewers and music lovers around the world hear them.
With all due respect, I cannot imagine giving anyone any worse advice when it comes to selecting high-end audio equipment. You may be comfortable parting with your hard earned money based on what reviewers tell you you should want, but for anyone who wants to be satisfied and happy with their purchases, I would submit that one's ears are the only ones to trust. At the end of the day, if a speaker (or any high end audio equipment) does not emotionally pull you into the music (for whatever reason), then you can kiss your hard earned money goodbye, because I guarantee you, you will end up with gear that you listen to less and less, and that you will eventually "upgrade."
JV, MF, RH, PM, JF, AS are all pushers!!
Hmmm...YES! This may come as a shocker to you, but audio reviewers work for audio publishing concerns that generate the majority of their revenue from advertising.
BTW, you are agreeing with people that do not like anything Magico does, including your Mini
Absolutely not true. I believe I stated above that I have always walked away from a Magico audition, admiring the speakers but not falling in love with them, because I just could not get emotionally pulled into the music when listening to them. I believe Sibelius mentioned that he thought Magicos did a lot of things extremely well but that he was not a fan of their ability to reproduce tone, harmonics, body to his liking.
I could go on but this is getting a bit tiresome. That you are a Magico fan is clear and great for you. That you probably own a pair also may explain why you are being so defensive when comments are being made that may differ from your perspective. That's too bad but it is what it is. That you also depend on reviews as crutches to justify your own choices is also clear. If you want to gobble up marketing materials, reviews, and spew them back to the Agon community that is fine but please do not presume to know more about this hobby than others. I do not care how many reviewers agree with you.
In any case, this is getting to be counter-productive and I apologize to the OP who has seen his post devolve into a pissing match. So after this I will bow out, having contributed my "opinion," one of many and that is all it is. For the OP, once again, my best advice is to hop on a plane and listen to both Magicos and Rockports and make your own mind up. As has already been mentioned many times, Goodwins carries both speaker lines. Good luck.