Magico Q7 . . . wow

Hmmm...well.. as I own Q3, I love my Magico and have not heard anything near its price range that I love better. For what's its worth, I heard Vandersteen 7 under show condition and in a dealer showroom (where I heard Magico V3 many times) and thought that V7 was nice but if I have the budget now, I would not replace Q3 with it. Recently, another friend auditioned Q3, Sonus Faber Amati Futura, Rockport Avior extensively in his home. I heard Futura there briefly and thought that it beautified everything and really put its sonic signature forward strongly. Some friends like that but I was not one of them. At the end, my friend also chose Q3. Unfortunately I did not hear Avior there but heard it in a different room later.

I never heard a system under show environment that let me hear the full potential and when I come home, I always feel very good listening to my system right after hearing those big Wilson, Avalon, Scaena, YG. So I would not judge Magico or anything for that matter under those condition.

Hifimaniac,
Congratulations on your new speakers.

>> Gee, I wish this was the experience I heard with the Magico Speaker!
The fact that YOU did/do not have these experiences, does not mean they are not there. I think that any 'real' speaker designer or a cultivated listener will have much easier time making sense of a Magico product then any Wilson or Evolution one. If you believe that a 5" line source tweeter can "seamlessly bland" with two 7" point source midranges, that are at least 8" apart and doing not much more then canceling each other, and a 15" woofer running by a plate amp, most likely class D, then... Oh well. Both Wilson and Evolution are very impressive products, but both are heavily "voiced" and have very little to do with the "Fidelity" part of the phrase "High-Fidelity". If that is what you like, good for you.

Suteetat,
Congratulation on your speakers. No need to apologies for Magico sound at shows. I have heard them many times, and so are many reviewer all over the world that constantly give them "Best Sound At Show". Those who so passionately hate them in shows, will most likely hate them anywhere else. The merits of these products have nothing to do with it.

I checked...they were the Q5s.

Usermanual, I agree with your assessment. I own the Mini II and have heard the V2, M5 and Q3 sound extremely good in demonstrations. I liked the Q3 so much that I would trade them for my Minis if I could afford them and they could fit in my room. I did not care as much for the V3 and Q5, but those were in unfamiliar settings.

The Q7 just seems unattainable and very difficult to hear. It would be fun though.

I've heard some of the other speakers mentioned in this thread and they all have merits. I am sure their owners enjoy them.

"Both Wilson and Evolution are very impressive products, but both are heavily "voiced" and have very little to do with the "Fidelity" part of the phrase "High-Fidelity"."

To be fair, so is Magico.
Just one example. Taking a beryllium tweeter and placing it in the center of a 10"-15" wide Aluminum baffle. (Width depending on Q5 or Q7) will absolutely have tons of hard diffraction distortion. This is a simple law of physics. And the gentle contour of said baffle is not nearly enough to compensate for this.
In other words, Magico is "voiced" as well, in order to compensate for this.
I have extensive experience with both Wilson and Magico and neither one is of greater "Fidelity" than the other across a large spectrum of music. Just different flavors.

For what it's worth, I usually prefer Magico between the major players. (heavy emphasis on usually.) But ultimately none of them are of any greater absolute Fidelity.

But as Stringreen said, what do I know? LOL.