Quandry: Used Magico V2 vs. new S1


It is time to update my speakers. I have a lead on a nice used pair of V2's which probably can be gotten for $9 -$9.5K, vs a new pair of S1's that list for $12.6K. I like the Magico sound, have heard the V2 but not the S1, although I will try before making a decision. There will be no opportunity to hear them side by side so separate auditions may not be meaningful unless the S1's greatly disappoint.

Any thoughts, Comrades? You know how traumatic it is to change speakers.

Thanks,

Neal
Ag insider logo xs@2xnglazer
I never liked DSC. Because it does not have a heart, this is an essential part for the emotion in music. So we agree on that.

Avalon and Wilson never will be a speaker with who I could life. It is not my tast in sound and from both I don't like how they present the individual focus of instruments and voices.

You always listen to all parts togheter including the acoustics. I became a stillpoint dealer a few months ago and yess they are great.

I had a rethink about why I didn't like the sound of that setup with the Alexia's, D'Agostino mono's & DCS Vivaldi stack. I couldn't escape a sense of 'noise' (distortion?) and brightness which gave me listener fatigue. Surprising really considering the tremendous cost of the amps & front end. On reflection, the culprit may have been the DCS stack. I don't know if any amps could fix those speakers. But Vitus would make them suck less.
Classical music doens't work with Wilson. Take a violin, it sounds so much different in real. Soon I will audition a DSC again. I will bring in my own music. It never did move me. This will be with tubes pre and power. That is different compared to all other times I auditioned a DSC.
Hi Peter, yeah I'd believe that as the smaller Pass amps in particular sound warm and a bit tube-like. The new XA.8 series is apparently very good, though as far as integrateds go, Pass don't have anything to compare to the SIA-025.