TAS blog:
http://www.avguide.com/blog/the-best-loudspeaker-i-ve-heard-the-magico-q5

Not the best of the best, but surely one of the best dynamic cone loudspeakers under 500K in market, it sounds tonally neutral, transparent and balanced in spectrum, as if listening a electrostatic speaker (for example QUAD ESL2905) with fuller bass and texture.

It is indeed a tour de force with my testimony!

George,
Frankly, I think the Q5 exceeds the other 500k range speakers by a comfortable margin. If you consider what else you can buy in 500k... nothing really comes close.
So from that perspective, one can say the Q5 challenges everything even in a higher price bracket, or you can call the Q5 a true 'bargain' in the 500k range.

I will have to find time to visit S.C. for a serious audition session :)

wslam

Fully agreed! it is indeed a genuine bargain against speakers over 500K

Problem is this speaker is not a cup of tea for those bass freak nor sound tweaker, it's for music lover and those who value Hi-Fi as a faithful reproduction tool, devoid of coloration and extraction.

George

Well it doesn't has any lose and boomy slow bass, but it actually is imho, as full range as anything out there. just that the tunefulness of the bass may not be 'thumpy' enough for the majority of people.

Wish you heard them with something other than FM Acoustics. =P

最後修改時間: 2010-10-06 20:07:39

WS,

Read JV's blog and your comment, you've got a valid point, with so many parts and components, I wonder if the Q5 needs to be 'serviced' after certain hours of 'mileage' like automobile does :P

I have never listened to FM seriously, think SC will be willing to setup the Spectrals for a returning customer. I've read more than once that the Q5 sounded similar to the Quad electrostats but 'better' in every area, given the Quads are my favourate speakers, that is if I have a bigger listening area, I will have to give the Q5s some serious thought.

TC

Q5's actual price is much less than 500K....(haha)
this is my next target....
Actually, I auditioned M5 in SC one year ago. I do think that is the best speaker I have ever met. But I am not sure Q5 will close to that or not. (or better than that....) any clew for that??

Morning WS

Ah ha, you heard the Spectral combo driving Q5 before, as you once said to me, Solution pre+power combo is also approved by Alon Wolf.

I expressed my audition opinion to wolf through email and Wolf simply said that some US audiophiles all the way called MAGICO speaker as a Giant QUAD ESL.

George

t4455,
I think it is 'cool' for marketing to talk about the complexity of the enclosure, but imagine a speaker cabinet carved out from a solid block of alum instead! Imagine a speaker cabinet like the chassis for the Ayre MX-R! Wouldn't that be even more solid? No joints! (Minimal)
SC has setup the Q5 for me with Spectral, and I like the sound a LOT better than FM. FM has a very very heavy sonic signature, even more so than Spectral. And I really did not enjoy the FM/Q5 combo, which is what George listened to for his review.
George,
Q5, while being a 'bargain', once you add the cost of some GOOD quality high powered amp, the total cost of ownership can be quite scary. Imagine if buying the Q5 implies upgrading to Soulution 700! Ouch...

WS

＞＞＞ Imagine if buying the Q5 implies upgrading to Soulution 700

This is exactly my fear of getting the Q5!

I'm perfectly happy with the existing Soulution 710 + Mini II Combination. Using the Chord CPA8000 preamp further enhances the overall performance.

BTW, I just came back from an audition on the Soulution 700 driving a pair of Triangle Magellan. The Soulution 700 was so impressive that I was prompted to hand out my Visa Card but only realised my credit limit is ONE ZERO short !!

＞＞ Imagine a speaker cabinet like the chassis for the Ayre MX-R! Wouldn't that be even more solid? No joints! (Minimal)

For some reason I think there must be trade off of having an absolutely rigid cabinet, I don't know the physics well enough but building a super stiff 'box' should not be that difficult with modern science. It's true that it has to handle large amount of energy, I know a few few things about bicycle frames, modern bike frames are super light and super stiff, they do not flex because any flexibility means energy is lost and you are not going as fast as you could. World class cyclist can generate over 0.5 hp /hr,
that's 3-400 watts in energy terms !! The amount of torque they generate is simply ridiculous, yet the bicycle survives. Enough about bike frames, my point is, rigid cabinets with absolutely no flex whatsoever can be built, why is no one doing it ? Is damping a factor ? What about the 'Q' factor that comes up from time to time (which I have no idea what it is) ?

Would be interesting if anyone can explain.

t4455,
hmmm i dont think building a completely acoustic inert cabinet is that easy, as the audio spectrum is actually quite wide. so while you can say make it inert say at 1khz, to have the same cabinet completely inert at 40Hz will not be easy...
For ported enclosures, it's much easier, as they are basically constantly 'farting'! haha
for acoustic suspension, the challenge is indeed there. Also, using bike frame is probably not a good comparison. Bike frames (i may be off here) needs to be stuff via a highly damped composite. A highly damped speaker cabinet will 'absorb' too much energy. Bike frames are designed to store the energy, speaker cabinets are the opposite... they need to allow the most energy to be directed into the room (front only)
so i suspect when a cyclist generates 0.5hp/hr. i would imagine that includes all the stored and later released energy. in speakers, that is a big nono. if energy is stored then released, then you get 'smearing'.
For Q, take a look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q_factor
I am writing a review on my speakers, the Audiomachina Maestro Ti-200. They are one of the reasons why I have not bought the Q5. The Q on the Maestro subs is established by the Linkwitz Transform filter and is set at 0.577 (Bessel alignment, which is optimum for minimum phase/group delay, and gives excellent transient response).
I would not be surprised if the Q5 also uses some thing like a Linkwitz Transform to achieve the depth in bass given the relatively small enclosure.

leoking,
missing a 0?! haha... but you have ten credit cards, so it's ok! =)
go for it! then sell me your 710! =)

Thanks WS. The wiki Q page will be a good read for the weekend.

I kept using bike frames as examples because it is something I understand (well, sort of), loud speaker design is something I don't. And I think there is some kind of similarities between the two.

Damping in bike frame building means isolation, the energy from vibration is transformed into heat. Does it have the meaning when we talk about speaker design ?

Before the days of Carbon and Titanium bikes, Aluminum was a popular choice for a short while because of it's stiffness and light weight, problem is it has a very low damping ratio and the rider him/herself gets the full hit of the vibration. After a long ride, your back will be as stiff as the bike frame itself ! Yes, Carbon and Titanium frames are well damped, your back and teeth will stay intact after a rough ride, and they became the standard. What I meant was a very stiff frame 'could' be built, although no one wants it.

Now Aluminum rings like a bell and it's not well damped, everyone talks about how important damping is, why is it still a good material for speaker cabinet ?

TC

hi t4455,

I am pushing my knowledge here, but will share what I know.

I believe a good speaker cabinet material must have a few characteristics:

1) Damping
2) Stiffness
3) Mass (Density)

The only carbon graphite speakers I have listened to are the Wilson Benesche, which frankly I am not a big fan. They sound rather dead to me. From what I gather, CB has excellent tensile strength but it is neither stiff nor is it heavy. It has excellent damping properties. To make it heavier and stiffer, I believe they mix the graphite with resin, which again is not the stiffest material around, but will further raise the damping of the material.

I suppose it is easier to add damping to alum, rather than add stiffness to carbon graphite.

Some speakers use Corion but I have never heard them before. Not even sure about the properties of Corion

Corian is a acrylic polymer and alumina trihydrate composite. But it's mostly used for 'surface' layer, not structure.

Alan Sircom, editor of magazine HiFi+, who is already on record calling the Q5 “the best speaker in the world,”

http:// www.avguide.com/review/magico-q5-loudspeaker-hi-fi-74




最後修改時間: 2010-10-12 17:57:08

Q5 at RMAF:
http://blog.stereophile.com/rmaf2010/magico_steals_the_show_so_far/