How Far has the Magico M9 Pushed the State Of The Art? | CEO Alon Wolf
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- čas přidán 25. 08. 2024
- Captured on site, in Magico's Hayward California listening room, Lee interviews founder and CEO Alon Wolf on the Magico M9. Our factory tour incoming shortly!
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This is quite an interesting interview with obviously a very knowledgeable individual from a technical design perspective. I think the word synergy comes to mind when considering all of the individual advances in loudspeaker design Magico has focused on as described within.
That's Alon Wolf. Magico is his company.
My set of questions and comments for Alon would have been quite different, but it is always fascinating to hear this thoughts on loudspeaker design, and Magico products specifically
Qualio Audio IQ speakers are one of the world's very best too that very few have heard yet
Magico makes his own woofers, Midranges and the tweeter.
Solid video but the interviewer, IMHO, makes a fundamental mistake that many other interviewers make; they ask a question and then answer it before the individual being interviewed replies. As an example, at ~18:32 the interviewer finishes a question, Wolf states he doesn't necessarily understand the question but just as he tries to reply at ~19:12 the interviewer interrupts and provides his version of the reply. Why? Otherwise, I gained some insight I did not have prior to watching; thanks.
I never knew Kermit was an interviewer.
Celestion (obviously a COMPLETELY different price bracket) were building truly wonderful aluminium honeycomb (aerolam) speakers in the 1980's - the SL600 and SL700. - ahead of their time. My experience with the SL600 is that they projected a holographic, 3D stage image, similar to that achieved by Magnepan, but without the extreme depth.
They sound amazing if I win the lottery I am buying 2 for me and 2 for my brother lol. I went to a hifi store here in Houston and they had a Mariko room. It was so amazing ❤❤❤❤
Rolf must hate Harbeth and others like those that make L/S50 speakers lol, they use the cabinet as part of the speaker design since they are thin walled.
If Magico speakers are built like tanks do they sound like a tank? Big and chesty? Deep and full? Yes yes they do and it's marvelous.
Great looking speakers. Great technologies incorporated. I heard that once a Magico speaker is serviced at Magico factory - that your company does not help to ship it back. Other companies may ask money to ship it back, but Magico don't even offer that. Your company says 'Hey your speaker is fixed. You owe me $20,000 for the parts and the labor. Now it's in our loading dock - so arranged your own shipping company to take it from our facility.' Then, the owner has to go through crazy processes, calling many different places, and pay the most expensive rate (compared to what an established companies pay) in order to ship it back. That just sounds like crazy. Is it still the case??
We've spoken to Magico, who has provided this statement:
Magico has been serving customers for nearly 20-years with exceptional after sales service. Once a product has been serviced at the factory we automatically provide a freight quotation for the return of a serviced product by a reliable forwarder who is familiar with handling heavy and sensitive products. In some cases the end user elects to make freight pickup arrangements on their own using a freight forwarder of their choice. Never has a customer and or their product been left stranded by Magico.
And given the extensive experience several of our independent writers have had with Magico, we have not heard nor seen any substantiation to your comment.
@@TheTASmagazine Got it. I will delete my comment shortly. An youtuber, Jay's Audio Lab was claiming so.
@@klaymoon1 No need to delete. We think having a 'public square' is important.
@@klaymoon1 This isn't the case - you should watch my I interview with Alon. I have already addressed this on video which is the best way to clear the air. Thanks
@@jaysaudiolab I thought you still have that video complaining about Magico's service on your channel. I watched it again a few weeks ago. No I don't watch all your videos, so please don't say why didn't you watch my other video. When you have a mis-information on one of your videos, either you take it down or you edited/add the correction to that specific video.
Beautiful Monsters.
Yes!
Very ugly monsters actually. 😮
magico, is building the best loudspeakers, in the world. Check, out the A-line, beyond approach at the price point.
This is a polar opposite to Sonus faber, who seems to like the cabinet/wood resonating like a musical instrument.
*Crazy high tech precision engineering using top materials, expensive but awesome.*
The art of loudspeaker building is not engineering. it`s musical talent.
they are I believe - $ 750,000 for the pair ...... you could get an entire MBL system for that price
I think I would just buy a pair of the new Bowers & Wilkins 702 S3s for $8,999 and use the remainder of the $750,000 to buy a really nice home.
I’m still fascinated by this kind of product.
Not everything has to be for me 🤷🏾♂️
What about time alignment and transient perfect crossovers ?
$950K for a pair of speakers is more of an ego statement than an earth-shaking sonic achievement, I mean at that price nothing short of a miracle is expected and the M9 doesn't do anything miraculous does it? It doesn't beam musicians into your listening space does it?
What is more sensible to expect at this price is a complete system consisting of speakers, amplification, both a digital and an analog source, cabling and room treatment all designed precisely to synergize as one seamless whole. You are paying for holographic musical performance that maintains its precision, scale and poise regardless how loud you play your most difficult music. Any unwanted resonant frequency is pushed well beyond the audible spectrum.
The same can be said about super yatchs. If your pocket can handle then cost is not the issue.
@@vicg5323 the difference is a buyer who is passionate about yachting and one who simply has money to burn. Big difference in thought process.
Whereas, yachts are famously unrelated to ego gratification.
All of this makes perfect sense outside the biases that live inside your own mind, you’re not myopic in the least
obviously all passive loudspeakers are not pushed far enough till all passive crossovers are eliminated because they all put a veil on sounding quality .
No human can hear even to 25kHz. Most can't even hear to our theoretical limit of 20kHz. If you can hear to 18kHz your ears are about as good as it gets. Just an observation. I am certainly not going to get into any technical argument with Alon. He is a truly gifted and brilliant speaker designer and engineer. The fact that he only sleeps about 4 hours a day so that he can have more time at work is also astounding!!!
The whole point, which I think is quite clearly explained, to bring the tweeter to higher frequencies, it to lower the amounts of drivers breakups that would occur more frequently at lower frequencies, thus lowering distortions. That we hear or not these frequencies is completely immaterial to this discussion.
How much of the R&D that went into Magicos have the potential to trickle down into products that mere mortals can afford? The answer to this question determines the relevance of this product and all the development behind it.
Good. I will take one :)
One of these days uh weeks uh more like months I’ll have a set of M3.
You can do this! Make it so!
Do it for all of us who can’t, LOL
I would be curious to learn what led to the change of employing an analog crossover here vs the DSP of the previous flagship (the “Ultimate”)
DSP is not a great solution. It’s fine band aid for budget gear, but at the high end you definitely do not want to convert analog to digital and back to analog again!
@@Fluterra ?? You dont have to do that, the crossover can be computer based fully in digital domain at the very start of the chain and then the digital signal sent to multichannel studio mastering level DAC like Merging Horus and then to amplifiers for each driver. Such xo/dsp will always be magnitudes better and more precise than shitty passive xo, it also allows for phase linearisation something that is simply impossible to do in passive.
I would love to have 3 M9's in a Left, Center and Right "LCR" with a 240" Retracting Acoustic transparent screen.
M7's for rears? lol
@@kurtbrisch5776 You are a thinker and I agree If I had the means as a gift to society I would purchase a Starbucks and setup A 9 Channel Dolby ATMOS with the M9 LCR and M7 SRB for every customer to enjoy.
Submarine tech? Well I guess that the m9 is now officially a weapon :-)
I own a pair of speakers/subs that didn't come to market due them being deemed something for warfare and not exportable.
Poured ballistic ceramic , which you can't ship internationally, might be the perfect speaker cabinet material because it's rigid yet lossy at the same time. The lossy aspect being it absorbs the vibration and turns it into heat, and they're quite heavy. They were touted as having a really black background, and they do.
Cliche's are cliche's for a reason. There's a sucker born every day.
I`ve been building speakers for many, many, many years as well. And I guarantee that my speakers sound way better than any Magico.
No Time Alignment! I can never accept this at this price point. Physical time alignment is very important, especially in the high-end. This is why I would never consider Magico.
None of these big speakers are time aligned. Unless you DSP the entire setup, it's impossible to do without seriously compromising SQ. Physical time alignment means nothing.
@@Luke-vu1wm wrong. there are many time aligned large speakers - have your heard of a tiny company called WILSON AUDIO!? Time alignment is very important. The human brain can detect 0.1msec differences. You're hearing additional distortion and smearing of the frequency response. It's OK with a low cost speaker, but at $100k+ it's a joke to not have a time aligned speaker.
@@Fluterra Not a single impulse measurement proves that, to the contrary- it is just marketing.
@@Luke-vu1wm Of course they do! Measure the response time at various frequencies and see how they don’t align, how they don’t arrive at your ears at the same time.
And you don’t need an impulse measurement to tell you that all frequencies should arrive at your ears at the same time!
Rooms mess it up, you don’t need the sound to START mistimed from the time they leave the speakers!
@@Fluterra Impulse measurements are gated. The room is out of the picture. Maybe you don’t need impulse measurement to show you at what time frequencies arrive, the rest of the world does.
There is no way at even half the price, considering markups, there is that much money there.
Does anyone know what electronics they use in that room
Pilium
@@Elberoth thank you
Greatest ever but how does this compare to A5… that I can afford..
Would be nice to see the parts you speak of. Also would love to know from Mr. Wolf what matters in priority, the driver the cabinet or the crossovers?
Evidently it is not the quality of cross over components (not speaking of topology). I would say the proprietary drivers is 1st, then cabinet architecture. Quality does matter, especially in reference to capacitors ( in the treble, in particular ), should be within the top 5 percentile. But they are in business to make money, not give it ALL away. At the same time, he might be able to do more with less, but that is a near impossibility of a product for the masses.
Awesome, but many will argue that GR-Research Line Array with servo OB subs will deliver same quality of sound for 2% of price. if not better... Also, do 1 on 1 battle between Wolf and designer of zeta zero speakers - and we will all see who went further in speaker technology ;)
I see no physical need for a brutally expensive cnc metal cabinet either. Salk sound will also go toe to toe and not blink.
" many will argue that GR-Research Line Array with servo OB subs will deliver same quality " - those "many" never listened to both speakers side by side, and no one will. It's conjecture on your part because you are uncomfortable with the price of the M9.
@@scottlowell493
09/23 No longer in business.
I am sure Magico makes great speakers. But they are super expensive. Made for the rich.
Sounds like M9 speakers had assistance with silent running audio. This company aided aerospace, military, medical,ect... to isolated their requirements.
Very nice but, to big, to heavy and to expensive and more importantly not aimed at your average guy in his 3-4 bed semi.
* Pushed * the state of the art?? Certainly in- complexity of construction, colossal size, exotic materials, and absurd cost . Aspects of how we get the sound - not how good the sound is! statement pieces, rather than statements of world leading sound quality. The ultimate audio bling?
Better sound quality has been achieved with simple materials with more strategic approaches, and for vastly less cost
The “state of the art” in box speakers, including bass depth with minimal footprint and superb directivity is Dutch & Dutch 8c.
The “state of the art” in reproducing a large, natural sounding soundstage is the LX521
the Magico? SOTA in towering presence and extreme volume
You sound very upset. What has upset you?
its pushed my marriage to the brink of divorce Lol
The interviewer’s voice is so annoying 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️
So glad we don’t have to see he’s actual face!
There’s not one Magico speaker that sounds natural. Alon Wolf should learn from Andy Payor on making natural sounding speakers.
That’s interesting. I love both and have in-depth experience with both and to my ears current Magicos are a tad more neutral than Rockports. I think Rockports have sweeter highs and maybe a bit warmer midrange.
$750,000 - BARGAIN
Bargain JOKE!
Rich people buy looks .
There are wonderful 👌 speakers made here in the USA you do not hear about.
They only shows stuff for the rich people.
You can buy a set of PV PA speakers and amplifiers . They will never till you that PA is better than most of the high price speakers they show on all these HiFi products.
The car speakers that you super clear also 👌. Okay we are all not rich we just love music 😊.
I bought some modest-looking, excellent U.S.-made loudspeakers 😊
I would still pay an admission ticket to listen to M9s for even half an hour.
I know it would be an education
..its woffers and tweeters boys and girls just like the rest , and if you dont like them good luck moveing them-that said design quility like no other and zero cabnet effects{should be cheeper than three bedroom house} 750.000 flying out the door:]
Can you write this again but in English this time?
I can't help to wonder, since the acoustics of this room is pretty bad.
why is it bad?
I swear I herd god’s whispers with those speakers. 😮
I really want to know more about how you corral His mutterings in an outdoor pen