Caphill, firstly congratulations on an outstanding system! To my knowledge, no one has done a review a-b comparing these two speakers as yet as the M6's have only recently been launched, and obviously will be produced in small volumes.

Valin briefly discussed Wilson speakers incl: the WAMM in his write up of the M6's - http://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/magic-m6/ There is also a fairly rampant thread on Audioshark comparing the Wilson Maxx 2 vs Magico S5 Mk2 - http://www.audioshark.org/speakers-10/wilson-maxx-2-vs-magico-s5-mk2-13420-page4.html

I own Magico S5 Mk2's which are terrific speakers. Obviously the M series are on another level. My dream speakers would be the M6's without a shadow of a doubt. I've heard the Wilson Alexia's (not the mk2) with ARC gear, and in another setup with Dag Momentum mono's and wasn't that impressed. I prefer Magico's approach of using highly inert, damped cabinets, sealed box design and advanced drivers.

If you're keen on getting a handle on how your Dag amps will work with the M6's, and can't find a Dealer who has both. Maybe see if you can find a Dealer who has the M3's and Dag amps, as the M3's will have a similar house sound to the M6's. You could also do a road trip to Magico's factory & bring your amps if you've got the room in your sedan/suv.

The best ss amps i've heard for synergy with Magico are Vitus Signature and Masterpiece series, Soulution 7 series and Audia Flight Strumento. The best tube amps i've heard for synergy are Absolare for sure. Though Conrad Johnson, CAT and VAC get big wraps also, but I haven't heard those combos. In my system I use a Vitus SIA-025 integrated with my S5 Mk2's, and further plan on upgrading to the new SIA-030 when it's released. Hope that helps!

You've definitely got some ambitious plans there! There are many pathways to good sound. Obviously my taste in sound is different to yours, hence there is no substitute for an audition. In the case of the M6's, I would tell you you're crazy if you didn't do the road trip and bring your amps in to Magico's awesome listening room to do a thorough audition. I've heard through the grape vine they make a serious coffee.

Fwiw i've found Boulder's latest amps have good synergy with ARC tube amps due to their neutrality and high input impedance. The 2160 mono's would pair well with your ARC Ref 10 amps. That said, i'm more of a solid state guy these days.

It sounds like your'e taking your time to see what kind of sound you like which is the way to go.

Though my listening room is medium size by volume, I live in a smallish loft apartment and don't have the room for a vinyl rig, hence my system is digital only. I run a Vitus SCD-025Mk2 cdp as my main source which I have sitting on Stillpoints Ultra 6's + Ultra bases, with an Ultra LPI on top. Here is a review with pics fyi - http://highfidelity.pl/@main-651&lang=en. For movies, I plan on upgrading to an Oppo UDP-205 in the near future & will upgrade the switcher psu with an audiophile linear psu. For the Oppo, I'll use PAD Neptune series cables.

When I one day move into a bigger house, I plan on adding a vinyl rig. But that's too many moons away to think about options.

Re: cables and A/C power, I use Jorma Prime xlr's, Prime pc's (re-terminated with cryo'd Oyaide M1/F1 connectors) and Jorma Statement sc's. I also plan on upgrading to Jorma Statement xlr's in the near future. Statement is the same cable the Marten Coltrane Supreme II's are internally wired with. Wonderful cables which sound natural, harmonically rich, well balanced, sophisticated, neutral (Statement) to warm (Prime), resolving (without being analytical) and musical. To sum up Jorma's sound in one word, I would say "natural". For AC power, I use a Gigawatt PC-3 SE Evo conditioner and Furutech GTX-D(G) wpo. I don't have any experience with Transparent or Shunyata products.

YW Caphill. Thanks for the compliment, however the reviewer was Wojciech Pacula. In terms of sound, the player sounds non-digital and analogue-like in terms of the tonal density, bass, staging and the emotional connection it gives you. It also sounds a little bit tube-like in terms of it's musical flow and holography. It wont be quite as resolving or accurate as your DCS stack obviously. Though the Vitus Masterpiece series transport & dac would get closer. Another thing, this player has a very good transport. They use a heavily modified Phillips Pro 2 LF transport which is bolted to a massive slab of aluminium. There are no real weak points I can point out, other than the fact it doesn't do SACD.

Re: the Oppo UDP205, just to clarify, the upgraded psu i'm fitting is for the digital & video circuitry. Cheers.

caphill wrote:

Bodhi,
Just wondering how the MSB Technology Ref DAC would stack up against the Vitus Masterpiece series vs the Esoteric Grandioso stacks vs the DCS Vivaldi stacks (like the ones I have) sonically.
I have my DCS Vivaldi units sitting on Stillpoint Ultra 6 + Ultra bases too.

I heard the MSB Reference dac at the recent Melbourne Hifi show & thought it sounded very smooth and easy to listen to. There is no doubt MSB make good dacs. I think the Vitus Masterpiece dac might sound a bit more organic and have more meat on the bones. That dac has good bass for one. I can't speak to the Esoteric Grandioso stack as I haven't heard it. I have heard the full DCS stack with TAD speakers under show conditions. It is very resolving, though in that setup atleast, it didn't sound as natural and analogue-like as Vitus. That's not to say it's not great gear, It's just for my personal tastes I think i'd prefer VA. However in a different setup it could be a completely different ball game.

A full stack gives you the opportunity to separate and optimize the different digital components such as the transport, dac, master clock, psu etc. But that doesn't guarantee you musicality. Really the most important thing is to separate the transport and dac if possible. There is a fair bit of marketing hype in high end audio. The bottom line is, at this level there is no really bad sounding digital gear. It's a matter of which flavor you like. As always, let your ears decide.

Hi Caphill, other than the Dag momentum mono blocks, I can't recall what associated equipment was in use. I'd have to go back through a lot of photos to confirm it. But I wouldn't read too much into my impressions of the DCS Vivaldi stack as that was under show conditions. You have one of the great digital front ends. I've got no doubt is sounds very musical in your system.

The ARC Reference 10 is a very good pre. I slightly prefer the Ref 40th Anniversary, but that's just a matter of personal preference. But i'm more of a solid state guy these days.

Soulution still produce the 746+ SACD player which is a very nice deck. Though by all reports, the MSB Select II dac & upcoming Select transport will be the cream of the crop in digital audio (with a price tag to match). And the benefit is atleast you've got a local MSB dealer you can access.

Geez, if you bring your entire system into Magico, make sure you bring a mate & give Magico a heads up. You'll need rack space to place your gear, otherwise they might just get a shit load of MPods and place them on the ground, other than your front end gear. But for $176k speakers, they should be happy to move a few things around.

In regard to amps, if you were set on using your ARC Ref 10 as linestage, carte blanche i'd suggest the Boulder 3060 if you could afford it. Otherwise the 2150 mono's. There is just something uncanny about the synergy between the Ref 10/Ref 40th Anniversary and Boulder. But my personal pick would be the Vitus MP-S201 and MP-L201. That would be an awesome combo with the M6's.

caphill wrote:

Bodhi,
This weekend I'm going to a hifi dealer outside Seattle that carries Boulder products. I'm going to have a listen to their 2150 and 2160 amps. They said they don't have the 3150 monoblock amps on display for demo. I will be aiming at either the 3150 monoblocks or the 2150 monoblocks.

My friend owns a Boulder 3060 power amp, 2120 dac & 2110 pre & loves them. I heard the 1100 series pre/power combo today with Magico S3 Mk2's and was impressed. They sound smoother & more musical compared to the old 1000 series, and look better as well. The 3050 mono's would be awesome!

I hope that I am in the right forum to post my question; and it is about the Wilson Audio Alexia 2 vs the Magico S7 speakers. I currently own a pair of Vienna acoustics The Music floor standing speakers and looking to upgrade. This is a very difficult decision because on the one hand there’s the Wilson speaker which seems to be very good on paper but costs the same amount of money, $58,000, as the Magico S7. Just looking at the specs it seems that the Magico gives you a lot more bang for the buck because of its beryllium tweeters and three 10 inch base drivers as opposed to Alexia which has only one. Like all people on this forum I do enjoy quality recordings and equipment and appreciate midrange sweetness and a lush treble. Having said that, the most important aspect of a speaker to me is bass depth and tightness. It is not the rap kind of bass but from old classic rock numbers like Hotel California and Get Ready by Rare Earth.

Of course system matching is also very important and I own a pair of Devialet expert Pro 1000 mono blocks. These are fed by an Aurender N10 music server, roon nucleus+ music server and an Ayre C5 XE MP universal disc spinner.

Given my equipment and musical preferences that I just explained, would anybody have any helpful hints about the choice of speakers? Appreciate the responses

I don't know if you're still in the market for speakers, but FWIW my impression of the larger Wilson speakers such as the Alexia is they need atleast a medium-large or large room to breath being a rear-ported design. So if you have a large room and want room-filling sound, the Alexia 2 should fit the bill like no other. The S7's also need a large room, though being a sealed box design they have tight, well controlled bass and are not as critical with placement closer to the front wall. But sound-wise, they are completely different. You really need to audition both speakers to decide which kind of sound you like. The latest Wilson speakers are very good. I can't criticise them.