Setup ...
... was easy: I sat in a chair and watched Magico's Peter Mackay—who, despite being employed by Hayward, California–based Magico, lives just across town from me here in New York City—as he performed his sonic Magic(o). I sat, watched, listened, and learned. The A5s ended up a little farther back—closer to the front wall—than the…
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The A5 may not exactly be cheap, but at circa $65/lb, it costs less than certain cheeses and aged hams, at least at NYC prices, while offering much better sonics than either, and with a lifetime much longer than any cheese lasts in my refrigerator.
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Three-way, acoustic suspension, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.1" (28mm) beryllium-dome tweeter with neodymium motor system and engineered back chamber, 5" (127mm) midrange driver and three 9" (229mm) woofers, all with Graphene "Nano-Tech" cones with aluminum honeycomb core and titanium voice-coils and copper pole caps. Frequency response: 24Hz–50kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended power: 50–1000W.
Dimensions: 10.5" (267mm) W × 44.75" (1137mm) H × 14.9" (378.5mm) D (including spikes). Weight:…
Sidebar 2: Associated Equipment
Analog sources: Thorens TD 124 turntable (reconditioned by Schopper AG) with Thomas Schick 12" tonearm; Ortofon Xpression cartridge; SME 30/12 turntable with V-12 tonearm and Ortofon Windfeld Ti cartridge (in for review).
Digital sources: Intel NUC computer with SSD drive running Roon Optimized Core Kit; Denafrips Avatar CD transport; Synology DS918+ Diskstation 4-bay Network Attached Storage device with 16TB; TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit network switch (unmanaged); PS Audio DirectStream DAC.
Preamplification: Auditorium 23 Standard step-up transformer,…
Sidebar 3: Measurements
Because of the Magico A5's bulk and weight, I drove my test gear to Jim Austin's apartment to perform the measurements in situ. As always, I used DRA Labs' MLSSA system, an Earthworks microphone preamplifier, and a calibrated DPA 4006 microphone to measure the Magico A5's behavior in the farfield. (We maneuvered one of the 180lb speakers, serial number 000407, onto a dolly and rolled it so it fired across a room diagonal and was maximally distant from the sidewalls.) I used an Earthworks QTC-40 mike for the nearfield and spatially averaged in-room responses. (For…
The greater my own longevity, the more I admire that very quality—longevity, that is. An "upgrade path" is similarly appealing—if, regrettably, rarely available to humans, who are stuck with the equipment we were born with, give or take a prosthesis or two.
Hi-fi upgrades are less rare than upgrades for us humans, and yet they are far from common. A realistic, practical upgrade path is a factor I consider in any hi-fi purchasing decision—not the only factor, certainly, but an important one. A product that's upgradeable can stay in your system—your audio system—for a long time.
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Sidebar 1: What Does Mahler Think?
I thought it would be illuminating to listen to a Mahler symphony—I chose No.7—but with a different recording, orchestra, and venue for each movement, to show the kinds of distinctions the M1SE MDx is capable of facilitating. To level the aural playing field, I made sure that all the recordings were streaming at 24/96 resolution, via Qobuz. Here are some of my listening notes, both plusses and minuses.
Mvt.I "Langsam." Kubelik/Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra. (Deutsche Grammophon, 1989; appears in Mahler: 10 Symphonies): Sounds compressed and…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: 24-bit, 8x-oversampling delta-sigma digital/analog converter with 15 choices of reconstruction filter. Digital inputs: USB, AES/EBU on XLR, S/PDIF electrical on RCA and BNC, S/PDIF optical on TosLink. Word-clock input on BNC. Analog outputs: 2 stereo (1 XLR, 1 RCA). Maximum output level: from +8dBm up to +22dBm, balanced (adjustable); 2V, single-ended. Output impedance: 40 ohms (balanced or single-ended). Frequency response (44.1kHz sample rate): 10Hz–20kHz, +0/–0.2dB. Dynamic range: >120dBA. THD+noise at 1kHz: 0.0006% at 0dBFS, 0.0004% at –…
Even as I was admiring some of the handsomest audio gear I'd ever set eyes on, my thoughts kept returning to equipment of a very different sort.
Flash back maybe 40 years to my one-bedroom apartment on Elgin Park in San Francisco during the period when I was whistling for my supper and performing Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" in the Emmy-nominated Peanuts cartoon, "She's a Good Skate, Charlie Brown." Cue the constant din of an elevated four-lane freeway, since demolished as a blight on humankind, which I tried to pretend was the sound of water in the accompaniment to one of Schubert's…
I checked in with Haas by email before I set up the C1X. "With regard to stacking, while the units do come with felt pads to place on the bottom of the feet, I think I would still prefer they sit side by side," he wrote. "Great care has been taken in the design stage to isolate the power transformers so as to eliminate as much resonance introduced by their inherent vibration as possible, but if we stay true to that by not stacking them, all the better." Thankfully, the Grandioso C1X's power umbilical cords were long enough to enable placement on the only two available shelves of the eight…
Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Solid state, dual-mono line preamplifier with outboard power supply and remote control. Inputs: 2 pair single-ended (RCA), 3 pair balanced (XLR/ ESL-A). Outputs: 2 pair balanced (XLR/ESL-A), 2 pair balanced (XLR). Maximum gain: +12dB (XLR in, XLR out). Input impedance: 50k ohms, balanced; 22k ohms, single-ended. Output impedance: 30 ohms, balanced. Max output: 17V. Frequency response: 1Hz–150kHz (–3dB, XLR in to XLR out). Channel separation: 112.5dB. Total harmonic distortion: 0.00035% (XLR in to XLR out). Signal/noise: 120dB (2V input, A-weighted…