WhakPak Posted June 4, 2017 Share Posted June 4, 2017 1 hour ago, Peter_F said: ...When's the GTG?? When I build a new house for M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcathro Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 20 hours ago, Peter_F said: Very cool! When's the GTG?? More important, how do they sound compared to the S3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhakPak Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 (edited) 2 hours ago, dcathro said: More important, how do they sound compared to the S3? The blindingly obvious first point to make is, when you first hear Q3 after owning S3, the immediate realization how good S3 is compared to its higher pedigree sibling that costs twice as much. Then as the initial hours of listening accumulate you come to appreciate the extra refinement in the Q package that is just not there in S3. The depth of the sound stage in Q3 is about 7.5 miles. I say that because I was listening to Alt-J last night (Adeline), when I heard a Bell Huey helicopter approaching from way out in the distance. I thought it odd that a fire bombing helicopter would be out operating at night. My hearing is calibrated to that sound because in my infantry days when we were waiting for the RAAF Hueys to come and pick us up out of the boonies we knew they were 5 minutes out as soon as we heard them coming. 5 minutes in a Huey is about 7.5 miles. Then when I played the Alt-J album again I heard the Huey coming at the same place in the same song as before. No way, the sound of the Huey was mixed into the song! That was a wow moment. The well-known sound that I thought was coming from miles away was actually coming out of Q3! For a speaker that has such a physical presence (113kg each), the fact that it can disappear in a room like that is, in my book, the holy grail of high-end audio. Another observation, whilst S3 has slightly more weight in bass (two 8" bass transducers), the refinement of bass in Q3 (three 7" bass transducers) is something special. I can describe it by comparison to the degree of refinement of sound produced by a well executed ceramic Accuton mid-driver, only in Q3 this same degree of refinement is being applied to the lowest notes. The utter lack of sloppiness of bass in Q3 is a revelation. Needless to say Q3 is utterly ruthless in resolution and thus is very revealing of any weaknesses in the source or upstream components. I'm very happy with Q3. I was also very happy with S3. Happiness attributable to the special qualities of each speaker that they bring to the party in their own individual unique way. Boris says the SPOD set for my Q should be in Perth tomorrow. Makes me wonder how I'm going to tip Q over just enough to fit SPOD without them toppling over. Edited June 5, 2017 by WhakPak 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter_F Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 2 hours ago, dcathro said: More important, how do they sound compared to the S3? I've heard the S5 and S7 so I'd use those as my reference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhakPak Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 1 hour ago, Peter_F said: I've heard the S5 and S7 so I'd use those as my reference. S3 is better than S5. I haven't heard S7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TP1 Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 S3 is better than S5. I haven't heard S7. S7 is better still as it should be for an $80k RRP speaker. However I don't agree that S3 is better than S5. S3 can certainly sound every bit as good as S5 within the limitations placed by the rooms they are placed in.I know of two others ( one I know personally) who have traded S5's and S3's for Q3. The person I know is happy with the choice - his room and electronics are different however Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TP1 Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 They sure look nice however. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhakPak Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 S3 wasn't just a scaled down version of S5. There are design elements in 3 that aren't in 5 (eg the mid-driver enclosure which then went into all the Mk2 models). The room size is of course important, 3 isn't going to fill are large room as well as a 5. I do have a preference for 3 in an appropriately sized room. The question for me now is how close S3Mk2 comes to Q3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TP1 Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 (edited) 19 hours ago, WhakPak said: S3 wasn't just a scaled down version of S5. There are design elements in 3 that aren't in 5 (eg the mid-driver enclosure which then went into all the Mk2 models). The room size is of course important, 3 isn't going to fill are large room as well as a 5. I do have a preference for 3 in an appropriately sized room. The question for me now is how close S3Mk2 comes to Q3. S5 design was the big breakthrough by Magico ( in some ways over the Q3) and it measured as the most accurate loudspeaker with the lowest THD ever recorded by the NHC in Canada. Apart from the new midrange sound ( compared to Q series) Magico had been able to achieve incredible dynamics and bass extension from sealed enclosures with the speakers still being relatively easy to drive. This was an improvement over Q3. Sealed enclosures were always known for their overall accuracy and particularly bass accuracy, but in the past they were not known for prodigious bass. The difficulty in achieving those design parameters is one of the principal reasons most speakers are ported reflex designs. S3 was based on S5 but with whatever else Magico had developed in the interim. Having heard S3 and S5 in rooms appropriate for them, I cant subjectively pick a difference although the specs differ slightly and I agree room size matters. The latest technology applied to the Mk2 versions of S3 and S5 is another story. Edited June 6, 2017 by Tasso Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhakPak Posted June 5, 2017 Share Posted June 5, 2017 S3Mk2 and M3 are on my list of things to do when I'm next in Hong Kong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhakPak Posted June 6, 2017 Share Posted June 6, 2017 The pods have arrived.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhakPak Posted June 14, 2017 Share Posted June 14, 2017 SPOD fitted today. Wow! If I didn't know otherwise I'd have pinned the improvement down to a source or DAC upgrade. Sit your Magico speakers on SPOD, worth the price of admission! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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