All of which mandated a return date with the S7 2026 – and where better for that than Paris? Original plans were scuppered by the June heat-wave that caused travel chaos in Europe, meaning I missed the official introduction of the speaker at French distributor Sound & Colours’ Presence Audio Conseil store. But every cloud has a silver lining and, once there were actually a few clouds in the sky, I hopped the TGV to town for a private listening session, free from my fellow professionals. Making things even more interesting was the fact that whilst not absolutely identical, the system used in Paris was close enough to the one played in Vienna, helping to put the shop (and show) experience in context. That’s another story for another day, but it’s important enough to need telling – so watch this space.
In Paris, the system consisted of the same pair of speakers used at the show, a Wadax Studio Player (for disc and streaming replay), with Studio Line Clock and PSU, feeding a Pilium Olympus pre-amp and a pair of Kratos mono-blocks. Power supply was courtesy of the Telos Tai-Chi while cabling was all Crystal Infinite Dream. That compares to the Vienna system, which was essentially the same, had the benefit of a better front-end, in the shape of the new Wadax Studio DAC/Clock and PSU, but stepped down one notch in terms of amplification, using the Cronus in place of the Kratos.)
Although the new speaker carries the familiar S7 name, don’t confuse it with the original model. This is an entirely new design, based on far more sophisticated driver technology, developmental tools and cabinet design. It’s a step up in thinking, materials and execution that’s immediately and obviously apparent in the performance. Magico speakers have always been long on resolution and transparency: in their most recent designs, musical coherence, integration and communication have been catching up.
One of the beauties of having a product or speaker to yourself is that you get to choose the music you listen to, making it considerably easier to get a handle on performance, even in an alien environment. Wheeling out a selection of (more than) familiar discs, it was instantly obvious that this system wasn’t just a cut above the one in Vienna, it was a cut above most dealer presentations too. The music existed completely independent of the speakers, the beautifully developed acoustic independent of the room’s boundaries. The first thing I play on most systems in a situation like this is the Benedetti Michelangeli/Beethoven 1st Piano Concerto (with Giulini and the Vienna Symphony, DGG 480 5888/UCGG-9044). This single layer SHM SACD captures the atmosphere, acoustic and artistry of the live concert recording, an acid test of any system’s communicative qualities and musical coherence. Sitting in front of the S7s (and the rest of the system) I wasn’t surprised to hear the acoustic space open out as the mics come up at the beginning of the recording. I was surprised by the depth in the soundstage and the definition of the rear wall, but not as surprised as I was by the presence, colour and vitality in the playing. Giulini invests the opening bars with carefully graduated restraint – a classic example of being able to ‘hear’ the conductor in the orchestral playing. It’s a quality that the S7s not only captured, but one they projected with an effortless clarity and absence of ambiguity. It was a musical soundbite that perfectly encapsulated all that was to come.
