Piano suffers – or should suffer – no such anxiety about its weight, scale or complexity and here again, the M7 is effortlessly capable of conveying not just the size, gravity and power of the instrument, but the shifting weight and attack of each note, the way a player accents each phrase, the way the harmonic texture of the chords emerges, blends and decays. That expressive range is echoed in voices, testament to the speaker’s ability to track a signal’s dynamic demands. Play a solo voice and piano, shut your eyes and (assuming the recording is up to it) singer and instrument will be extant, perfectly scaled, right in front of you. These speakers really do disappear. But it’s an interesting experiment on two levels. Yes, it demonstrates the M7s’ ability to project living, breathing performers into your listening room, but ring the changes on the recording (and there are a LOT of voice and piano recordings to pick from) and differences in recorded perspective, distance and recording limitations are almost shockingly apparent. The M7 doesn’t destroy modest recordings, but it definitely puts great recordings on a musical pedestal.
This is, by any measure, an extraordinary speaker. As it certainly should be, given the eye-watering €525,000 ticket that goes with it (although, do note that that includes 20% sales tax and the shipping and duty to cart it from California to the EU). That doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s the speaker for you – even if you do have the coin for it. But I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that, probably more than any other speaker out there, at or near this price, it could be… I‘m utterly convinced that it tells you ALL about the system driving it. I’d love to know how it responds to changes in or adjustments to that system…
This was not my system. It was not even close to being a ‘me’ system. But the M7s did more than enough to convince me of their considerable virtues. So much so that, for the first time, Magico has made a speaker that I’d simply love to take home for a serious listen. But that ain’t goin’ to happ’n. Normally, I am deeply suspicious of reviews that depend on ‘away-day’ listening: visits to a manufacturer’s or distributor’s listening room. No matter how familiar the venue, no matter how familiar the associated system, that doesn’t deliver the controlled listening/system environment that’s essential to any review. But in this case I might just make an exception. I might just make that pilgrimage to the West Coast. Not to write a review you understand. But a bit of prolonged listening would certainly be interesting – and who knows what conclusions it might generate? I think Magico has just released their first speaker (or at least the first I’ve heard – there is always the M9) that I really do fancy living with. Who knows if it’s marriage material – but it’s certainly sexy as hell!
https://www.magicoaudio.com/news/five-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-magico-m7
