B&W vs Estelon vs Magico - Recent Demo

[Pearljam5000]

There's an MK3 that should be better

 

[MasterApex]

Interesting, having both the 800D and the S5 Mk2, I prefer the latter for stage-width, voices and bass accuracy (again, in my room). So actually my impression is the reverse.
The 800D has more bass impact and indeed more tweeter energy. It is more "fun", but less accurate.

At the high end my impression is, that even flatter on-axis response is not the important factor anymore. It's flat enough, especially in a stereo configuration, where the ear/brain listens for other elements like involvement and impacts, which depend a lot on the room and the spatial/temporal patterns of the speakers.

I think 800D3 midrange and tweeter are a notch above 800D ; even the cabinet design is different.

 

[richard12511]

I think 800D3 midrange and tweeter are a notch above 800D ; even the cabinet design is different.

I don’t know. The 800 series seems to unfortunately be getting worse with every release
Sad to see.

 

[YSC]

I think 800D3 midrange and tweeter are a notch above 800D ; even the cabinet design is different.

I personally think the integration and dispersion of recent years is so broken that the driver alone is of almost no importance... the chewed up response is much more than the drivers alone can do

 

[kemmler3D]

I personally think the integration and dispersion of recent years is so broken that the driver alone is of almost no importance... the chewed up response is much more than the drivers alone can do

If they upgraded the drivers, in theory they could move crossover points and avoid some of the diffraction issues or whatever, but overall yeah. Realistically I think B&W do the wacky on-axis responses on purpose. They go for something "characterful" that adds up to something plausible in terms of a power response but it looks pretty strange from most angles, literally.

 

[YSC]

If they upgraded the drivers, in theory they could move crossover points and avoid some of the diffraction issues or whatever, but overall yeah. Realistically I think B&W do the wacky on-axis responses on purpose. They go for something "characterful" that adds up to something plausible in terms of a power response but it looks pretty strange from most angles, literally.

I believe so, but with that free mounting tweeter I am also pretty sure only changing the x-over won't help much.. and I believe their brand, their studoi presence and the exotic look together with marketing will keep them afloat easier than going to a more proper sound approach

 

[kemmler3D]

I believe so, but with that free mounting tweeter I am also pretty sure only changing the x-over won't help much.. and I believe their brand, their studoi presence and the exotic look together with marketing will keep them afloat easier than going to a more proper sound approach

Years ago they used to have speakers that were pretty technically good for the time. And some of their more recent speakers seem to show competent engineering with weird goals. I think they intentionally have gone away from what we would consider proper design over the years toward "showroom sound" or something. It's not that they can't engineer speakers with smooth directivity and all that, it seems that they don't want to.

It may be a good marketing strategy for them, who knows?

 

[richard12511]

If they upgraded the drivers, in theory they could move crossover points and avoid some of the diffraction issues or whatever, but overall yeah. Realistically I think B&W do the wacky on-axis responses on purpose. They go for something "characterful" that adds up to something plausible in terms of a power response but it looks pretty strange from most angles, literally.

I agree, though it’s not just the on axis thats’s wacky. They’re also wacky off axis. The old B&Ws look remarkably better. B&W 800 was my first “dream speaker” when I got into the hobby, so it’s sad to them getting worse and worse with every new version.

I was hopeful that with the modern much greater prevalence of measurements that D4 would reverse the trend followed thus far; sadly, D4 seems to have continued the trend of traveling further in the wrong direction .

 

[Dekiller]

Just forget b&w.

 

[cpachris]

Update on the direction I went. I have them unboxed but still sitting in the dining room. Going to take a little effort to get these things upstairs. Heavy. Appreciate all the input and suggestions along the way. I'll try and post some impressions and maybe some measurements once I get them upstairs in the new listening room (still under construction).

 

[MattHooper]

Update on the direction I went. I have them unboxed but still sitting in the dining room. Going to take a little effort to get these things upstairs. Heavy. Appreciate all the input and suggestions along the way. I'll try and post some impressions and maybe some measurements once I get them upstairs in the new listening room (still under construction).

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Holy cow! Now that’s going for it.

Please let us know how they sound. Must be so exciting.

 

[boxerfan88]

Excellent choice! Can’t wait to read about your impressions.

 

[GXAlan]

Update on the direction I went.

Congrats!

 

[MattHooper]

I think the Magic’s were a good choice.

This may be more personal subjective point of view. I spent quite a while listening to the Estelon XB MK 2 at my friends house, and I suspect it measured very much like the XB diamonds - slight depression in the mid range and peaky in the upper mids. Both my friend and I immediately heard this character, compared to other speakers he’d reviewed, and compared to the cheaper Estelon speakers he owned.

In fact, I found the upper mid range lower treble peak coincided with the peak in his cartridge response, and I found vinyl playback almost unlistenable on that system.

The Estelons do some really cool things sonically for sure. But I personally couldn’t live with them. The Magicos will be smoother as I’m sure you know.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Update on the direction I went. I have them unboxed but still sitting in the dining room. Going to take a little effort to get these things upstairs. Heavy. Appreciate all the input and suggestions along the way. I'll try and post some impressions and maybe some measurements once I get them upstairs in the new listening room (still under construction).

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Suggestion :
Play Nirvana and Pearl Jam on them as much as possible