Warning: Subjective Vignette Incoming

[MaxBuck]

I had the chance to listen to a couple of very familiar pieces on two costly speakers today. Magico S2 and Dali KORE. Main source was Tidal playing through streamer with Joey Alexander's combo playing Freedom Jazz Dance off his album In a Sentimental Mood and a couple of inferior cuts; Magicos were motivated by an Accuphase stereo amp and Dali by a pair of big honking Burmester monoblocks.

Magicos were, honestly, muddy and indistinct to my ears. Very disappointing as I hear clearer attack on cymbals and snare when I play the piece on my own KEF R11s. Too bad they're about 15x the price of the R11s at, I believe, about $80,000 for the pair..

Dali KORE? Likely the most impressive speakers I've heard. Magnificent clarity, soundstage and dynamics. Attack on the cymbals and snare very clear, sharp and convincing. As they ought to be for about $150,000. But if I had FU money, I'd probably buy them. They don't have much WAF, though.

The Burmester monoblocks were truly ridiculous. $300,000 apiece, or $600,000 for the stereo pair.

 

[MattHooper]

That sounds like a fun time!

I got to spend a few days listening to the flagship Dali Epikore II speakers at my friends house and they were a blast.

Not perfectly neutral, but close enough and just tons of fun. They had a nice combination of clarity, richness, dynamics and big scale.
They had a real size and heft to the presentation. And it was a sense of being able to turn them up as loud as you want without sounding strained. In fact, they almost seemed to invite it. They were one of those “ can go dangerously loud easily before you know it” type speakers Didn’t quite disappear to the same degree of some other speakers. But still enjoyed them.

 

[Purité Audio]

I had the chance to listen to a couple of very familiar pieces on two costly speakers today. Magico S2 and Dali KORE. Main source was Tidal playing through streamer with Joey Alexander's combo playing Freedom Jazz Dance off his album In a Sentimental Mood and a couple of inferior cuts; Magicos were motivated by an Accuphase stereo amp and Dali by a pair of big honking Burmester monoblocks.

Magicos were, honestly, muddy and indistinct to my ears. Very disappointing as I hear clearer attack on cymbals and snare when I play the piece on my own KEF R11s. Too bad they're about 15x the price of the R11s at, I believe, about $80,000 for the pair..

Dali KORE? Likely the most impressive speakers I've heard. Magnificent clarity, soundstage and dynamics. Attack on the cymbals and snare very clear, sharp and convincing. As they ought to be for about $150,000. But if I had FU money, I'd probably buy them. They don't have much WAF, though.

The Burmester monoblocks were truly ridiculous. $300,000 apiece, or $600,000 for the stereo pair.

In the same room at the same time?
Keith

 

[dfuller]

Magicos from what I've seen of the data on them (not much, admittedly!) seem to be rather rolled off in the top octave. Stereophile's measurements show them to be something like 6 dB down at 20k vs 10k.

That might have explained what you were hearing as muddiness.

 

[egellings]

I had the chance to listen to a couple of very familiar pieces on two costly speakers today. Magico S2 and Dali KORE. Main source was Tidal playing through streamer with Joey Alexander's combo playing Freedom Jazz Dance off his album In a Sentimental Mood and a couple of inferior cuts; Magicos were motivated by an Accuphase stereo amp and Dali by a pair of big honking Burmester monoblocks.

Magicos were, honestly, muddy and indistinct to my ears. Very disappointing as I hear clearer attack on cymbals and snare when I play the piece on my own KEF R11s. Too bad they're about 15x the price of the R11s at, I believe, about $80,000 for the pair..

Dali KORE? Likely the most impressive speakers I've heard. Magnificent clarity, soundstage and dynamics. Attack on the cymbals and snare very clear, sharp and convincing. As they ought to be for about $150,000. But if I had FU money, I'd probably buy them. They don't have much WAF, though.

The Burmester monoblocks were truly ridiculous. $300,000 apiece, or $600,000 for the stereo pair.

Could the two different amplifiers be part of the reason for the different sound? Maybe the Accuphase had difficulty driving the Magicos. I think that the same equipment should be used to test drive both speakers, so that only the speakers themselves are being compared, not two different combinations of equipment. The equipment should be verified to have the capability of cleanly driving both types of speaker, too.

 

[MaxBuck]

In the same room at the same time?
Keith

Yes, one right after the other.

 

[MaxBuck]

Could the two different amplifiers be part of the reason for the different sound? Maybe the Accuphase had difficulty driving the Magicos. I think that the same equipment should be used to test drive both speakers, so that only the speakers themselves are being compared, not two different combinations of equipment. The equipment should be verified to have the capability of cleanly driving both types of speaker, too.

I think both the Accuphase and Burmester amps are very likely to be competent and sufficiently powerful to drive the respective speakers without clipping. I will note that the speakers were located at opposite ends of the room.

Also, note my thread title. I don't pretend to be a trained listener, either. It's true, though, that at the age of 72 my hearing has been objectively tested to be undiminished in acuity beyond 15,000 Hz. I was honestly very surprised at the results of the testing, as I worked with noisy high-speed rotating machinery as a young adult. I assume that treble reproduction might be something I'm more attuned to than many similarly old farts.

 

[sigbergaudio]

Setup and room (and as always bias) has so much impact that it's hard to believe. I listened to the Dali Kore at a hifi show a couple of years back, and they did not impress me at all.

Are your experience or mine closer to the truth? No one knows.

 

[Cote Dazur]

I had the chance to listen to a couple of very familiar pieces on two costly speakers today

Lucky for you, glad to read you enjoyed your experience. Would you be able to post a picture of the set up in the listening room.

 

[MaxBuck]

Didn't photograph the Magicos; sorry. The subwoofer in the corner wasn't hooked up. Nor, with these KOREs, did it need to be.

 

[Reddoc]

View attachment 453159Didn't photograph the Magicos; sorry. The subwoofer in the corner wasn't hooked up. Nor, with these KOREs, did it need to be.

It's a tough ask to move either the amps OR the speakers to opposite ends to allow a semblance off comparison. Especially at 72! But I hope you enjoyed the music!
I've never heard Dali KORE's, but I've heard the S2s sound fantastic. Audio is annoyingly complex when in comes to speakers / rooms / people