Wow that Pilium brand seems amazing
Martin
Itās my poor glasses. I confounded Soulution and CH Precision, both made in Switzerland. They donāt differ so much, not?
Itās amazing to see such high end audio brands in Greece, as Ypsilon , Aries Cerat or Plinium, in a country in economic crisis.
If only i could afford the entry level separates from Aries Cerat.
Hi @frenchrooster, yes those big square heavy boxes do look alike (and very unlike Naim style).
However, other than being amplifiers and being designed in Switzerland they are quite different:- The Soulution amplifiers have very high linearity and bandwidth and only a limited amount of user configuration, whereas the CH Precision amplifiers give the user control of the damping factor/ feedback and consequently the resultant linearity, which subsequently is of course very low or even poor by comparison.
I understand you prefer the Soulution. I heard the Soulution/ Magico combo many times, through years, but never have been able to be involved. As this combo is so highly rated in the press .
Fortunately we are all different and have different tastes. Life would be boring if not.
Maybe the French translation of my written English in my various posts is not quite clear. The amplifier I have selected is a pair of LINN Klimax Solo 800s.
Not Soulution, although I have heard Soulution driving Wilson loudspeakers.
Yes, I know. You wrote it earlier.
But you wrote also that Soulution was among your top choices, and recently that you preferred the Soulution vs CH precision.
Unfortunately we canāt speak French, it would be easier ![]()
Actually, my wife participates in a few online French speaking online forums. I nearly had her write a reply to you, but I guess it would be moderatedš, if you ever visit the uk and also visit The Audiobarn, I guess we could possibly meet sometime?
Thanks for the invitation, kind of you. YouTube is good to learn French, or Chinese. Some said that to me recently.
Vive la France ![]()
Wilson Audio vs. Magico?
So yesterday I went in to the big local Naim dealer to hear the 300 Series. The Naim dealer is also a Wilson Audio dealer, so I heard the 300-300-333-332-350-350 through the Wilson Sabrina X and the Wilson WATTPuppy 50th Anniversary.
The Wilsons are absolutely amazing loudspeakers. The WP50 is a step up from the Sabrina X, but both had a recognizable and exceptional house sound. Very musical, able to propel complex ensembles organically. They also got me in touch with music in a very three-dimensional way. Especially on the piano music I listened to, the Wilsons+Naim 300s were amazing: it was like they got me inside the piano, letting me hear the pressurization and release of the wood. Terrific experience.
That said, Iām very happily sticking with Magico and my A5 order. The Magicos do two things, to my ear, that are unmatched: the start-stop of notes, and bass control. Their transient articulation and timing integrity is unparalleled in my listening experience. (Keep in mind that I was listening to the Magicos with McIntosh electronics, so I expect their dynamic response will be even more noticeable with Naim.) And regarding bass, although the A5s donāt, I think, go any deeper than the WP50s, the A5s just have exceptional bass articulation and dynamics. Their bass is part of the music. Left hand is in dialogue with right hand on the piano; the kicks donāt boom or lag in rock. Itās all integrated into the musical architecture.
What all this means is that the Magicos, although perhaps a less āmusicalā speaker than the Wilsons, present music to me with a truth, drive, and control that helps me respond more deeply to what I hear. I can absolutely imagine someone else going the other way on this, though, or even me doing so on some days! Frankly, Iād be really happy to live with the WP50s if Magico were not in the picture. But it is.
Now Iām wondering if I should try to move to S or M level Magico ā¦
Middle, Thatās a very detailed write up for both sets of speakers. What a quandry this presents! Given the sort of price tag these speakers carry, I really do think you should be making your final assessment on the basis of the speakers being played in your home through your system. Your description of the Magicoās is fantastic, but is there any chance that those clinical aspects which presented themselves via McIntosh could go too far when played back via Naim? Iām hoping the answer is definitely not and there are strong supporters of Magico on this forum. Apologies if you have covered off there being no opportunity open to you for a home audition, but if at all possible, this is one time when you could benefit hugely from some time at home with the two potential additions to your system.
Peter
Totally. You nailed it. Thatās the concern: that the Magicos virtues would turn into vices with Naim electronics. My thoughts on that:
1, I canāt home audition. Now, if I end up hating the speakers, the dealer will take them back with a restocking fee ⦠but thatās not the same thing.
2, When I heard the Magicos through McIntosh, I tried to think about how much the Mac was blunting the transients, and ask myself if I wanted another 10% of definition. I thought I did. So maybe Naim yes but (for me) Soulution no? Iād apply a pretty high discount rate to that decision, though.
3, In general, I find it hard to audition gear in highly treated dealer show rooms. They are just so different from my own listening environment. I actually find that my brain gets āscaredā by not having enough stray auditory information, and as a result I get tired listening in a dealer showroom because my ear-brain combination is searching for noise thatās not there.
So: I canāt really home audition without paying a lot to do so; I donāt fully trust my ability to think beyond what Iām hearing at the moment; and generally I donāt trust myself to make decisions in showrooms. Where does that leave me? Time to jump off the diving board, I guess. Itās worked before!
Hi @Middle, what you would get if you went to S series, or even M series is less money to spend on other things. As you climb the Magico ladder from A series up to S and then M is more complete perfection of what you have already described.
However I would caution against going for M series unless you really understand what amplification they need (I have M2s), and if you read my only thread āEnglish Premier or International (HiFi)ā you will see how I have arrived at the amps I now use.
Naim 350 will probably be OK for A series and maybe even the new S series, but I would not use them for M series. Also, I would avoid using M series without some kind of room treatment as they provide a near perfect broadband waveform dispersion characteristic (which Wilsonās do not).
Both of them speakers need lotās of space, from rear and sides.
I would definitely want to home demo them unless you have a dedicated room that is large and you could place the speakers where they want to be rather than where you want them to be.
Alternatively, switching source to a Linn DSM with Space Optimisation, or using the NSC 222 as a Roon endpoint (incorporating a room correction filter), or using DiracLive correction on a PC head unit would address most of the issues identified regarding loudspeaker placement.
I myself have never liked all this room correction software as you can never fully trust it.
I would rather try and get a speaker that just works in my room, rather than get one that doesnāt and then try and fix the problems. Especially if that means some kind of software room correction.
Hi Dunc (et al) I can see that this approach (not using room correction software) is very common on the forum. I understand that - I also used to be of the same view.
However, once you really get into this topic (room acoustics, loudspeaker design and even human psychoacoustic perception) it becomes obvious that placing loudspeakers will only get you so far.
In my own case I have used DiracLive for surround sound processing and room correction for six years now and Linn Space Optimisation for four years. I also use a good deal of professional room treatment. At this level placing speakers correctly is the first step. There are loads of online videos to help budding professionals in the audio production and music industry. I wonder if anybody on the forum have come across any of these information sources?
I had enquired on the upcoming S2 due to the size of my audio/gaming room (I did post in this thread) , launching 3rd quarter this year. However , the dealer advised me to go straight to M2, end game .M2 cost a good 100 k plus plus ā¦
Magico speakers need house demo. Good if one can be arranged .
Both are almost similar in size , the M2 is double the price compare to S2
Most importantly, magicos sound so good w dCS. And naim too, adding to another makes,Wilson sound very good too !!!
The new Magico S2 and M2 both look fabulous.
The fully curved front of the M2 is what gives it the higher performance over the S2 and also explains some of the cost difference. I am not sure if there is also higher tolerance specified component values for the internal analogue crossover circuits.
Yup the curves front is so beautiful, and yes the cabinet built and cross over are different . Hence the reference category -M series - drooling
⦠but itās expensive . Shall patiently wait for the S 2 launch to have a good listen to both and how far the gap can be ![]()
And, no screws on M series ! Perfect
Happy for you that you have the M2s!!! Power !!! ![]()

