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100 February 2020 the absolute sound
MAGICO M6 LOUDSPEAKER

BY ROBERT HARLEY

the absolute sound February 2020 101

 efore taking delivery of Magico’s M6 loudspeak-
er, the three best-sounding speakers I’d
had in my home were Magico’s own Q7
Mk.II ($229,000, Issue 256), the Wilson
Benesch Eminence ($235,000, Issue
294) and the Rockport Lyra ($169,000,
Issue 276). The M6 doesn’t have the
bass extension, power, and muscularity
of the mighty Q7, but it’s close. The M6’s
MAGICO M6 LOUDSPEAKER midrange isn’t quite as magical as the
Eminence’s ethereal, electrostat-like
transparency. This new Magico also
falls a little short of the Rockport in
resolving extremely low-level tex-
tural detail that reveals the beauty
and realism of instrumental timbre.

Yet if given the choice of any of these state-of-the-

art contenders to live with for the rest of my life, I
think that I would choose the M6.
Why? In a word, balance. The M6 is so fully realized in every
way that nothing about its sonic presentation reminds me that I’m lis-
tening to a loudspeaker. It’s not a “top down” or “bottom-up” speaker, and
it doesn’t compromise any performance aspect to hyper-optimize any oth-
er attribute. Although the M6 may be bested slightly in a few specific areas
by a very select group of the world’s greatest speakers, we don’t hear music
as “specific areas” of sonic performance. Rather, we experience a holistic,
unconscious reaction that either crosses the threshold into believability or
doesn’t. The M6 allows me to cross that threshold, quickly and completely,
every time I play music.
Jonathan Valin wrote a brilliant analysis of this phenomenon in his re-
view of the Acoustic Signature Invictus Jr. turntable in Issue 297: “Though
I’ve struggled for decades with explaining which sonic qualities make for
a ‘real’ or lifelike presentation (beyond, of course, superior LP engineering
and mastering), I keep coming back to the fact that I know ‘real’ when I
hear it. Indeed, I know it instantly without rational analysis or reflection
(which is part of what makes subsequent rational analysis so difficult).
Though I distrust the concept (because it itself is hard to explain), it has
come to me that perceiving a recorded copy as the real thing isn’t merely a
matter of superior parts but of what psychologists call the gestalt grouping of
those parts, wherein the many variables that we reviewers (and you readers)
ascribe to real and recorded sound (i.e., true-to-life timbre, pitch, dynamics,
duration, soundstaging, imaging, bloom, dimensionality, etc.) are no longer
perceived as separable (or even as outstandingly well-reproduced) ingredi-
ents but as a collectively realistic representation of a whole.”

102 February 2020 the absolute sound

the absolute sound February 2020 103
 MAGICO M6 LOUDSPEAKER

(One reason that Jonathan remains high-end

audio’s finest writer is that he doesn’t just describe
in a review how the product sounded. Instead, he
thinks deeply about, and then explains with great
clarity, fundamental ideas about how we perceive
reproduced music.)
Jonathan’s insight perfectly explains why the
M6 is so compelling musically—it has a singu-
larity of presentation that seems to render moot
analysis by dissection.
Magico’s M series began as a research project
into building enclosures from carbon fiber and
aluminum rather than purely from aluminum.
That venture resulted in the M Pro in 2014, which
proved the concepts of Magico’s new enclosure
direction. The goal was to build an enclosure as
stiff as aluminum but with greater damping, light-
er weight, and most importantly, more rounded
surfaces to reduce cabinet diffraction. The M6 The M6’s baffle, top and bottom panels, and narrow back plate are machined
reviewed here is the top of the M series that in- aluminum, with the tapered side structures made from ½"-thick carbon-fiber
cludes the $56,000 M2 and $75,000 M3. panels. The tapered carbon-fiber sides are just the visible portion of a single-piece,
The $172,000-per-pair M6 is a three-way, six-sided monocoque structure made from ½"-thick carbon-fiber walls that ex-
five-driver dynamic loudspeaker with three 10.5" tend under the aluminum panels on all sides. Cross bracing through the center
nano-graphene woofers, a 6" nanographene mid- adds further rigidity. Note that the enclosure sides aren’t the typical carbon-fiber
range, and a diamond-coated beryllium dome skins separated by a core, but half an inch of solid carbon fiber. The M6’s shape
tweeter. The enclosure is sealed. The nominal im- is radically different from previous Magico products; the ovoid cabinet has no
pedance is four ohms, and sensitivity is 91dB. The edges anywhere. Even the top and bottom panels, machined from 2"-thick alu-
speakers weigh 400 pounds each, out of the crate, minum, feature compound curvatures and smooth surface transitions between
significantly less than the 750-pound net weight the carbon-fiber and aluminum components. The baffle is considerably wider
of the Q7. that the rear panel, so much so that the M6 is supported by three feet rather than
by four. This shape reportedly nearly eliminates diffraction, and is claimed to be
a significant contributor to the M6’s sound quality. In fact, reducing diffraction
T H I S R E - R ADIATED SOUN D IS is the M series’ raison d’être.
S L IG H T LY D E L AY ED RELATIV E TO Diffraction is a re-radiation of sound when that sound encounters a disconti-
T H E D I R E C T S OUN D B EC AUSE IT nuity, such as from a cabinet edge (among other phenomena). Think of a sound-
T R AV E L S A LON G ER PATH B ETW EEN wave emanating from a driver mounted in a baffle. Some of the sound travels
T H E D R I V E R AN D YOUR EARS. along the baffle’s surface from the driver toward the baffle edge. When that por-
tion of the soundwave encounters a sharp boundary, the sound doesn’t continue
on its path but rather is re-radiated in all directions by the surface discontinuity.
(The word “diffraction” comes from the Latin diffringere, “to break into pieces.”)
This re-radiated sound is slightly delayed relative to the direct sound because it
travels a longer path between the driver and your ears. When this delayed sound
combines with the direct sound from the driver, the two waves interact construc-

104 February 2020 the absolute sound

 MAGICO M6 LOUDSPEAKER

speaker and the floor. Rather than rest on the

floor on spikes, the M6 is suspended above the
floor on a tripod arrangement terminated with
Magico’s MPod feet. The bottom panel is round-
ed and curved just as the top panel is.
This enclosure design has other benefits. First,
the inside of the enclosure is curved, reduc-
ing standing waves inside the cabinet. Standing
waves are stationary areas of high and low pres-
sure formed by sound waves reflecting from the
cabinet interior surfaces and interacting with one
another. Second, carbon fiber is extremely light
and stiff, allowing thinner cabinet walls without
sacrificing rigidity. The speaker’s internal volume
can thus be substantially larger while keeping the
speaker’s overall size manageable.
Looking next at the drivers, the three 10.5"
woofers and single 6" midrange driver are updat-
tively and destructively (reinforcement and cancellation), creating a series of very ed versions of the graphene-infused Nano-Tech
fine ripples in the frequency response at higher frequencies. driver technology that debuted in the Q7. The
Cabinet-induced diffraction creates a mild form of comb filtering, a phenom- motor is the same, but the cone benefits from a
enon in which the interaction of two identical signals of approximately equal second-generation implementation of graphene,
amplitude, one of them delayed relative to the other, combine constructively and a wonder material that is extraordinarily strong
destructively to create a uniform pattern of very deep notches in the frequency but adds virtually no weight to the cone. Accord-
response. These nulls are so deep, and so regularly spaced, that the frequency ing to Wikipedia, graphene is “a two-dimensional,
response looks like a comb. The frequency response peaks and dips caused by atomic-scale hexagonal lattice in which one atom
loudspeaker cabinet diffraction are much less severe than full comb filtering be- forms each vertex.” That is, this form of carbon
cause the amplitude of the delayed energy is low relative to that of the direct isn’t a fiber or a nanotube, but a lattice structure
sound. just one atom thick. Graphene is 200 times stron-
I’ll give you a vivid example of what comb filtering sounds like. In the Doobie
Brothers’ hit “Listen to the Music” there’s a break in the middle with just the
vocal, guitar, and hi-hat. The famous “phasey” swirling effect on the vocal during E V E RY A S P E C T O F T H E M 6 ’ S
this break is caused by comb filtering, but with the frequencies of the peaks and E N C LO S U R E I S D E S I G N E D TO
nulls sweeping up and down the audioband as the delay between the direct and MINIMIZE THE DELETERIOUS
delayed signals is purposely varied to create the swirling effect. Today such ef- E F F E C TS T H AT T H E B OX H AS O N
fects are created electronically, but back in the day the effect was called “flanging” T H E D R I V E R S ’ O U T P U TS .
because the engineer would vary the pressure of his hand on the flange of a tape
reel to slow down the tape to create the continuously variable delay. Although
such effects may be employed as artistic expression, we obviously don’t want our
loudspeakers imposing such distortions on the music.
Every aspect of the M6’s enclosure is designed to minimize the deleterious
effects that the box has on the drivers’ outputs. The mandate to eliminate flat
surfaces or sharp transitions even extends to the contact point between the loud-

106 February 2020 the absolute sound

 MAGICO M6 LOUDSPEAKER

ger than steel by weight. To quote from my review SPECS & PRICING
of the Q7, which saw the debut of graphene in
loudspeaker cones: “The combination of light-
ness and stiffness is the Holy Grail of driver de- Driver complement: One 1.1" (28mm) diamond-coated beryllium dome
sign; the lightness allows the diaphragm to start tweeter; one 6" graphene midrange; three 10.5" graphene woofers
and stop quickly by virtue of its low mass, and Sensitivity:  91dB
the stiffness prevents the diaphragm from flex- Impedance: 4   ohms
ing (and thus introducing distortion) under the Frequency response: 24Hz–50kHz
stress of being driven by a voice coil attached Recommended power: 20–500 watts
near the diaphragm’s center. A light diaphragm Dimensions: 19.93" x 56.25" x 25.67" (including tripod and feet)
can also provide superior low-level resolution; Weight: 4  00 lbs. each
music’s very fine details are not obscured by the Price: $172,000 per pair (includes MPod feet)
diaphragm’s inertia. Think about the very low-lev-
el components of an audio signal—the most del- MAGICO, LLC 
icate musical details of timbre, microdynamics, 3170 Corporate Place
and ambience—applied to two drivers, one of Hayward, CA 94545
them with a high-mass diaphragm and a stiff (510) 649-9700
surround material, and the second with a feath- magico.net
erweight cone and very compliant surround. It’s
easy to visualize how, with the high-mass cone, Associated Equipment
music’s very fine structure would fall below the Analog source: Basis Audio A.J. Conti Transcendence turntable with SuperArm
driver’s ability to move in response to the signal. 12.5 tonearm; Air Tight Opus cartridge; Moon 810LP phonostage
The driver’s mechanical structures set a threshold Digital source: Aurender W20 server, Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC
below which no information can be resolved. But Reference Series 3 MQA DAC; Berkeley Alpha USB USB-to-AES/EBU converter;
the lighter the diaphragm, the more powerful and Shunyata Sigma USB cable; AudioQuest Wild Digital AES/EBU cable, T+A SDV
sophisticated the motor structure, and the more 3100HV DAC and PDT 3100HV CD/SACD transport
carefully designed the surround material and Amplification: Constellation Altair 2 preamplifier; Constellation Hercules 2
shape, the lower that threshold becomes. The re- monoblock power amplifiers
sult is an increase in low-level detail. Moreover, AC Power: Shunyata Triton V3, Typhon QR, Sigma power cords; Shunyata AC
lighter diaphragms more faithfully reproduce the outlets, five dedicated 20A lines wired with 10AWG
leading-edge attack of transient signals, which Support: Critical Mass Systems Olympus equipment racks and Olympus ampli-
translates to a greater sense of realism and better fier stands; CenterStage2 isolation
conveys microdynamic expression.” Cables: Shunyata Sigma interconnects and loudspeaker cables; AudioQuest
The M6’s extremely light and stiff cones are WEL Signature interconnects and AudioQuest Dragon Zero loudspeaker cables
driven by an immensely powerful motor made Acoustics: Acoustic Geometry Pro Room Pack 12, ASC 16" Full-Round Tube
from neodymium magnets. In the midrange driv- Traps
er, the magnetic field strength in the gap where Room: Acoustic Sciences Corporation Iso-Wall System
the voice coil sits is 1.7 Tesla, which is more than LP cleaning: Klaudio KD-CLN-LP200, Levin Design record brush
twice the field strength of conventional drivers. I
had a demonstration of how powerful these mag-
nets are while on a tour of the Magico factory. A
6" driver was placed on a metal table and I was in- to the table. Driving very light cones with very powerful magnets is analogous to
vited to pick it up. The magnetic attraction was so a sports car with a 700 horsepower engine in a small and light body. Incidentally,
strong that it felt as though the driver were bolted reducing weight in a car improves the three main performance goals—it accel-
erates faster, stops faster, and turns better (because there’s less mass that must
change direction). A loudspeaker driver follows the same laws of physics; the
T H E L I G H T E R TH E CON E AN D lighter the cone and the more powerful the magnetic motor, the faster that cone
T H E M ORE POW ERF UL can start, stop, and change direction, and thus more faithfully reproduce music’s
T H E M AG N E TIC M OTOR, TH E dynamic nature.
FAS T E R T H AT CON E C AN START, The M6’s tweeter is a 1.1" beryllium dome coated by a very thin diamond layer
S TOP, AN D C H AN GE DIREC TION applied to the dome through vapor deposition. The diamond further stiffens the
already stiff beryllium dome to prevent any non-pistonic movement. This is the
same tweeter in the Q7 Mk.II, replacing the original beryllium tweeter in the first

108 February 2020 the absolute sound

 MAGICO M6 LOUDSPEAKER

generation of the Q7. Having heard the Q7 with

the older and then this new tweeter, I can attest
that the newer tweeter is significantly smoother
than the one it replaced.
The three MPod feet that support the tripod on
which the enclosure rests are very sophisticated
devices that do more than couple the speaker to
the floor. Magico calls the MPod a “noise-chan-
neling support system.” Cones and spikes per-
form the important function of coupling the
speaker to the floor so that the cabinet vibrates
less. This anchoring effect makes the cabinet
more resistant to moving in response to driver
motion. But cones and spikes don’t dissipate vi-
brational energy. The ideal loudspeaker-to-floor
interface would thus provide the anchoring effect
of spikes, along with vibration dissipation. That’s
the theory behind the MPod. The device employs
constrained layer damping that is tuned so that the
MPod provides solid coupling to the floor below
300Hz, but attenuates noise and vibration above
that frequency. The damping material, which was
reportedly developed for NASA, is so thoroughly
researched that the designer using it can specify
the precise frequency at which the material be-
gins attenuating vibration. Note that the MPod’s
lower hemisphere isn’t connected with hardware
to the speaker, but rather through the constrained How could the same tweeter sound so different? The enclosure shape. Ac-
layer damping mechanism. The MPod is usually cording to designer Alon Wolf, the M6’s smoother treble, more expansive sound-
shipped with a pin inserted through the device staging, and greater ability to disappear are all the result of lower cabinet diffrac-
that is removed once the MPod is installed. Re- tion realized by the new enclosure shape.
moving the pin engages the constrained layer Disappear is a word that aptly describes the M6, on many levels. Visually, the
damping structure. It is thus possible to hear the M6’s rounded shape makes it appear smaller than similarly sized rectangular
effect of the device by pulling the pin. Unfortu- speakers, allowing the M6 to better blend into its environment. Tonally, the M6
nately, the review samples had made the rounds disappears because of its utterly smooth and liquid sound, lack of coloration,
of audio shows and weren’t shipped with pins, so and top-to-bottom coherence. And the M6 disappears spatially like no other
I was unable to hear this comparison. dynamic speaker I’ve heard, throwing a huge and precise soundstage that gives
no indication of the sound’s origin.
LISTENING But most importantly, the M6 disappears musically. It gets out of the way with
Perhaps the most important thing you need to a transparency to the source that is utterly beguiling. Although the M6 doesn’t
know about the M6—and certainly the most tell- quite have quite the midrange transparency of a good electrostat, it nonethe-
ing—is that for the first three months of living less has a greater overall transparency to musical expression than a full-range
with this speaker I believed that the tweeter was electrostat because it sounds of-a-piece from top to bottom, with no nagging
an all-new design with dramatically lower distor- idiosyncrasies that shatter the illusion of hearing live music-making. It goes back
tion than the already smooth tweeter in the Q7 to Jonathan’s observation that the sense of realism in reproduced music doesn’t
Mk.II. I had lived with the Q7 and Q7 Mk.II for result from an analysis and mental assembly of separate sonic components (re-
many years, and knew their sound intimately. No gardless of how well each of those individual elements are reproduced) but from
one told me the tweeter was new, but I had as- our holistic, unconscious reaction to how our minds group those components.
sumed it was because the M6’s treble sounded sig- That frisson of lifelike realism we sometimes experience from a stereo system isn’t
nificantly smoother and more relaxed than what the result of analysis of the sound’s component parts, but rather from a more
I had heard from the Q7 Mk.II. In fact, one of primal response that bypasses critical thinking.
the M6’s defining characteristics is that you simply
don’t hear the tweeter. And I was using the same
electronics, the reference-quality Constellation
Altair 2 linestage and Hercules 2 monoblocks.
110 February 2020 the absolute sound
 MAGICO M6 LOUDSPEAKER

The M6’s overall character is another step in

the same directional path that Magico has been
following since I reviewed the company’s V2 back
in Issue 202 (a hundred issues ago!). That direc- the M6 immediately put me at ease with its smoothness and liquidity, and then
tion is toward increased tonal warmth, denser proceeded to infuse the presentation with very finely filigreed information that
and more saturated tonal colors, a greater sense reveals so much about the instruments, performances, and venues. It’s a rare
of ease, and a smoother and gentler treble. Ear- ability, and one that allows the M6 to consistently cross the threshold from great
lier-generation Magico speakers seemed willing sound to a completely immersive musical experience.
to sacrifice relaxation in favor of resolution, two The M6 has the second-best bass performance I’ve heard from a loudspeaker
qualities that are often mutually exclusive. The (the best is Magico’s Q7). The three 10.5" woofers in the sealed enclosure deliver
M6’s great achievement is delivering all the har- exceptional pitch definition, clarity, dynamic agility, and resolution of inner tim-
monic beauty, tonal richness, warmth of tone col- bral detail. Some loudspeakers with these qualities can sound a little thin and light
or, and overall ease of actual music while simul- in the bottom end, realizing speed and articulation at the expense of weight and
taneously increasing resolution. The M6 reveals a authority. The M6 manages to provide an enormously rewarding power, body,
wealth of fine timbral, dynamic, and spatial cues, and muscularity through the bottom octaves without sounding overly ripe. Brian
but in a relaxed context that encourages you to Bromberg’s remarkable bass playing on his new album Thicker than Water (Qobuz
lean into the music to hear more deeply. I could 96/24) perfectly illustrated everything what’s so right about the M6’s bottom
cite any number of instruments or recordings to end. His instrument had color, body, texture, and weight on the one hand, and
illustrate this, but I’ll choose three recordings with tremendous dynamic expression and agility on the other. The M6 locked into the
acoustic guitar that were revelatory for me. The deep, funky grooves laid down by this great band in a visceral way. It helped that
first is the all-acoustic trio album The Rite of Strings the extreme bottom end was quick and tight, starting and stopping with terrific
with Jean-Luc Ponty, Al DiMeola, and Stanley speed and precision. No slop, no overhang, and no bloat. The Q7 moves more
Clarke. I’ve heard this album on a wide range of air, extends deeper, and has greater dynamic impact, but the M6 is close behind.
systems, but never before has DiMeola’s guitar A little higher up, the M6’s power range was immensely satisfying. The upper
been so free from glare, hardness, and mechan- bass had a full-bodied warmth, texture, and saturation of tone color that set the
ical character. His instrument sounded more or- stage for the entire speaker’s character. What was so satisfying is that this body
ganic with the metallic patina stripped away. The and fullness didn’t come at the expense of sounding thick or overly ripe. The
second guitar recording is Paco de Lucia’s Live in quality was particularly rewarding on piano. The thin, threadbare character we
America, the rapid-fire virtuoso flamenco playing often hear on left hand lines was replaced by a richness and power that conveyed
perfectly articulated and vivid, yet without edgi- the instrument’s size and authority. The beautiful performances of Schumann
ness. At the other end of the spectrum was the and Debussy by Constantino Catena on The Sound of the Concert Grand, Fazioli
extremely subtle and gentle guitar work during F278 (MQA) were simply sensational through the M6. The instrument’s sound
the piano solo on “Harpo’s Blues” from Phoebe was full bodied, robust, and richly detailed, yet it never exhibited a trace of thick-
Snow’s eponymous album (Analogue Produc- ness or bloat. The M6’s utterly smooth treble and lack of glassy glare on transient
tions 45rpm vinyl). Through lesser speakers, the leading edges, totally seamless integration with the upper midrange, and pow-
guitar tends to get lost in the mix, its understat- erful dynamic expression combined with the rich midbass to present the most
ed contribution to the almost hypnotic rhythm realistic reproduction of piano I’ve ever heard. If a speaker can get a piano so
diluted. The M6 perfectly portrayed the guitar’s right, it should be able to reproduce any instrument.
gentle character and the way it was played, yet ful- The icing on the cake is that all this tonal beauty, coherence, clarity, and reso-
ly revealed its important musical contribution. In lution is presented within a soundstage that is simply breathtaking. The two M6’s
recording after recording, I was struck by the way completely disappear as sound sources, replaced by a huge three-dimensional
space completely detached from the speakers. The sense of depth was stagger-
ing, no doubt aided by the M6’s resolution of very low-level spatial cues.
M AG I CO’ S M S ERIES RAISES TH E
P E RF O R M A N C E BAR ON W H AT WAS CONCLUSION
A L R E A DY I N D USTRY - LEADIN G Magico’s M series raises the performance bar on what was already industry-lead-
SOUN D Q UALITY. ing sound quality. This new carbon-fiber cabinet, with its diffraction-reducing
aerodynamic shape, takes the Magico sound to the next level. In addition to
the more relaxed treble and expansive soundstaging realized by the new cabinet
design, the M6 also skews toward a warmer and richer balance, with greater tone
color density. It manages to do this without sounding overly ripe or thick, and
significantly, while simultaneously increasing resolution.
Best of all, the M6 simply doesn’t have any shortcomings that one must con-
sciously or unconsciously listen past. And that, more than any specific area of
performance, is what allows the M6 to consistently cross the threshold from
great sound into delivering an extraordinary musical experience.
112 February 2020 the absolute sound