The floor-standing, two-way, S1 incorporates an entirely new 7” Magico Nano-Tec® Midbass driver with the same beryllium tweeter featured in the S5, making it capable of astonishing output. The S1’s new 7” Midbass dual-neodymium underhung motor system with pure titanium voice coil-former is powerfully efficient and low in distortion. As with all Magico drivers, the latest custom computer simulations are used to optimize electromagnetic and thermal behavior.

Tireless research and development in conjunction with new manufacturing techniques have provided the means for a distinct new product that is undoubtedly Magico. Continuing an uncompromising commitment to quality, design and performance, we are proud to welcome the S1 as the latest addition to our incomparable line of loudspeakers.

Specifications

Driver Complement: 1 X 1” MB30 Tweeter, 1 X 7” M390 Mid-Woofer
Sensitivity: 86dB
Impedance: 4 Ohms
Frequency Response: 32 Hz – 50 kHz
Recommended Minimum Power: 50 Watts
Dimensions: 43″ H x 8.5″ D x 9.75″ W (109 cm x 22 cm x 25 cm)
Weight: 95 lbs. (43 kg.)

Pricing and Availability

The US Retail Price of the Magico S1 will start at $12,600/pair. Delivery will begin in Q4 2012.

“Magico Q1, you should still be happy this loudspeaker exists. This is the Formula One car of our world. Things that go on inside this speaker are being watched by intellects vast and cool and sympathetic to the audio cause, just as things that go on inside a Formula One car are watched by those looking to create the next generation of production car. What the Q1 does is create a trickle down set of ideas for subsequent generations of loudspeakers (whether or not they have a Magico badge on the front). That way, audio gets just a little bit better at doing its job. Of course, if you buy the Q1, you get to be the audiophile equivalent of a Formula One driver.

So not only is the Magico Q1 an excellent loudspeaker, it will help bring out excellence in future loudspeaker designs. Rival manufacturers will need a solution that challenges this speaker, fast. That being said, I think I’m comfortable in saying it’s going to be some time before anyone catches up with the Q1. Few companies could even start to build with the dedication and single-mindedness that is needed to build a speaker this fantastic.”

You can read the full review here.

“The Magico Q7 is currently the best loudspeaker in the world.

That statement will upset some, make others question my credibility, inspire someone somewhere to hate Magico, and maybe push a wealthy audiophile or two to buy something else, just to be contrarian.

I’m OK with all of that.

From a full-range, low-distortion, massively built, thoroughly engineered package, the Magico Q7 delivers music with unmatched clarity, resolution, and transparency. In my room, it handled with ease every dynamic challenge I threw at it, tracking the musical signal perfectly, regardless of bandwidth or the abruptness of transients. And with beautiful music, it sounded . . . beautiful.

For right now, we all have to live with these facts: The Q7 is very expensive. It’s very big. It comes only in black. And it’s the best loudspeaker available today.”

You can read the full review here.

“In an ideal world I’d want more detail, I’d want more micro-dynamic definition and greater clarity of the spaces around and between the instruments and players. But this isn’t an ideal world and the question is, just what would you be prepared to sacrifice in order to achieve those gains? In the case of the VTL 450s that’s a hard one to answer and after considerable thought I’d take them just the way they are. Here is the pot of gold at the end of this particular rainbow – the high-powered valve amp that you can live with AND love. So much music, so few flaws and none of them intrusive, this is an amp that’s finally come of age: More than that, it’s one for the ages.”

You can read the full review here.

The Munich High End show gave European visitors the first chance to view the M30.1 on the eve of the initial production. “A pre-production pair of the new speakers was made and shipped to Munich”, explains production manager Andy Sinden. “The first production will satisfy orders taken at the Show. World-wide shipping will then commence in June. as the new model is rolled out around the globe.”

The NaimUniti heralded an entire new range of products for the British company, not to mention winning plenty of awards; the new version has a more power, a new CD player and DAC, improvements to its analogue section and a new transformer.

Selling for £2795 when it hits the shops next month, the NaimUniti 2 increases power output to 70W per channel from the original model’s 50W, which is intended to expand the range of loudspeakers and room sizes it can accommodate.

The power transformer is also larger, to handle this power hike: it now uses a 400VA with six separate secondary windings feeding separate power supplies for DAC, analogue, power amplifier, relays, CD player and digital control

The latest version of Naim’s 24-bit/192kHz-capable streaming board is fitted, the digital circuitboard is improved and digital-to-analogue conversion is now handled by Burr Brown’s PCM1793 DAC – all of which, Naim says, ‘delivers lower distortion and better dynamics’.

The CD mechanism and loading tray has also been improved, while retained from the original model are a multiformat FM/DAB/internet radio tuner alongside the streaming capability, a front panel USB input for memory devices and digital connection and charging of Apple iPods and iPhones, and five digital and three analogue stereo inputs.

As well a driving a pair of speakers, the NaimUniti 2 also has an output for a subwoofer, and a DIN preout connection to allow it to be used with one of the company’s power amplifiers.

A new USB mini socket is fitted to the rear panel to allow future updates, and the player can be controlled by the remote handset supplied or Naim’s free iPad/iPhone/iPod Touch app.

Naim has also announced at the show that from next Monday it will be shipping its HDX, UnitiServe and NaimNet servers with double the storage, new software and an improved control app.

The streaming servers will now be supplied with a 2TB drive as standard, the drive being partitioned with a ‘Downloads’ folder to store ripped or downloaded music already in the user’s collection. The 2TB drive will provide storage for around 2400 albums in Naim’s preferred WAV uncompressed format.

Provided on servermodels now shipping, and available for download for existing owners of Naim servers from today is the company’s Version 1.6C software. This fixes what the company describes as ‘ some minor issues that had occurred in the field’, and comes in the form of an .iso file to be burned to a CD. Loading this disc into one of the servers will start the update.

Finally there’s a new version of Naim’s free n-Serve control app for the servers: Version 2.3 allows music management previously only available using the company’s desktop client, including metadata editing, online look-up of data and web-searching for album art, as well as the potential for expanded information about artists including news and video.”

Source: What Hi*Fi

“The Blue Heaven seems to me to suggest a slight shift in the Nordost sound and it is a move that I think will give the range a far broader appeal. This is a very sweet set of cables indeed that can offer tonal balance that is just about perfect with a depth, image stability and quietness that you normally only hear in much more expensive models. Combine this with the virtually unique speed and rhythmic delicacy that has always been a hallmark of the Nordost approach and you have a cable that is not as brutal when it comes to exposing system flaws as it once was. Some will still prefer the heavyweight, bigger scale of the multi-strand heavy copper cabling on the market. They will like the warmth and cosy musical weight and punch of those cables as opposed to the Blue Heaven’s stunningly articulate and expressive abilities. It is also true that, while the Blue Heaven has notable resolution, the monofilament cables higher up the price scale take this and pure musical transparency to entirely new heights of sophistication. But, for systems of all prices and qualities, the Blue Heaven represents a brilliant solution to an age-old problem and for very reasonable money too.”

You can read the full review here.