Magico's Maestro - Statement-Speaker-Maker Alon Wolf - SoundStage! Talks Australia (Sept. 2022)

SoundStage! Australia’s editor-in-chief, Edgar Kramer, traveled to San Francisco earlier this month to visit the home of statement-level speaker-maker Magico. While there, he had a short chat with head honcho Alon Wolf to discuss modern manufacturing and the benefits of incorporating the Klippel measurement and quality-controls systems into the company’s design process.
#audiophile #hifi #klippel

[@edgarkramer2236]

I think it's important for audio enthusiasts to visit a few factories in order to get an understanding of the operational, financial and logistical challenges of running a production facility with many employees in a Western country. Even in the Far East too. All these aspects go into the cost of the final products, not just a sum of the bill of parts with a little profit added on top.

[@dougschneider8243]

If this reply shows up twice, forgive me -- it appears it's not "sticking" in the thread. I said in another post that went away that R&D is a thing that factors into cost and people don't often consider that. Over on a certain audio forum, where a handful or measurements and the lowest price rules, regardless of where or how something was made, or if there was any real innovation, the cheapest thin is raved about. Rewarding a "race to the bottom" mentality stifles everything, IMO.

[@edgarkramer2236]

@@dougschneider8243 Yes, but there are challenges in designing a good sounding product that is well-engineered at a truly affordable price. Having said that, those sorts of products, while they have a market, they don't necessarily advance the SOTA, nor materials research, etc.

[@dougschneider8243]

Nice interview Alon and Edgar.

[@exlipse123]

Develop new tools to apply 50.000 pounds of pressure? (22 tons) Nowadays even an entry level hydraulic press has the capability to produce more than 50 tons of pressure (110.000 pounds) They are reinventing the wheel, calling it magic and selling it for 100 times the price! ENGINEERING MARVEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Or eating shit using a big spoon!

[@Luke-vu1wm]

Obviously, you are unfamiliar with the challenges bending such stiff (brittle) materials. Wolf talks about the tooling to create these shapes, not the actual press. The challenge is to bend such a rigid material without breaking it. Are you familiar with any other 15” honeycomb CF/graphene loudspeaker cones out there?

[@DougMen1]

@@Luke-vu1wm Keep drinking the Kool Aid. I like the raspberry flavor most of all

[@Luke-vu1wm]

​@@DougMen1 No need to drink anything, I am a mechanical engineer, I know how things work, which you clearly dont.

[@DougMen1]

Just what the world needs, another speaker that costs as much or more than a nice home, that only hedge fund managers and robber barons can afford. Maybe Putin will buy some, or his oligarch friends, those that haven't fallen out of a window "accidentally"

[@dougschneider8243]

But, in fairness, like we have expensive cars and expensive watches and expensive whatever else, there are customers.

[@PS-qx6mw]

Sour grapes.

[@petekutheis3822]

Agree---talking lower audiophile grade in terms of price here, but I can biuy a Class D purifi amp for 2300+ $ from "brand" name or for barely over a grand where the Euro is weak, I dont pay VAT, and the shipping is cheap, from a lesser known brand in France. Yeah Magiwho---nope, I will just stick to just as good sounding speakers that cost generally say 10-20K a pair or less.

[@DougMen1]

@@petekutheis3822 Yep, like Focal Sopras and Kantas, for instance

[@DougMen1]

@@dougschneider8243 So what? There are customers for child sex slaves too. DUH!

[@DougMen1]

Wolf is an arrogant egomaniac and charlatan. He makes such a big deal about having a Klippel. Big deal Alon! There are two YT reviewers that have one, lol. He's afraid to say who makes their drivers, 'cause they don't make their own, which is why they either don't show any, or barely give a glimpse of them in factory commercials, oops, I mean "tours". They don't even do their own finishes, subcontracting those out to a third party. What a joke!

[@dougschneider8243]

I agree that only so much should be made of the measurement gear. In fact, there are many companies that have had superior measurements facilities for decades. At the minimum, companies should have these kinds of measurement tools at their disposal. On the other hand, Magico is only partly about that -- it's really a company that takes a cost-no-object approach to building speakers. Whether than results in a better-sounding speaker is up for debate, but a lot of money does go into the build, even if many things are still subcontracted out.