Magnat Quantum 1003 S, Quantum 1009 S User Manual

GREAT. GREATER. GORGEOUS.

Quantum Signature

 Sound: very good
 Con guration: outstanding
 Workmanship: very good
 Class: high-end
 Price/performance: very good

AV-MAGAZIN

Lise-Meitner-Str. 9 · 50259 Pulheim · Germany · www.magnat.de

JUNE 2013

Quantum Signature

Lise-Meitner-Str. 9 · 50259 Pulheim · Germany · www.magnat.de

Magnat is celebrating its 40th
anniversary. The audio specia­list from Pulheim wants to use
this opportunity to show what's
possible when passion and an
unwillingness to compromise
come together in one speaker.
AV-Magazin puts this outcome
to the test.

Magnat's Quantum Signature model is the result
of decades of research and development work.
This speaker, which represents the technological
spearhead of the company's wide-ranging pro­duct portfolio, was developed under the motto of
"not taking half-measures". The Signature series
was created under the premise of combining all
theoretical and physical speci cations with un­compromising, practical implementation. This
has resulted in a modern monument of speaker
architecture. The necessary foundation for this
has been laid by a team of dedicated employees
who have been invariably committed to produ­cing an excellent sound. The experience they
have gained over the past few decades has been
gathered and combined with state of the art
technology. The outcome is a speaker whose vi­sual appearance leaves us expecting big things.
To ensure optimum harmony between design and
technology, modern measuring techniques were
employed in developing the Signature series. To
see what effect this has had on the sound quali­ty, please read the following report.

Design and workmanship

Magnat's Quantum Signature leaves a lasting
impression from the very outset. With a height
of 140 cm and a width in excess of 31 cm, it ap­pears grand and powerful. So it's not surprising
that the man-sized speaker is also considerably
heavy. A single Signature speaker weighs in at an
impressive 73 kg. When unpacking we notice the
heavyweight metal spikes, which hint at the cali­bre of speaker we are dealing with. The impres­sive appearance is emphasised by the perfectly
applied  nish. The deep black coating is distribu­ted smoothly and evenly over the solid housing.
The thick layers create a high gloss, mirror-like
surface. If the Signature speaker wasn't so large
and heavy, it would be a perfect worry stone.
Hiding underneath the luxurious black facade is
an elaborately crafted wooden cabinet. This has
been manufactured from medium density  bre­board, which is otherwise known as MDF. Mag­nat has also incorporated some speci c design
details here to ensure an optimum sound quali­ty. The considerable thickness of the material,
for example, guarantees a torsionally rigid and
low-resonance body. Additional stability is provi­ded by the various internal reinforcing elements.

These ensure that the speaker's susceptibility
to vibration, which is caused by structure-borne
noise, is effectively reduced. In order to cons­truct a perfect body Magnat's engineers have
come up with a double-walled con guration for
the side panels. This not only increases the spe­aker's mass, but also reduces housing resonan­ce that would have been caused by the inconsis­tent material thickness. The side panels, which
are attached to the main body of the speaker,
are tapered from the front to the rear in this
setup. Another special feature is provided by the
chassis supports, which are located behind each
driver in the housing.

The baf e accommodates a total of six special
drivers, which have been perfectly embedded
in the front panel. The silver metal surrounds
create a rather nice contrast to the deep black
housing. Anyone wanting to hide the chassis
from view or protect it from prying  ngers can
simply attach the front grille. This has a  nely
woven fabric cover whose sound permeability
ensures it has no adverse effects on the sound
quality. The lucky owner of this speaker is spa­red the view of unsightly mounting holes in the
baf e thanks to the invisible magnetic mount.

Technology: Chassis

Each speaker in Magnat's Quantum Signature
series utilises six drivers. The three lower chas­sis accommodate the woofers, which transmit
frequencies from the deep bass range to around
200 hertz. Then come the two midrange drivers,
which cover the frequencies between 200 and
2,900 hertz. Between these two cones is the
tweeter, which takes over proceedings at around
3,000 hertz. By using multiple drivers for each
frequency channel the Signature unit does not
need to generate as much power to reach a cer­tain volume, unlike a speaker with a conventional
con guration. This in turn reduces the amount
of measurable and audible distortion, thereby
resulting in a crystal clear sound.

Sound quality

To evaluate the acoustic performance of the Sig­nature series we connected the speakers to the
DNA streaming ampli er from Audionet by using
"XXL Fusion Four B" cables from Oehlbach. We
began the test with the "Beethoven Classics"
CD by DTS Entertainment. The Signature ama­zed us with its tonally balanced sound from the
very outset. The two tower speakers reproduce
a surprisingly subtle and detailed sound pattern,
which we would not have believed possible at
 rst glance due to their imposing size. The bass
tones always sound perfectly controlled and cle-

an, even when the speakers are operated at high
volume. The speakers also master all tones in
the deep bass range. This is proven by the per­fectly mastered audio CD "Tarantula" from US
rapper Mystikal. Regardless of whether it's a
crisp upper bass range or a profound, soft bass
line, the Signature units reproduce the music
with optimum articulation and authenticity. The
connection of the two midrange drivers with the
lower bass frequencies make vocals sound com­pletely rounded. The Signature reproduces hid­den details with a high level of precision and pre­sence regardless of the tonal ranges covered by
the artist. When presented with the jazz samp­ler "A 20-Bit Taste of DMP" the tower speakers
demonstrate their complex and diverse cha­racter. The drum, double bass, saxophone and
piano all sound extremely natural and realistic.
The Signature speakers generate an enthralling
performance with a perfectly balanced virtual
sound stage, which propels the listener direc­tly into the music. Despite its impressive size,
Magnat's Signature series is more of a sophisti­cated guest than a ruf an. Behind the imposing
appearance lies a remarkable smorgasbord of
innovative technology, which produces acousti­cally what the speaker promises visually. It per­forms in such a dynamic manner with an almost
unbelievable amount of level stability and pulse
intensity that you will undoubtedly come to re­discover your music collection. This is something
you should de nitely look forward to!

Clear text

Despite its impressive size, Magnat's Signature
series is more of a sophisticated guest than a
ruf an. Behind the imposing appearance lies a
remarkable smorgasbord of innovative technolo­gy, which produces acoustically what the spea­ker promises visually. It performs in such a dyna­mic manner with an almost unbelievable amount
of level stability and pulse intensity that you will
undoubtedly come to rediscover your music col­lection. This is something you should de nitely
look forward to!