MORE FROM THIS BRAND SUMMARY The Magnat Signature S 503 is again an affordable loudspeaker that shows that you can expect better sound quality in the budget class. They particularly excel in a clear, detailed reproduction that spreads a stereo image wide. You immediately think: “Hey, these details have never struck me”. The Magnats do keep it polite and don’t exaggerate with that clarity, so you can listen for a long time and relaxed.

PLUS POINTS Solid build quality for an entry-level Detailed yet ear-friendly display Easy to control Wide horizontal soundstage MINUSES Added value of super tweeter unclear For lovers of classic design Toe-in is recommended

The Magnat Signature 500 range promises very good performance for a very reasonable price. That is completely true to the brand image. It is surprising that Magnat provides an extra super tweeter with these new speakers, which makes these otherwise traditional looking speakers something very unusual. There are different Signature speakers, in this review we look at the smallest and cheapest: the Signature S 503 bookshelf speaker.

Magnat Signature S 503 bookshelf speaker Magnat is one of those hi-fi brands that is always around. Sometimes more in the background, sometimes more in the spotlight. Usually at those moments in its nearly fifty-year history when it represents something special, such as the eccentric Vintage 20120927160435 or the 100 – kg Omega 530 – Subwoofer Disguise -as-a-sideboard. At first sight, the Signature S should be 503 that you get your hands on for just no 500 euro per pair not in that list of hi-fi highlights at home. But still, something special is going on here.

The S 503 is just one of approximately fourteen Signature models produced by the German brand from Pulheim near Cologne to its existing Signature lines. Yes, you read that right: fourteen. The new Signature speakers come in a variety of shapes and finishes, but share one thing: they bear an official Hi-Res Audio logo from the Japanese Audio Society. Literally even, because the logo is also provided on the front of the speaker. Why do the Signatures have the right to wear that coveted label? Because they meet the requirements of the JAS and they can produce very high frequencies. And that is again possible because the Signature speakers have two tweeters: a regular tweeter and a so-called super tweeter. You don’t see that every day – and certainly not on speakers of 250 euro each.

Solid and sober As long as the covers are on the S 503, you won’t notice that these larger bookshelf speakers take a different approach than a typical affordable speaker. You will immediately notice that they have been finished very neatly, with a wood veneer as you often encounter in this segment. Solid and conservative, but not something that immediately wins a design award. There are two versions: with a black wood veneer and a front in black piano lacquer or a beautiful version with a matt front in anthracite gray and a housing in a mocha brown colored wood veneer, for those who prefer something more unusual. The test products we received were in that final finish. We did notice that the mocha brown is much darker in real life than the intense light brown in the marketing photos. If you’re ordering these speakers online without visiting a store, that’s something to keep in mind.

The overall build quality is really German style; rock solid and solid. At even lower price points you sometimes come across speakers with housings that are very light and do not turn out to be vibration-free. Fortunately, the Magnats play in a class higher and are made of thicker MDF. There is really little to criticize about the look or finish of these guys. And what you also not immediately expected at a lower price point: the S 503 is provided for bi- amping / bi-wiring. The Magnat speakers are factory-fitted with small plastic caps that serve as feet and a little bit to absorb vibrations. Handy, because that means that you can easily place them out of the box on a TV cabinet or a sideboard without damaging the bottom. If you park the speakers on stands, you may have to remove those feet.

Detailed When you view the grids of the S 503 ‘s, you get to see something much less conventional. To start with, there is a striking metal edge around the woofer and the tweeter zone. In our test room, the sunlight fell right on it, so that the speaker suddenly demanded a lot of attention. The logo can also become an attention-grabber in the same way, which suddenly gives these sober devices a completely different look. But a visitor to your living room will not think about that shiny metal strip for long. If he makes a comment about something, it will be about those two dome tweeters mounted one above the other. The bottom one is the largest, with a diameter of 53 mm, and is active from 2.8 to 17, 5 KHz. Only above that does something come out of the second dome tweeter of 20 mm, with end point somewhere around 53 KHz.

Strictly speaking, the second tweeter is therefore active in a frequency range that an adult human can barely or not hear. After all, the upper limit of human hearing is somewhere around 30 KHz, but that’s only the case for young ears. Unfortunately and inevitably, the older you get, the less you hear those very high frequencies. Nevertheless, Magnat – and other manufacturers who do something similar, such as Tannoy – are convinced that a so-called super tweeter can add something to the overall rendering. For example, some listeners report that music appears more open and spacious with a tweeter that runs much higher in frequencies than is usually the case. This could be due to harmonic tones from instruments that reach frequencies much higher than the fundamental, for example with cymbals or electric guitars.

Personally, we find it difficult to reproduce those effects in our (non-professional) test room and we have questions about the underlying theory, which does not mean that there is something wrong with the Magnat S 503. Because if we ignore the discussion about the super tweeter (and we can, because in the end that’s not what it’s all about), then the Magnats turn out to perform quite well.

First impressions The S 503 ‘and fly in effortlessly when we press the cover of the latest Porcupine Tree album in Roon, played via a NAD C 658 which hangs on a Hegel Röst amplifier. The dexterous guitar lines and cleverly recorded drums of ‘Wedding Nails’ and ‘The Creator has a Mastertape’ are tightly put down without losing dynamics. Not bad! We have to investigate that further, and we would like to click on the first Fred Everything remix of ‘Free dom’ in Roon. This is one of our favorite tracks right now to hear right away how accurately a speaker performs when faced with pounding beats – and with the Hegel as the engine, we know that any sluggishness shouldn’t be blamed on the amp. Listening to this techno track, the little Magnats get a nice report in terms of rhythm and tightness. They are not lazy and you should not look for a cloudy sound image here. Beautiful.

Due to the dual dome tweeter, we tend to pay a little more attention to the off-axis performance of the S 503. Why? In short, you can say that the higher the frequency, the more directional the reproduction becomes. We therefore expect to be able to notice the most effect of the second tweeter with the Magnat speakers turned all the way in so that they point straight at our ears. And indeed, with the necessary toe-in, these bookshelf speakers come into their own in our test room in our opinion (and to our taste). Jazz certainly turns out to be one of the genres where the S 530 ‘s excel. Those playful, fast piano loops, as we hear on ‘Engos, The B loos’ (on ‘Legendary Studio Sessions: Cherokee’) with Hank Jones behind the keys and Charlie Parker adept Sony Stitt on sax for example. for example.

We listen to it streamed via Tidal and Roon on the NAD, and nothing is really missing. Yes, the bass drum could have a little more impact and depth; We would recommend enthusiasts to consider an additional subwoofer and go to a 2.1 setup. Obviously it is a bit of taste, but we would certainly recommend this if you are listening to your music in the great room. But you might just want to use the larger Signature in that situation. – floor uprights are considering. We do say that we have parked the Magnats on our trusty Focal Kanta stands approximately 1.5 meters from the wall. That is quite far compared to how speakers like this usually get a place in the living room – read: on a cupboard. If you place the Magnats closer to a wall, the basses will come through a bit more. But they never become heavy techno bangers, like most small speakers. Through with music During the further test work we realize time and again how good for its price the S 503 presents micro detail and in the presentation area, which makes you seem to experience your music in a much larger space. Especially in the horizontal plane, the small Magnats create a much wider picture than you would expect. With the special, almost experimental ‘Forget-me-not’ by Yelena Eckemoff, the many soft taps on cymbals and something like a glockenspiel float all over the room. Fascinating to listen to. Not on every speaker, but on one that has the qualities of the S 503.

Without in the worn cliche To avoid the fact that these cheaper speakers do things that much more expensive audiophile products offer, we do think that the S 503 ‘s offering something different from what you usually meet at this price point. They have been tuned just a bit more audiophile. You may not immediately start moving your head with heavy techno tracks, but with many other genres they will give you a nice seat in a large concert hall. The performance of these smaller speakers also makes us very curious about how the larger Signature 500 models perform.

Conclusion

The Magnat Signature S 503 is another affordable speaker that shows that you can get better sound quality in the budget class. can expect. We dare to doubt whether that second tweeter really plays an indispensable key role. But that does not detract from the good sound quality offered by these sober but rock-solid speakers of German origin. They particularly excel in a clear, detailed reproduction that spreads a stereo image wide. You immediately think: “Hey, these details never caught my eye”. This is particularly pleasant with intimate recordings. The Magnats keep it polite and don’t exaggerate with that clarity, so you can listen long and relaxed.

Magnat Signature S 503

€ 499 per pair | www.havoned.nl – www.magnat.de

Rating: 4 out of 5

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