If I had to do it over again Magico A3 definitely would be on my short list. I don't even want to listen to the similar S series that goes for $60k lol! A3 struck me as so coherent with detail that isn't hard or bright. Wilson Sophia would be a comparo if you shopping in this range but A3 better. I only heard A3 with Hegel sounds promising. Magico is expensive but lives up to the hype not like Estelon. Instead of spending money on expensive cables and dacs put the money in a speaker like the A3 and treat your room. I can see amplification with say with class A amp or refined A/B with tube preamp or if you want to keep it simple Hegel all in one amp. Good luck!😊
Auditioned Magico A3 - VERY DARK...
So today after waiting for months to try and listen to the Magico A3, I went to Scott Walker audio at Anaheim and listened to the Magico A3, connected to some VAC Tube amp, being fed from a Sony audio streamer, here are my impressions:
- They look fantastic, I wish they made them in silver too, but they are just great in brush black aluminum
- They're quite small and could fit everywhere
- Fit and finish is impecable
- The bass they generated was nothing but amazing for such a small cabinet, you could hear the drums, the down beats and incredible depth of bass at an amazing level
- Imaging was INSANE, you could literally place everyone and everything...
- Sound was VERY VERY DARK!!! This was a bit of a surprise, the top end lacked for my taste to a quite a degree
- I felt like the combo of the Tube amp and Magico lacked resolution, while bass and mid was great, the top end absolutely lacked resolution
- The sound was extremely laid back, again dark
- It does NEED POWER, like he had to crank the volume up, to get good sound out of this, so be aware of that
Overall, I "personally" did NOT like the sound, it lacked details and resolution at the top end, while it was great at the bottom end. Now, the rep and I think this is mostly due to Tube amp, and connecting it to a solid state amp would bring back resolution, but we simply didn't have time to do that today. I look forward to listen to these at another time with some decent solid-state amp, but as-is, I was NOT as impressed as I expected and wouldn't have purchased one and I strongly believe Tube and Magico A3 do NOT go well together!
Anyone else with similar impressions?! Curious to know what others may think, or maybe there was something else in play?
Thoughts?
- They look fantastic, I wish they made them in silver too, but they are just great in brush black aluminum
- They're quite small and could fit everywhere
- Fit and finish is impecable
- The bass they generated was nothing but amazing for such a small cabinet, you could hear the drums, the down beats and incredible depth of bass at an amazing level
- Imaging was INSANE, you could literally place everyone and everything...
- Sound was VERY VERY DARK!!! This was a bit of a surprise, the top end lacked for my taste to a quite a degree
- I felt like the combo of the Tube amp and Magico lacked resolution, while bass and mid was great, the top end absolutely lacked resolution
- The sound was extremely laid back, again dark
- It does NEED POWER, like he had to crank the volume up, to get good sound out of this, so be aware of that
Overall, I "personally" did NOT like the sound, it lacked details and resolution at the top end, while it was great at the bottom end. Now, the rep and I think this is mostly due to Tube amp, and connecting it to a solid state amp would bring back resolution, but we simply didn't have time to do that today. I look forward to listen to these at another time with some decent solid-state amp, but as-is, I was NOT as impressed as I expected and wouldn't have purchased one and I strongly believe Tube and Magico A3 do NOT go well together!
Anyone else with similar impressions?! Curious to know what others may think, or maybe there was something else in play?
Thoughts?