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?
Jhills, I think you are correct. VAC phi and iq 200 amps were designed to control low impedance speakers including Kingsound electrostats and can drive Magnapans. Driving a 3 ohm speaker should be a breeze. The mentioned VAC amps are a great choice for most speakers except maybe the power hungry like B&Ws and Wilsons of MBLs where they sound best with large amps.
However, I have auditioned and heard Magico speakers over 15 times at shows and stores, from the Q1 to the Q5 and S3 to S7 and did not like any one of them. I heard them in all times of rooms with all types of equipment. The smaller ones couldn’t recreate an orchestra sound. Pinched and small sounding. The larger ones were just dead sounding, not musically involving. A Q5 sounded so bad that a single guitar recording sound like a ukelele. Sure, blame the recording, blame the ancillary equipment. These were all high end dealers. I’ve heard so many better sounding/musically involving speakers, why bother with Magicos, for the name brand? Give me a Harbeth 40 over any Magico. I prefer Von Schweikerts, older Legacy, Lumenwhites, Volti, Martens, or any number of other high end speakers. I want music, not just sound.
I said I would rather own Harbeths than Magicos. They aren't for me either. I currently own Legacy Focus and Signature IIIs (2 systems). I am thinking of replacing the Focus with either Von Schweikert VR55 Active or Luminwhite Kyara. At least 10,000 Focus speakers were sold. Let's see if Magico even keeps the A3s around for more than 3 years and sells a 1000 pair. I doubt it. They come out with new and improved models continuously.
There's something wrong with that in high end speaker lines.
Wait, I bet there will be an A1 soon to capture the $5000-$7000 market. Then a new M line to completely eliminate the Q line.
The A3 sounded fantastic on an Ayre AX-5 Twenty. The dealer told me that if I order an A3 today, I would get it in Dec. Magico has sold over 750 pairs of A3s in the first 6 months of its introduction, twice as many as they predicted to sell in a full year.
Wow that means according to fleschler there 750 deaf people out there.All these people bought the speakers because of great reviews(there were none in the mags only some show reports).Anyway there are always the MAGICO are no good dudes.Im sure Harbeth didn't sell 750 pairs in many years.
Haters will be haters 😉 Dark/bright, fat/lean, colored/dry, etc… So many conflicting reports, some still don’t get it, these are the most transparent transducers around. What you hear is what’s playing through them, the good and/or the bad. Audiophiles are so used to speakers coloration that once it is gone they don’t quite know what to make of it. The A3 is a remarkable achievement in its price point, it requires some serious “unawareness” not to acknowledge that.
There are many deaf or deluded audiophiles who listen to sound and not music. My recent acquaintance who has a $850,000 audio system sounded awful (disjointed frequencies, blaring highs, muddled mids) from a pair of Avantgarde Trios with 3 pairs of Basshorns) due to some bad electronics (Ypsilon) and worse cabling (High Fidelity). We fixed the electronics and cabling for a 10th of the price. Now he has music playing in this room.
My friends are world famous remastering engineers and they share my sentiments concerning Magicos (and Steve Hoffman used the Focus for much of his DCC remastering work). If I hadn’t heard how uninteresting to just bad sounding Magicos are so often, I wouldn’t have made a comment. This applies to every other Magico speaker at a much higher prices, the Q1 to the S7 and Q5. So, if they finally made a palatable speaker for music, great.
My wife who has very critical hearing, nearly ran from the Walker room at the LAAS show after listening to Magico S5 with a VAC IQ 200. She liked the amp in other systems but disliked the speakers at the show (the worst was hearing Magico with Jadis equipment and a big pair of unknown SS amps making a guitar sound like a ukelele).
There are many deaf or deluded audiophiles who listen to sound and not music.
Yes, so many deaf or deluded... not to mention ill-advised that unfortunately insist on advising. BTW, my wife also has " very critical hearing" that is why she never listens to me ;)
Fleschler your a audio expert so you must be right(NOT).Its very hard to make a great speaker sound great in a hotel room.Whatever speaker i ever had it took me years to make them sound there best,All the MAGICO owners out there should let you know what they think DUDE!!!!!!
ebm-Kevin Gray, Steve Hoffman, Robert Pincus-all agree. Kevin prefers Harbeths. They are more expert than you. There wouldn’t be any great reissued LPs or CDs without them. I am not an audio expert, but after hearing Magicos at four shows and two showrooms, I have a lot of information to tell me they are speakers that are missing the music to obtain a "sound." I've been in high end audio for three decades and am a amateur recording and mastering engineer for an orchestra, chamber group and several large choirs in Los Angeles. Some of my work is at USC and UCLA. I have excellent hearing.
I’ve heard many excellent speakers and they didn’t require megabuck equipment and cabling to sound great. Magicos apparently do and not just any equipment and cabling, but really special items. My wife chose the Von Schweikert/VAC/Kronos room as the one she prefers to all the others. That’s up there in price like the big Magicos I heard. I’d take Wilsons or B&Ws before I’d buy any of the Magicos I heard and those aren’t on my want list.
Fortunately prolonged and repeated efforts by one member to name-drop and passive aggressively belittle the loudspeaker manufacturer that is the subject of this thread do not abrogate the validity of the ears of Magico owners and fans. And there are many of them. Fortuitously many more than the Benedict Arnolds of this world..
For those who enjoy their Magico speakers, wonderful. My unfortunate acquaintance with many of their speakers has soured me on the brand as well as my friends.
Fleschler, Most of the speakers you like are grossly colored. Of course, we heard them all and seen some of their measurements. They are not very good, objectively, and in my case, subjectively. Perhaps you and your friends have been at it too long and can no longer discern between natural sound and just “sound” as you call it. FWIW, many of RR titles were mastered on Magico loudspeakers (by Paul Stubblebine and Prof Keith Johnson). Rick Rubin also uses them for his work, not to mention many manufacturers that relay on Magico to hear what they are doing. Harbeth claim to fame is its “pleasant” coloration; Alan Shaw even talks about it. You can look at JA measurements of any Harbeth and just cringe; I can’t imagine any mastering engineer will use these to judge his work.
Kevin Gray uses them and Andreas Meyer uses big B&Ws at Sony studios where he has done fantastic work. I think Harbeths are constricted at the frequency extremes so I don’t want them. Von Schweikert speakers colored, yeah, right. The number one audio system at shows for the past three years has been his Ultra 11s as written up in Absolute Sound, Stereophile, Enjoy the Music, Positive Feedback and others, not Magicos. You are correct. I shouldn’t be here since I am not adding anything to Magico owner worshippers. But denigrating great remastering engineers whose tastes coincide with mine is dumb. Pleasant coloration in a speaker is less important to us then communication of the message-the music and Magico doesn’t do it for us. All those great recordings from the late 50s and early 60s were generally mastered on colored speakers and often (like most British recordings) were using Tannoys.
I want to hear back from Alexb76 who started this thread) for his second thoughts on rehearing the A3s.
@fleschler The number one audio system at shows for the past three years has been his Ultra 11s as written up in Absolute Sound, Stereophile, Enjoy the Music, Positive Feedback and others, not Magicos....
And that was only from the first 2 pages of Google search… Any other stories to tell us? Are you really interested in how the A3 sound? You already told us how you feel about the brand and those who like it, and you had no problem twisting the facts doing so. I don’t expect a fair assessment from you on anything regarding Magico, you don’t have to like it, but insulting those who do, on a Magico thread is weak (no wonder you needed help from your friends, wife, some mastering guys from the 50’s, etc). Hope you have a good rest of your Sunday, listening to whatever it is you fancy. I know I will ;)
Sciencecop - I know all about the critics who are enamored with Magicos. You didn't have to waste your time proving it to me. However, why is it every time there is a new speaker, it's so superior to the last? That's what I don't like about most critics, they push the new and denigrate the old products.
I didn't twist any facts, there is a large group of audiophiles who dislike Magico speakers as there are many owners of Magico speakers who prefer them.
I gave Magico speakers a fair assessment based on many auditions of them (at least a dozen audio shows and two retail showrooms), occasionally using my own recordings (classical, jazz and Yello for pop). My friends likewise gave them fair auditions. That's why it's my opinion.
As to the A3s, maybe Magico changed their formula and made a speaker that sounds more like music playing to me. The thread started quite negatively didn't it? I waiting to hear back from the author and see what he thinks and why. I am not planning to purchase Magico speakers. I am planning on purchasing either a Von Schweikert VR55K or Lumenwhite Kyara. They both work together perfectly with a VAC IQ200.
I don’t know if I’d agree about the similarities with the S5. I heard the
S5 in the Synergitic room and thought they were amazing. The A3 just
didn’t wow me.
It didn’t sound bad by any means, but compared to the Paradigm Personas and
Revel F228be it seemed a bit flatter and didn’t resolve detail as readily.
I’d go as far as to say it had a slightly ‘dark’ tonality.
Some of that could have been the various room setups, and you really can’t go
wrong with any of them. I could see someone having a preference for the
A3 if they prefer that darker sound signature.
I was really excited to hear the A3 at AXPONA, and I was pretty
underwhelmed as some of the others here have stated. Could be the show
conditions, but I was not impressed with what I heard (I heard them on
Saturday). I would like to hear them again at a dealer.
firefightingrob30 posts04-21-2018 8:47amI heard the A3 at Axpona and didn't find them to be anything special outside of build quality. Their sound did not set them apart from the many other speakers in the price range, in fact there are many others that I prefer. I am a S5 Mk1 owner. FWIW- the person sitting behind me was raving about how great they sounded while I was thinking, meh.
Fleschler, Im now selling my Magico Q3s because of your BAD rap I'm getting Von Schweikert ASAP.(NOT REALLY).Its time to give it a rest.We get the message you hate MAGICO and we love them.Thanks good luck!!
melbguyone Are you reporting me for starting opposite views from those who actually experienced Magico speakers and from other threads? We are not trolls. The thread was established by a negative view and you want similar views eradicated? I am on other threads where trolls tell us passive tweaks can cause fires and radiation dangers and who have no knowledge of the product and will never try the product. Those posts need to be removed, not opposite opinions based on experience with the products.
I own Magico speakers. However if I'd gone on what I hear at shows I doubt I'd have any. Without exception Magico show demonstrations are terrible. Usually matched with uber expensive and uber soulless solid state they tend to hi-fi special effects with a complete lack of humanity.
So don't read too much into show conditions. When matched with the right system (and it doesn't have to be expensive, and it doesn't have to be solid state) they can be warm, organic, open and melodic.
Anyone who wants to hear a "different side of Magico" is welcome to check out my (currentlt Q3 based) system if you're ever around in the Pacific NW
Melbguyone your thoughts are certainly on the money i totally agree.It doesn't matter as he thinks it only his opinion that counts even though there are hundreds of happy MARIGO owners.Enjoy be well!!
ebm It is not only my opinion, but the opinion of several on a previous thread, this thread, many notable mastering engineers as well as current Magico owners. Note that Folkfreak hated the sound as demonstated at shows. I found them soulless even using VAC and Jadis gear. However, Folkfreak has managed to make his system sound warm, organic, open and melodic. I'm waiting to hear from the founder of this thread. Melbguyone-You're new to audiogon. You have no idea what a forum train wreck is until you've read threads on Synergistic Research fuses and Total Contact. There one can find trolls who dismiss tweaks without hearing them and make up stories concerning dangers in using them as well as casting aspersions on sex, race and religion. I've done nothing other than voice my opinion. I want to hear from as many users and hearers of Magico speakers as possible but on both threads on A3s two posters dominate.
The voice of reason right here. There's no best, just what one prefers.
I've heard the A3s twice with SS gear and though I can afford them and am looking for new speakers, they aren't on my short list. That just means I don't like them, nothing more. I've also heard Magico one or two other times and I was also not suitably entertained. Horses for courses.
@ebm
"Its very hard to make a great speaker sound great in a hotel room." That is the truth. But I've also heard many that have sounded just amazing.
Pokey just poked another hole in your unambiguous delight in Magico speakers; in particular, the A3. Why don’t you tell him to leave this thread? I fully agree with him. Calling me a troll really burns me up so I will persist in answering your inane accusations. Stop pestering me and I will not respond. I haven't heard the A3 so I have no opinion concerning it.
I listened to the A3s on two different occasions. The first time was at a show and the sound was lifeless. The second time was in a dealer's showroom. They sounded like different speakers, detailed and very open. I submit Magico's are some of the best technical speakers that don't translate into me preferring them. I do understand why many people love Magico speakers,
I haven't heard the A3's myself because at $10k and being magico and backordered I doubt there's deals to be had and there's a lot of great used speakers at that price. I will say a local dealer didn't want to sell me any speakers at $10k before the a3 came out because he expected them to set the bar at its price.
I took delivery of my A3's about 10 days ago and they are breaking in nicely. Last description I would ever use is "dark," at least with my setup. I find them lively, transparent, natural and with deep, taut bass. A little thin up on top but this is abating daily. In short, I am very happy with them. In fact, after 45+ years in this hobby/mania/obsession, I would call them one of the greatest bargains in audio history. Given demand and aluminum tariffs, I cannot see how they will stay at $9800/pr. much longer. Rig: Krell FPB 300 cx amp dfriving Audience AU 24SX speaker cables; VTL 7.5iii pre; Bryston BDP-1 digital transport feeding PS Audio Directstream DAC; Sansui TX1 Tuner (yes, some of us still listen to radio). Neal
That is a very interesting coupling. The VTL pre and Krell amp are very neutral sounding equipment. The speaker is supposed to be neutral sounding as well. It would be interesting to hear.
Your response, " buy a speaker that pleases you " is so absurd. What audio guy in their right mind would do that. Far more important to buy speakers that other people say are great.
@soundsrealaudio, You know I was ambivalent as to whether to bother writing up my review of the A3’s because of how much time and effort I knew it would take to it to do it right. But after reading your post, I will now prioritize posting up that review asap. Have a good day....
Yes the Magicos can sound a bit dark and a bit congested.What they need is a really special sounding preamp.I have heard a Supratek Cabernet 300B preamp inserted into a very expensive system using Magico S5s and Audia Flight Strumento preamps and power amps and the Supratek completely transformed the sound.Like a completely different system.From a bit dark,cold ,small and dull sounding to huge,open,dynamic and vibrant.I would have never believed a preamp could make so much difference.
jtgofish,I have Magico Q3s with Strumento #1 preamp and Strumento #4 mk2 amp it is truly a great musical(not dark)and dynamic combination.I had CJ ET5 and this Strumento #1 preamp is in another league.I am getting wonderful sound beyond my wildest dreams.Thanks for your response enjoy!!
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