Considering moving on from B&W...

Magico are really fast and take on the character of the equipment you feed them with. So, at least to me, you have to have really good equipment or you are going to hear any shortfalls.

Magico are incredibly fast and accurate speakers… does not at all sound like the right direction for you. Magico require extremely good and musical input or you get analytical… and the shortcomings of your electronics reproduced with great accuracy.

I have recently listened to the A3 for several hours. The top of the line Luxman amp. Musical they were not. Sounded pretty good… but not real musical.

I have had very accurate systems for decades… but somewhat missing the musicality… you can see my current systems under my user ID. They are incredibly musical… but with all the detail (a long story). To me musicality is critical (rhythm and pace with midrange bloom).

So, to me the most musical speakers are Sonus Faber, high detailed and musical components Audio Research… then realy musical components Conrad Johnson and VAC… Cary. Notice they are all tubed…

B&W and McIntosh have a very distinctive sound… great for rock… and some other heavy genres. But real musical and detailed systems you must look elsewhere.

I completely understand your interest. I highly recommend a trip. Plan a weekend in Atlanta or a city with some good high end audio stores. Make it a fun weekend. Make appointments with one or more audio stores. Ones with Sonus Faber speakers, Wilson, and Magico as a minimum.

This is a worthwhile investment. You want to fall in love with the sound. For me after decades chasing planar speakers it was Sonus Faber. You should also listen to The others I mentioned… although I am pretty sure this is absolutely not the direction you want to go.

For me Sonus Faber and Audio Research offered great detail and incredible musicality… I get captured buy the musicality of my system every day… I have to drag myself away from my system each day… even though I listen three and a half hours a day.