Integrated Amp to match with Magico A3

@eldonfung What you need to do now is go out & audition as many of the (many) amp/speaker combo’s suggested, then report back your findings. That will be of more value than spending all your time reading threads. Listen listen listen as HP would say!

I have Q3s and have moved to an integrated recently. I auditioned the Hegel 360 amongst a few others. I ended up with the latest Octave se and I could not be happier. It seems to sound better each time I play it which with a 5 month old is not nearly often enough !

best of luck with the A3s I am sure r
they will sing for you!

Jerry I would expect that pairing to be good. All the Magico's we have heard always sounded  a bit on the dry side, so a slightly warm, yet articulate tube amp like the Octave sounds like a perfect match. 

Enjoy the Octave we have always liked their gear.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

I’ve never heard the Octave before. In fact I’ve never even seen one before it was mentioned it so I looked it up. That is one damn sexy looking amplifier! I would love something like that someday but it is way out of my budget at the moment. Frankly the Hegel was already pushing it. Fortunately I found a really great deal on one so I stretched only a bit for it. That’s one thing I’ll say for the Hegel; you can find a dealer fairly easily and if you are patient can likely snap an open-box (or even a new one) with warranty for a very attractive discount.

Here are some downsides you might want to be aware of with the Hegel H360 based on my short experience:

1. If you care about MQA it doesn’t have it (I do not care about this).

2. It doesn’t have built in apps (also not an issue for me because of my setup).

3. I guess the model is likely to be replaced in the next year or so after they roll out the 590 (I’m not worried about this now but we’ll see how I feel then).

4. I really like the look of the Hegel but it’s simple design probably isn’t for everyone. To put it another way, It’s pretty but it won’t get you insta-laid by anyone around you like the Octave will (this could be a good or bad thing depending on who is around you and how open-minded you are).

5. Lastly the remote is not at all to my liking and I will replace it with something back-lit with larger buttons or even a cheap tablet.

So far I’m really enjoying the combination of the H360 and the A3s. Then again, I’m so blown away by female vocals on the Magicos that I just sit there dumbfounded with my mouth agape and drool running down my chin every time I take a listen. So you should probably consider my opinion still in the "honeymoon phase" :-) Time will tell.

Congratulations Jake, you’ve chosen two components which offer great cost/performance and should be a safe investment. You should get many hours enjoyment from them. I didn’t own a system that good until I was pushing 40yo. Enjoy them in good health!

Btw, be patient with your A3’s. Magico speakers take about 300-400hrs to be mostly run in. Up to that point they will continue to open up and improve, though most of the improvement should occur in the first 250hrs (along with your new amp).

Technical Brain

Thanks melbguyone!  I'm having a lot of fun rediscovering my old music collection and a whole lot of new stuff on Tidal.  I've already pushed in to my 40's but I'll take what I can get :-) 

I was wondering about break-in so I appreciate the input there as well. Magico apparently  won't comment on the matter for whatever reason.  Hell, then don't even include a manual or setup instructions.

YW Jake. FYI my S5 Mk2’s also didn’t come with a manual, but I contacted Magico who sent me a PDF copy via email. A bit late to read the instructions re: removing  the speakers from the crates, but  helpful & appreciated none the less. Just email Peter Mackay (VP Global sales & Marketing) & he’ll email you the manual. Will PM you his email address.

Note that Alon Wolf recently noted they primarily listen to "Red Book" level digital sources at Magico. 

May want to consider McIntosh MA9000. A true heavyweight and it will hold it's re-sale value very well. 

DK used powerfull and fast.second hand for a grand

Check out the Wyred for Sound integrated STI 500 or 1000. We have separates and they are outstanding. High damp factor, pure liquid sound, nothing quite like it. More addicting than good food or beer. Soundstage....check, Bass energy tight and very extended, way more than many much larger systems get....check,  Awesome performance and STILL pay the rent. Check mate. The STI 1000 I believe the last time I checked is a TOTAL sleeper at $2499. You can definitely spend way more and get so much less IMHO

Sinewareon is correct in a dealer showroom with over 10 ft ceilings and like 17 x 23 room avg watts is 6 on Sonus Faber speakers.

Thanks @ kw6
Yes 6 WATTS.
I used to own a pair of Sonus Faber Guarneri Mementos speakers. There measured sensitivity were 87db, and I drove them with a Krell amp. To me they seemed like a 86db speaker, hard to drive.
The new Magico A3’s seem pretty easy to drive, and I think there measured sensitivity is just under 88db. Not hard to drive at all. Actually, l find mine easy to drive loud. The new Magico A3’s are a very good
speaker. Love Them.
SILTECH

I have the A3 in my system for about a week now. I am playing it with the Pass INT-250.  A big WOW!!

I also own the Magico A3s driven by an Hegel 360 and I’m really enjoying this combination.

I also had the opportunity to hear the A3s driven by the new Soulution 330 integrated amp: very very good match with the A3s!!!

Folks, I'm finally getting my pair of Magico A3s delivered to my home this Monday (Labor Day). I am planning to follow David_Ten's advise and test several amplifiers at home. I have a Marantz AV8805 and a NAD M27, so I will be initially driving the Magico A3s with the the AV8805 and the M27. My sound system is also used as a surround system for watching TV and movies.

Most of the discussions so far have centered on integrated amps. Given that I have the Marantz AV8805, I think that it makes sense for me to use a regular amp, rather than an integrated amp, to drive the A3s. I welcome suggestions that won't break the bank. I have a friend who has many different tube amps (including vintage ones), so I will ask him to lend me some of them, to evaluate how they sound with the A3s. 

I have to confess that when I was auditing the A3s at the store, I did a fairly extensive A/B comparison between my NAD M27 and a SPL s800  2 channel amp, both driven by a Marantz AV7704, and I could not discern that much of a difference between them. This tends to lend credence to the axiom that "an ideal amplifier should act as a pure gain." Thus, as long as both amps are operating within their specified ranges, ideally, there should be little differences between them. 

Rhg88, there are a couple of things wrong with your summation about just getting an amp, and not hearing a lot of differences between the two amps.
1: Your Marantz AV 7704 is probably not a great preamp2: The testing conditions ie cables and hooking up to an inexpensive surround sound piece could be a huge limiting factor in hearing a difference between the amps3: Neither the M27 or the SPL S800 may not be great amps4: The M27 and the SPL 800 may both sound similar.
One of the reasons that people are recommending an integrated is the integrated amp will have a suitable preamp stage built in.
The quality of the preamp is very important for these reasons:
1: It is a first stage amplifier that increases the amplitude of the line level signal to match the amplifier2: The quality of the volume regulation preserves time and phase information which can increase of decrease your image.3: The preamp stage may hinder the system's overall level of resolution.
Your test was fine what you should have done would be to substitute a high quality integrated amplifier to see how much better that device would perform.
Dave and TroyAudio Doctor NJ

Audiotroy, thank you for your feedback. As it turns out, we did at one point bypass the AV7704 and use  a much higher quality preamp. Nevertheless, I did not hear a big difference between the two amps.

Are you suggesting that an integrated amp might be better than using the Marantz AV8805 and a power amp? The AV8805 is the top of the line preamp made by Marantz. It has Premium-grade AK4490 32-bit D/A converters and HDAM Discrete Buffer Amplifier Modules.

Audiotroy, I don't quite understand what you mean by "The quality of the volume regulation preserves time and phase information which can increase of decrease your image."

If you want to warm up this very analytical speaker I second the occasional suggestion in the thread that the new Pass .8 stuff might well be a good choice.  Their INT-250 (current version) is absolutely awesome although not 100% class A at full power.

....not an integrated......separates....   get the sound you paid for.

Stringreen

That advice may have been valid 20 years ago but not today. There are MANY good integrated amps at several price points that rival or exceed separates 

I will audition the Magico A3 soon. My considerations for amplification are the Hegel H590, Vitus RI-101, and Gryphon Diablo 300. Of these, the only one I can hear with the A3 is the H590. I would appreciate any feedback on how these amps will sound with the A3, and which one is best recommended. Just FYI, I listen to a wide range of music but for classical.

You can also try out Lyngdorf 2170 or 3400 at your home.

It can be hit or miss, that is , dependent on system.

It works like magic with Vaughn Cabernet speakers but not a good match with Lansche 4.1.

Another nice thing is it also works as excellent Dac and room correction.

Get Hegel 590 integrated. 

Luxman L-509x.

Look at Esoteric integrated sounds great and its built like a tank.

I was all set to buy the A3 and the ML 585 integrated after a good audition with several amps and DACs in the same room before I got to that combo. I approached it from both much more expensive gear (top end ML separates + Chord DAVE) to lower priced gear (Benchmark DAC3 + AHB2 amp) until I found the A3 + ML 585 sounding combo to be best for my cost comfort.

The sound aspects that I liked about the ML 585 is that it has a lot of power, a great midrange, good layering and separation of instruments, a big soundstage, fatigue free, and it sounded coherent across all volume levels (the last 2 are very important for me). The built-in DAC in the 585 was also pretty good though not as good as the Chord DAVE.

This system was going to go into my new office but it turned out that the home office I ended up with was too small for the A3 (known only after speaker audition). I am currently using the Audience 1+1 V3 in the office and it is perfect for the room but I do miss the lower range of sound.

The A3 maybe in the plans for my living room in 2019 but one thing I am definitely getting is a ML integrated for my office. There are 2 newer cheaper and less powerful models than the 585, 5805 and 5802. I am currently using a Peachtree Nova 150 in the office which I borrowed from the bedroom.

I am going to buy new from the dealer since they guided me to this piece however, if I did not go to a dealer, I would buy one of the 2 ML 585’s listed today on A’gon for under $6.5k. Highly recommended for the Magico A3.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Has anyone heard the T+A PA 3100 HV with the A3? A used one runs about the same as the other integrated amps I inquired about. Basically, I’m doing my best to compare apples to apples in the sense of high quality sound, 300 Watts into 8 ohms without having local access to any but for the H590.

T+A PA 3100 HV sounds great with Magico A3.  Heard this combo at a local audio show this year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOPSwuKMFTU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUQqBYl7Y5k&t=1s

Just saw this online. The A3  and Luxman 509x are shown in the recent Toronto show. I was considering the 509x but people here were reporting that it needs some volume to sound right. 

https://positive-feedback.com/show-reports/toronto-audio-fest-2018-show-report/

The Luxman 509X does sound its best when it is pushing lots of power, but I listen to lower volumes (60 dB or so) at night and the Loudness button has a fantastic curve that really kicks in and compensates for the otherwise lacking lower volume levels. It sounds amazing at any volume through La Scala IIs. 

Agree with ebm. If you can audition Esoteric you should. 
Their F-05 class AB 120w/ch or the F-03A pure class A 30w/ch is subime sounding with the right speakers. 
If funds permit you can go to the top of the SS Japanese heap with their Grandioso series (F1). All 3 models include an excellent MM, MC Phono stage. No DAC though. 

Hegel 590, Audio Research Foundation integrated, Gryphon Diablo 300. 

freesole OP56 posts11-17-2018 9:26pmBrought my LM 805ia to test on the Magico A3’s today and wow. It sounded (to my ears) so much better than with the Hegel gear that the Magico’s were being demo’d with. No issues with driving the A3’s on the 805ia at all. Even the shop owner acknowledged that he was a bit taken back because he did not expect the pairing to sound so good. He remarked at how he didn’t think the A3’s sounded as good with any other amp pairing he had in store and proceeded to ask where I got my Line Magnetic from. More dynamic and warmth - both were very present characteristics that I heard today. Also heard some surprisingly deep, low end bass that I don’t know that I expected with this pairing - considering the specs on paper recommended 50W minimum to drive these speakers. I would be very happy with this combo.

Tomorrow, I test the Daedalus speakers. Hoping to audition both the Argos V2 and the Athena V2.


He is looking for the speaker to mate with Line Magnetic 805ia SET amp and got very happy with Magico A3 yesterday.

@jsqt " At lower volumes when I am listening at night, the L-509X loses a little bit of its sparkle and depth, and I’ve found I can replace this by using my vintage Luxman CL40 as a preamp, and using the L-509X’s "Separate" setting (basically HT Bypass)."

I was following along some of your post to learn more about the 509x. I saw the statement above sometime back and it stuck as being a negative on the 509x at low volumes. You seem to contradict that statement with your post on this thread. Can you elaborate some more on the sound of the 509x at low volumes? Does the sound have most of the freq response to it or do you lose something when the volume is turned down. How about the imaging? I notice that in my bedroom integrated (Peachtree Nova 150 the imaging gets a little off at the lowest volumes.)

The Mark Levinson 585 was one amp that I have heard that was able to keep the freq  response even at low volumes. Another integrated I have not heard yet, the Lyngdorf 3400 is also supposed to be great at low volumes.

I would try the Aesthetix MIMAS integrated

anyone who says they know more than 99% of everyone else should apply for work with Dumpsterfire...
ciao
Audioquest

Welcome back melbyguy1
i always think of you when rebalancing the asset allocations in my system, even named my reference system after your “ garbage in, garbage out quote”
i am mellower now.... might be time to drop that ......

++++ for Ayre also
the Twenty series in particular 

Maybe a bit off the beaten path and a lot cheaper than the normal selections, but I would suggest you consider something like a tube/ss hybrid like a Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista. I think TMR has one for around $2K. Mine has responded well to cable changes and fuse upgrades, adding refinement and detail. The Magicos I have heard (with either Soluution or CH Precision), were accurate but a little dry and congested, and could benefit from some warmth. Disclosure - I find myself leaning more to the wide-open sound of tubes and hi-efficiency as I am getting older, (probably losing some high frequency hearing) and everybody hears differently.  Good luck.

I purchased the Gryphon Diablo 120 with the optional DAC for my Magico A3s. I did not demo the Hegel 360 or 590, which I had hoped I could do before making my decision. I really liked the T+A 3100, but it was beyond my budget.

T+A will be a great choice if you can afford it. The Rega Osiris analog integrated amp (no DAC) will also be a great choice for the Magico A3. The Osiris is Rega's flagship integrated amp and it retails for $10k new. 

I consider it a benefit to have an integrated amp with no DAC, though it's good to have the option of adding one internally if desired. That way I would not paying for a DAC if going with an external unit. The T+A is well beyond my budget, but used ones get into the ballpark of what I am willing to spend. Thanks again, everyone, for the responses. So much to consider...   :)

Sinewaveron:  Can you at least tell us what mode you're running your Vitus in?  is it pumping out 25 WPC or 150 WPC and if the latter, do you feel this is better than the RI-101?

I only listen to my Vitus SIA-25 MKll in pure Class A mode. It goes more than loud enough for me.

I would say in Class AB mode, 
RL-101 is better. In pure Class A mode, Vitus SIA-025 MKll is easily better. 

The Vitus Rl-101 is a World Class amp, and will sound great with A3's with control. 😊

I would also consider the Goldmund Telos 590 Nextgen II and the Constellation integrated with these speakers.
If you can find a deal on a second hand Constellation, it's great performance for the value.

Just did a long audition of the A3s with Mark Levinson 585.  Very nice!