Magico A3 replacement


I am currently using a pair of Magico A3 speakers with my Constellation amp and pre. A very nice combination. Upgrading speakers, where do I turn that isn't a step backwards? I cannot listen to speakers in any audio shop. "Country living".

My room is 13' x 16'. My listening is mainly streaming but do enjoy albums.

dpm2340

Legacy Speakers.  i have the Signature SE. no sub needed for me. if i had more house i would not hesitate to get the Focus. ..-.-.-. Pass 250.8,   Pass XP-12.

there’s a pair of Manger P2 passives available on Audiogon right now, 

hugely popular in Europe, few US dealers, but a fabulous product

multiple international reviews available and not one has included anything negative 

full disclosure - I own the P1’s and after 50+ years at this audio game, I’m done (dozens of high end speakers have come and gone) - for your listening space the P2’s would be ideal, in pretty much all regards, highly recommended 

I upgraded from the A3's to the A5's almost three years ago and have been enjoying them tremendously. The A5 is a great speaker that plays above its class.

I run them with Mac tube pre and power and have added two B&W DB3D's. I am a solid Phil zone guy and the subs come with their own power. That is my rationalization and I am sticking to it.

I netted $9k for the A3's and added another $12k for the upgrade. Not cheap, but they got me off the speaker merry go round and in a place where I carve out time to spin vinyl.

I never recommend anything I haven’t heard. So I can only proffer TAS' recommendation for the "finest reference speaker," the PS Audio FR30.

I am literally in this same situation - looking to replace my Magico A3s with something that does a little more for my heart than the Magicos can manage. After a visit to AXPONA in 2022, I was taken with two similarly-sized speakers which I’m keeping an eye out for on the used market. Those being the Piega Coax 711 (now replaced with the 811) and the very difficult-to-find Stenheim Alumine 3s.

 

The Piega 711s have come up for sale a few times within your price range. I’d highly, highly recommend you have a listen. Have not had a chance to listen to the 811s, though am holding out hope they’ll be at AXPONA this year.
 

The Stenheims appear next to impossible to find used, and might still be out of  your target price range. But they’re very well reviewed and might be worth a listen if you can find them.

@steakster I did however screw up. I confused this with another post where the budget was lower. For 16K, I assume the Borresens are reasonable

the X5 would definitely be an upgrade from the X3, but you are right the A3 is an awesome speaker.  I have the Borresen 05 Silver Edition and they are the best speaker i have ever heard.  Good Luck my friend 

What about trading in or selling your current speakers for the A5?   If I was ever changing speakers, they would be the ones.  

@pfreix I listened to both X3 and A3 (admittedly different rooms/dealers) and much preferred the A3 that the OP has.  Clearly could have lived with X3 and been happy though.  They did make the cut, but the A3 jumped out at me.  

@dpm2340 I think you own one of the very best speakers already in the budget window you mentioned. Unless you are trading those and adding $10K.
Nonetheless I’d say Joseph Audio is maybe one of the few that would rival the A3.

@steakster

I have no idea what you are talking about. I am not mocking or disparaging members, at least I am not trying to. All I said was the Borresens are very expensive for what they do.

I especially don’t see your "same members" point.

I am a grown man, if you were just lecturing and disciplining me, I read it, understood it, (confused about it) let’s move on.

The Borresen X3 speakers are 11K and use alot of the technology as the more expensive lines...  less than the Magico A3... set for sale at $7,000 below

 

Borresen X3 For Sale | Audiogon

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@pfreix Børresen? Really?

They are sold for more than their weight in the price of gold

Are you keeping the A3s?  Does the 10-12 grand include monies gained from their sale?

Regards,

barts

Recomend you listen to Borresen speakers... they just came out with a more affordable line in your price range.  They make an awesome speaker. 

Thanks for all the suggestions. Ultimately I'd like to have a speaker without needing a sub. It seems a lot of guys like the vivid. I will have to check them out. Also, thanks for the list.

Hmmmm, dry isn't how I'd would describe Magico, not that I'm a huge fanboy.  Chesty, cool, jusssst enough bass.

Maybe you need a serious change to something that presents as very dynamic.  Klipsch Heresy or the new JBLs?

I find the Magico to be a little dry. Spendor D9.2 with a pair of REL S510 might be another more live route.

I owned Magico S1s (original version) for 3 years and liked them but never loved them.   A little dry with the potential for fatigue on certain recordings were the main reasons I sold them.   I replaced them with the original D9 and loved the change (I've kept the Spendors for 5+ years), so yea an A3 to D9.2 would certainly be an option.

@dpm2340 Verity would definitely be a great choice if you are looking for musicality.

A friend of mine has the Verity Otello driven by Ypsilon Phaethon.

I was very lucky to get the G3 used for $13,500.  A used pair of Vivid K45s would be in your range and be a good fit for your room size. 

@dpm2340 

If you like the magic sound of Magico speakers, why not look at moving up the chain to the A5 or the S3?
 

All the best.

You do not list a budget unless I missed it and your room is on the small side.  I recommend either the Vivid Kaya 90 or the better the Vivid Giya G3. I auditioned Wilson’s, Magico’s, Raidho’s, and Focal’s of equivalent price and chose Vivid G3s for their clarity, staging, uniformity from treble to bass, dynamics, and timbre.   Will mate well with the clarity of your Constellation amp that will have no issue driving them.  You need to warm up to their esthetic.  Read pro reviews on either model.  You have courage buying without audition.  Since this is a subjective hobby I always recommend auditioning. 

I was looking to buy the A3 but I felt the following speakers were better, more coherent driver integration:

  • Vivid Kaya 90 (maybe Kaya 45 for your room)
  • Yamaha NS5000 (they are classified as "bookshelf" speakers). I bought these and they are not going anywhere. Though I wonder if a 13 x 16 room is big enough for them. My room is bigger. The drivers on this speaker are ALL made with a new material called Zylon. Supposedly better than BE. Incredibly the 12’ woofer is made with Zylon.
  • I have a Magnepan LRS+ in my office and it is a killer speaker. I planned on spending 10k on a monitor for the office. Not anymore. The LRS+ is powered by a very powerful Sanders Magtech amp, a great combo. I would look at a bigger Maggie for the 13 x 16 room.

I purchased the NS5000 new for $12k. The Kaya are pretty unique and fast sounding speakers.

BTW - I use the KEF KC62 sub with the LRS+. I also got the Magna Risers stands for the LRS+ recently and that just blew up the bass to much stronger levels. There was also a binding post tweak with the Magna Risers that may be the reason for the sonic improvements. 

Your room isn’t very big, and yeah, I know Fremer has Chronosonics in his basement. But if Magico isn’t cutting it, maybe you might consider dropping your spend a little. Monitor Audio 300 Gold might surprise you. Subs optional. Kevin Deal at Upscale Audio might advise.

@dpm2340 

A couple others that have crossed my mind are Avalon and Verity. Wilson is also on my radar.

Ironically, Avalons powered by Grant/Lumley tube amps and CAT SL-1 pre is one of the other best sounding systems I've spent some time with.  It's all very subjective, so YMMV, but I liked them. 😏

brand model price (new)
PSB Synchrony T800 12000
Focal Kanta No3 12000
Sonner Legato Duo 12000
Marten Parker Duo 12000
Dynaudio CONTOUR 60I 12000
Zu druid 6 12500
Tekton 1812 MODEL V12 12570
Klipsch Heritage La Scala 13000
Ohm Walsh F5 13300
Audio Physic Codex 14000
Vimberg amea 15000
KEF Reference 3 Meta 15000
Avantgarde Uno 15000
MBL 126 15000
Boenicke W13 15240
ProAc K3 15600
Volti Rival 16000
Verity Audio Lakme 16000
Revel F328Be 16000
Volti t2rg2 16000
Sonus Faber MAXIMA AMATOR 16000
Dali Epicon 6 16000
Klipsch Heritage Cornwall IV 16500
Volti Vittoria 16500
Usher BE-10 Diamond 16950
Joseph Audio Perspective2 Graphene 16999
Canton Reference 2 K 17000
Devore Fidelity FIDELITY GIBBON X “TEN” 17000
Diapason Astera 17438
Qln qln prestige five 17500
Qln Prestige Five 17500
Rosso Fiorentino Audio Voltrerra 2 17500
Monitor Audio Platinum 300 3G 17900
Vandersteen Quatro Wood CT 18000
Perlisten S7T 18000
Acora Acoustics SRB 18000
Tekton MATRIX LS 18000
Paradigm PERSONA 5F 18000
Sonus Faber Olympica Nova V 18000
Martin Logan EXPRESSION ESL 13A 18000
Devore Fidelity Orangutan O/96 18503
Fyne F704 19000
B&W 800 Series 19001
Diapason Karis WAVE 19082
Perlisten AUDIO S7T 19185
Vienna Acoustics Liszt 19495
Marten Parker Trio 19500
Magico S1 MKII M-CAST 19600
Wilson SabrinaX 19700
ATC SCM50ASL 19734
YG Ascent 19800
Tannoy Kensington 19800
Usher BE-20 Diamond 19990
Salk BePure 2 19995
Vienna Acoustics The Kiss 19995
Canton Reference 2k 19995
Triangle Magellan Quatuor 20000
Salk BePure 3 20000
Triangle Magellan Quatuor 20000
Trenner Friedl RA 20198
Harbeth Monitor 40.3 XD 20990
Totem Element Metal V2 21000
Usher td-10 22000
Kharma ELEGANCE S7 22000
ProAc K10 23000

yes, dry may be my interpretation also. I wish I could get to a pair of Spendors to audition. Acouple others that have crossed my mind are Avalon and Verity. Wilson is also on my radar.

I find the Magico to be a little dry. Spendor D9.2 with a pair of REL S510 might be another more live route.

we would recommend looking at kef blade 2 metas

kharma db9

rahido

 

Dave and Troy

Audio intellect nj

kef and rahido dealer's

 

Visit Seattle and hear next step in line w Constellation powering it at Audio Ultra or at least call Ed the proprietor…. awesome dude - fixed Fremer electrical nightmare… 

I have A3s as well, with Accuphase E800 integrated. Currently I'm leaning towards Stenheim for my next upgrade. Although Magico is not out of the picture either, most likely it would be S series.

Given the cost of the speakers you are looking at. I would suggest a trip. Spend a weekend with your wife in a city where you can audition some higher level Magico and some competitors. Make appointments in advance… have them set up a system with similar sounding electronics.
 

In the evening go out to dinner, maybe the symphony… make it fun for both of you.
 

At this level making “blind” decisions seems totally avoidable. 

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Have you ever heard the Magicos on a great tube amp?  

Driven by CAT amps/pre, the Magico S5MKII is at the top of the heap of systems I've had some longer term exposure to (not just a few minutes at a show).  Unbelievable clarity and dynamics.  

Without being able to try speakers in your room, there's significant risk of getting an unintentional downgrade.  What are you looking to improve upon?

What specific sound characteristics and improvements are you looking for, what’s your budget, and are you looking for new or used?