Magico A3

I auditioned the A3’s at my local dealer last week. Maybe I was expecting to much, but I didn’t fall in love with them. It's was to bad because I was ready to buy.  The soundstage, imaging, and placement of instruments were excellent. Unfortunately, the more I listened, I found the mids and highs a little harsh/edgy at times. The A3’s were connected to a Dan D’Agostino Progression amp which has 600w into 4 ohms, so plenty of power. We streamed Tidal through Roon using a Chord DAC (I didn’t catch the model) and the new Chord Hugo M Scaler. After listening to the A3’s we swapped them for the S1 MKII’s and they were much more refined and smooth. The S1’s MKII’s were excellent, but lacked the bass of the A3’s which is expected. The S1’s MKII’s were tempting but I knew I would end up missing the bass and I don’t want to add the sub. I also had a chance to listen to a pair of TAD E1’s and they were impressive, now discontinued so I could score an amazing deal. In the end I purchased the Sopra 2's.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t audition the Sopra’s on the same equipment in the same room and we know that can make a difference. However, I use Tidal and Roon almost daily and we played tracks I’m very familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, the A3’s were good, they just didn’t win me over. I was ready to buy just based I what I had read. If I had 20K to spend I think I would have a tougher decision between the S3 MKII’s and Sopra 3’s.  I will say they looked a lot better in person than they do online.

It didn’t help that I listened to the S1 MKII’s after the A3’s and there was no comparison. Even the store owner who sat with me for almost 2 hours agreed the S1’s were much more refined. Granted the S1’s cost more, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. It was hard to go back to the A3’s after that. I wish they had something between the S1 and S3. Knowing myself, I would have bought the A3 and then been looking to upgrade to the the S series in the not so distance future, so probably best I didn’t buy.

Funny you should mention the tweeter. That’s exactly what the store owner pointed out. He also reminded me the S series uses an extruded aluminum cabinet and the A3 does not.  I'm sure the crossovers are using different components as well.

Hey Steve, small world...  Yes, to be fair the retail price of the Sopra's is 15K.  I went into the demo super excited because I kept hearing the A3's punch well above there price, and unfortunately I just wasn't wow'd.  I walked away underwhelmed, and that's okay because there are a lot of great options out there in the 10 - 15K range.  Now if I had 22K, the Magico S3 MKII would be at the top of my list. Jamie's a good guy and I really wanted to give him the business.  You should go listen to those TAD's he's selling off.  They were impressive, 30K speaker for less than half the price...