New Magico Speaker Break-in Question

@decooney Many thanks for your thoughtful response. My A5s are powered by McIntosh MC611s. These are mono amplifiers that output 600 watts are 8, 4, and 2 ohms. Consequently, I don’t think that my amplification is the cause of my near-term concern.

@ all  I am impressed by, and most appreciative of, the thoughtfulness of all who have taken the time to respond to my inquiry. I would like to add that I also bought Magico's ACC as my new center channel speaker. Last night, my wife and I watched episodes of Matlock and Reaper. We always have subtitles engaged because it is hard for us to grasp all the dialogue. Afterwards, both of us were surprised that we weren't reading the subtitles. The ACC reproduced the dialogue so clearly that we were able to understand everything said. It was remarkable! I strongly recommend the Magico ACC as a center channel speaker.

For those who are interested, here is an update. The best news is that, after about 100 hours of breaking in, the A5s are beginning to sound noticeably better. One of my most challenging demo tracks is the 176/24 version of the famous "Take Five" piece. At this point, the drum play sounds terrific, as does the piano. The one aspect that still isn’t as good as it ought to be is the tenor (or, maybe alto) sax. The loudest notes still have a bit of harshness to them that is not present in real life. [Recently, I went to a jazz club primarily to hear live playing to both types of sax. Even when played at "full volume", I did not hear that edge of harshness present on the recording -- of which, thanks to Tidal and Qobuz, as well as my CD, I have lots of versions.] Another thing about the A5s is that, despite their three 9" woofers, bass output really falls off a cliff. Playing Stereophile’s original test CD, here are the db levels in my closed 22x21x16 media room at various Hzs: 160 Hz - 63 dB; 125 Hz - 62 db; 100 Hz -53 db; 80 Hz - 48 db; 63 Hz - 48 db; 50Hz - 42 db; 40 Hz - 36 db; 31.5 Hz - 32 db; 25 Hz - 30 db; 20 Hz - 32 db. Fortunately, I own two of the new SVS SB17 subwoofers that have six separate parametric equalizer bands. Integrating them with the A5s, I have a flat (+/- 2db) frequency response (at 70 db) all the way down to 31.5 Hz, and then down 2 db at 25 Hz, and down another 1db at 20 Hz. This integration took me around six to seven hours over two days!

Responding to other comments made recently, my Wireworld Silver Eclipse speaker cables are silver over copper, in an unusual (and patented) strand size and configuration. Previously, I found them to be incredibly neutral. As for Akiko Audio Tuning sticks, I certainly will look into them, and I thank classic8 for the suggestion.