Rockport Atria II or Magico A5

I used to have Harbeth 30.1s and 30.2s - both around 86-87dB sensitivity. One of the major threads in the Harbeth user group is about amp power for the speakers.  Interestingly, the owner, Alan Shaw is firm that any amp over 25W will be sufficient. By far though, the consensus within the Harbeth owner's group is min a100w.  I wonder if Harbeth is unique in the concern many of its owners give to amp power, or if other owner's groups do as well.  

Harbeth’s seem to like some power upstream. But, I suppose from Alan Shaw’s perspective 25 watts is enough to drive them. There certainly does seem like there are folks who like to listen at low levels in small rooms, and those that like concert hall levels in large rooms...each will have a different power requirement for their speakers. Used to be back in the day that the saying was: 15 watts will fill a church! While this is probably true, they forgot to say what the church will be filled with, LOL!

Good point.  I'd expect 25w sufficient for a Londoner audiophile seeking to fill an exhorbitanly expensive- and very tiny - flat in London.  Smart marketing.  

Davey,

You are 100% correct, it can be costly AND a big hassle if someone buys the wrong speaker for their situation , including budget, room interaction and their personal preferences.

Your last paragraph sums up my sentiments and how I operate. With anyone that is looking at Magico or any other 88db-90db or lower than these number efficiency ratings I ALWAYS discuss what the appropriate amplification requirements would be.

I would find first find out if what they own is appropriate to drive the new speakers that they are contemplating. If it’s not I would tell them. Then work with them if it’s in their budget to upgrade their amplification to drive the speakers appropriately.

Another IMPORTANT variable regarding power is the size of their room AND loud they listen,  I have certain customer that literally NEVER turn it up above a 70db listing level in a small room.  They might be totally fine with a STRONG 30 WATT PP tube amp for their listing requirements.  It really comes down to each customer's overall equation.

Besides driving a speaker appropriately also selecting the type of speaker (dynamic, horns, electrostatic, open baffle, ported/non-ported, all ribbon, hydbrids, etc) and the appropriate size of speaker, not too large or too small for their room as well are all considerations when selecting the right speaker for an individual.

I personally take all of these variables into account when looking at a customer’s equation and make sure that they understand all of the amplification, appropriate size and type speakers for their room, which will deliver great sonics.

Rhapsody probably sells 70% of it’s gear to customer’s who NEED this type of advice. The 30% of "audiophile" customers that we sell to are almost always aware of the variables involved in buying the "right" or "wrong" speaker for their situation.

Spent several hours with the Atria II's and A5's.  Porchased the Rockports. Superb musicality, depth of soundstage.  

Seems most speakers in this price range handle acoustic music extremely well, and rock - depending on your bass preference.   The Rockports stood out to me in their handling of orchestal music, which seems a greater challenge for most speakers. Here come the cliches, but I was listening to the music and not the speakers.  Also, while the A5 soundstaging may have been more pin-pointed and precise, I felt the Rockports presented a more realistic array of voices - again more like being in the hall than listening to a technically accomplished loudspeaker.  Same with chamber music.  The Rockport's ability to differentiate between four individual string instruments with similar timber was remarkable, always a challenge.   Love my Focal Kanta 3s but this will be a big step up for me.  The guys at F1 Audio are a great team!

@cantoegale Thanks for the update and your impressions. I'm considering new speakers and this was really helpful. What electronics were they each driven by? From your description, is it safe to say the Rockport did tone and timbre better than the A5? Did you audition any other brands prior like Wilson or Raidho?

@cantorgale 
right now I am in the same boat as you were, I also have focal kanta 3. and considering a trade to get the atria2 for a good price. what are you comments? cons and pros/ thanks

@cm071678 
I went with the Atria IIs.  See my post above.  

The Yamaha NS5000s  also deserve consideration.Wonderful natural sounding speakers and much easier to drive than most that have been mentioned here.

cantorgale,

Having compared the Atria 11 and Magico A5, I applaud your decision and question only the inference that the Magico A5's ("speakers in this price range") handle music well.  Whereas the Atria 11 seamlessly integrated base, midrange and treble drivers, the Magico's....to my ear...had harsh, 'boxy' sound, with deficient treble clarity, and ample base but annoyingly clipped lower base notes, those defects evident throughout the speakers' volume range.
The B&W 802D3's have a 'different' sound from that of the Atria 11's, a more ample and deeper base, plumper midrange, transparent but 'fuller' treble....and like the Atria 11's, 'elegant' and coherent throughout the frequency range.  The 802D3's to me compare with the Rockport Avior 11's....with the edge going to the Avior 11's.
Your further thoughts on these comparisons are more than welcome.
Thanks

I own the A5. After reading this thread, I jumped on an opportunity to audition the Atria at a privet setting. To say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. Hard to tell what people hear, and needless to say proper setup is critical. To my ears, there was nothing the Atria did that impressed me. A much smaller, darker, smeared sound with a noticeable Beryllium glare (this is the same Scan-Speak tweeter used in the first generation Magico S series - which always bothered me).
In particular, the bass, which was anemic and soft compared to the A5 ( I just can’t imagine anyone preferring this one 9” woofer to the 3 in the A5). I am sure that the lean bass response can be easily measured, unfortunately, no one has tested the Atria yet.

I was interested in the A5 until seeing the stereophile review and they roll off too early. I'm sure the huge boost in bass sounds impressive, but the overall measurements suggest a speaker that will be more room dependent than most. the persona 7f is close in price, doesn't need much power and sounds amazing. 

That’s not the case.

"I have not shown the in-room response below 45Hz, as this was affected by the presence of subsonic noise from his building’s heating/ ventilation system. This could not be turned off on the morning that I was able to perform the measurements"

There are better measurements on Soundstage review (https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1042-magico-a5-loudspeakers?fbclid=IwAR1u3iW2ntPgFYAKxntjiDjhgcy5V1BUG0kVBglql15l2u_japSj09lDWAU)

The bass is phenomenal, as the review mention.

Looking at the remarks in the measurement section of the Stereophile review of the A5's by JA, I see that he mentions that the speaker needs to be connected to an amp that has no problem driving a 2 ohm load! I wonder how many amps this rules out?? 

I run mine with an Octave tube Integrated. 120W into 4 Ohm. No problems, whatsoever.    

I read every one of the above posts with intense interest.  What becomes obvious after reading them all is that the extraordinary differences in opinion (e.g., "wonderful imaging" / "terrible imaging") about both speakers is that the speaker is only part of the story -- the rest of one's audio equipment (from sources through cables) and the room in which all this audio equipment is playing are also critically important in determining what one is hearing.  Unfortunately, the likelihood of getting multiple dealers (in most cases) to haul hundreds of pounds of very expensive speakers many miles and then spend hours to install them optimally in a prospective customer's home is essentially nil.  This makes a purchase (even of Magico A5s or Rockport Atria IIs) a crap shoot, especially if the intent is to upgrade from what is already a "pretty good" set of loudspeakers.

What a mess!

Sound by singer might of been the shop. ..

TheA5 Magico are not clinical they are accurate and with a slightly warm character 

having rebuilding Loudspeakers for  years the Mundorf Evo capacitors aluminum oil 

are pretty tuneful , the Mundorf  Ultra Copper foil Resistors are the most accurate in the world , and used in the Loudspeaker purifiers purifiers ,vs any in the world !

and Mundorf inductors  the A5 is a great great , 

So, I will add this insight, even though this is Audiogon.

***I am a dealer - owner of Liquid HiFi *****

I think that it is important to find a dealer who will work with you to properly setup and properly equip the selected speaker to perform at it's best.

Whether you choose Rockport, Wilson, Magico, Stenheim, YG or other - the speakers will only perform at their best with proper electronics and often overlooked aspects liked grounding and network optimization.  Otherwise you are only hearing a fraction of what you should be for the money you spent on speakers.

Agreed.  Having spoken directly with Andy Payor I know he favors and largely voices his speakers with Gryphon, and I was surprised that Alon Wolf holds Hegel in high regard although he uses other electronics as well that I’m not privy to. 

Look at the new Sonor Audio Claro 10.2 Speakers too they might be the best value on the market right now !

They replaced their Reference JBL M2’s with these new Sonor Audio Claro 10.2’s !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKQMvA0BWgw

More about these Claro 10.2’s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-8oRQbUWNc 

How they make these Claro 10.2's ! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tL0ry5igF0k

https://quarternoteacoustic.com/product/claro-10-2/

Both are great

i got this........ https://kodi.bio/  

@cantorgale I read through this with great interest as I also have Kanta 3s and rarely see people post about them, despite being very good to my ears.

 

I'm curious about your experience of what improvements were brought with your new speakers versus the Kantas? And if you felt the Kantas were lacking in particular areas? Would be great to learn about that in case of my future plans to switch speakers.

@christianb5s4 This is an older post.  I’ve since moved from Kanta 3 (like you I see very little about this fine speaker online) to Atria ii’s. K3s we’re my first high end flop stander (after Harbeth m30.2 with HSU subs) and I enjoyed them while I had them with PS Audio BHK 300 and pre.  I enjoyed them very much   The Rockports (with D’Agostino Progression integrated) were a significant step up to my ears. Better voice separation and imaging.  Although it’s hard to make a direct comparison since I changed electronics at the same time.  I would still have the Atria’s had I not decided to go in an entirely different direction with Tannoys and hybrid/tubes.  
 

As between the Magico and Rockport, I found the Rockport more cohesive and musical - less “audiophile” sounding.  Hope this helps.  

I did see your post about picking up the Atrias, which I why I thought I'd ask about the improvements you've experienced having lived with them a while now. Glad you're enjoying them and appreciate your insight. The K3s were my first jump into higher end speakers as well.

 

Always been curious about trying tubes too. Most likely having a tube pre and solid state amplification at some point.