Used Magico V3 or Rockport Mira 2

I first heard Magico speakers at the California Audio Show 2 years ago. I had heard very positive things about their speakers and was looking forward to the demo. The room was packed. Unfortunately, I was extremely disappointed with what I heard. The sound itself was clean and weighty with a large soundstage. What I thought it did a poor job of was replicating the tone of unamplified instrumnents. People brought all kind of funky demo disks (wind chimes, techno dance, sound effects) that seemed to really impress. Once I heard some actual instruments (trumpet, Oboe, Viola) I moved on. I find this a trend with many mega buck multi driver speakers these days. On their own terms they produce an impressive sound - I just don't find the sound an accurate representation of real instruments. A trumpet at fortissimo is not pretty. Too many speakers seem to smooth over the rough edges.

Peterayer:

The speaker I heard (sorry, don't remember which Magico model it was) did a lot of nice things but unamplified instrument timbre just seemed a bit off to me. Then again, I had the same issue with a bunch of multi-driver speakers I heard at the show. I found that I much preferred HE speakers with single or wide band drivers in that regard. Not to say that they are perfect - they have their own shortcomings. But I think they overall do a better job with portraying orchestral instrumental timbre (in the all imporant midrange - I'm not talking double bass or Organ here) and attack. A fortissimo trumpet is one example. I missed the piercing attack that assaults the ears when in a concert hall. Period instrument baroque music is another good example. Violins with gut strings have a very astringent tone to them when heard in person. In listening to the Magicos I felt that this aspect of the sound was much diminished.

Given the positive press I read on Magico's leading up to the show I had high expectations going in but in the end they were not my cup of tea.

I will say that it did appear that the majority of the people in the Magico room seemed to enjoy the speaker more than I did.

Overall, the show was a real ear opener for me. There were a lot of mega-buck speakers on display that just did not do it for me. There were only 3 or 4 (out of maybe 20 that I listened to) that I really liked.