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Auditioned Magico A3 - VERY DARK...

So today after waiting for months to try and listen to the Magico A3, I went to Scott Walker audio at Anaheim and listened to the Magico A3, connected to some VAC Tube amp, being fed from a Sony audio streamer, here are my impressions:

- They look fantastic, I wish they made them in silver too, but they are just great in brush black aluminum
- They're quite small and could fit everywhere
- Fit and finish is impecable
- The bass they generated was nothing but amazing for such a small cabinet, you could hear the drums, the down beats and incredible depth of bass at an amazing level
- Imaging was INSANE, you could literally place everyone and everything...
- Sound was VERY VERY DARK!!! This was a bit of a surprise, the top end lacked for my taste to a quite a degree
- I felt like the combo of the Tube amp and Magico lacked resolution, while bass and mid was great, the top end absolutely lacked resolution
- The sound was extremely laid back, again dark
- It does NEED POWER, like he had to crank the volume up, to get good sound out of this, so be aware of that

Overall, I "personally" did NOT like the sound, it lacked details and resolution at the top end, while it was great at the bottom end.  Now, the rep and I think this is mostly due to Tube amp, and connecting it to a solid state amp would bring back resolution, but we simply didn't have time to do that today.  I look forward to listen to these at another time with some decent solid-state amp, but as-is, I was NOT as impressed as I expected and wouldn't have purchased one and I strongly believe Tube and Magico A3 do NOT go well together! 

Anyone else with similar impressions?! Curious to know what others may think, or maybe there was something else in play?

Thoughts?
alexb76
kalali's avatar
kalali
1,977 posts
 
"IMHO the speaker is only reproducing what they are being fed."

This may be true when switching sources but it completely rejects the results of all the A/B testing done when switching speakers in the same system. And we all know different speakers sound different in the same system and in the same room.  
electroslacker
375 posts
 
Most Magico's I've heard, including A3, sounded very damped in the mids, which can be perceived as transparency.  I find myself looking at the speaker instead of the soundstage, and hear a slight woodiness.  But maybe that comes from sitting close.  The S5 Mkii sounded very good at Axpona, but it was a huge room and I was sitting 20 ft away.
miketuason
337 posts
 
Wonder what would the A3 will be like if driven with McIntosh MC601 monoblock 600watts which I have and like to audition the A3?
alexb76 OP
22 posts
 
I think in general the consensus is that Magico may need careful pairing. They seem to recommend Hegel 360 as low end Amp that works well with it, and that’s a lot of power out of integrated amp and solid state with high damping factor. Pairing with Tubes maybe not ideal, but one may have to check various tubes and see which might work.
prof
3,474 posts
 
As I mentioned in my thread where I reported on listening to various speakers:  I listened to the A3s in a very large basement area that, at least on looks, should have provided very little issues in bass, and the proprietor said his room measures really well for bass (he demos Magico there all the time).   Yet I found the A3's bass on the tubby, uncontrolled side for quite a number of cuts that are not that way on my system, or many other systems I've demoed.   Just another anecdotal data point, there....
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