Late to this interesting thread as I only just read it.
I am the owner of the Audia Flight Strumento No 1 pre and No 4 power amp, both MK2 versions with the Magico S5MK1.
Firstly, I am not normally in the business of defending my system on a public forum, especially when you have the faith in letting others listen to it and then read their opinion on how bad it sounded.
My system does suffer from a over dampened room. It is not cold, small and dull as stated. Dark I would agree with though.
I also own a Supratek Cabernet and think they are fantastic for the money and do portray a larger sound. Is it better then the Audia Flight Strumento, not for my ears. The AF is more linear in the sound and is very refined with a much lower noise floor. The Supratek adds colour and in doing so, provides a rich midrange (which I really like) and a nice big spacious sound that I have often heard with valves.
I like both preamps for different reasons but overall much prefer the Audia Flight Strumento No1 MK2. Just matches the amplifier better in terms of gain and is a more accurate conduit to the music, plus it has all the modern features like remote, HT bypass, gain offsets and a really nice volume control.
As to Magico’s being dark and soulless, cant accept the later as it will portray whatever you feed it and can be rich and warm or lean depending on the gear. Dark I can understand in that it doesn’t have an overly prominent top end, very balanced I would say. I’ve had speakers with the extra sizzle up top and whilst they can bring out a bit more micro detail, I find them fatiguing in the long run.
