Magico A3

I auditioned the A3’s at my local dealer last week. Maybe I was expecting to much, but I didn’t fall in love with them. It's was to bad because I was ready to buy.  The soundstage, imaging, and placement of instruments were excellent. Unfortunately, the more I listened, I found the mids and highs a little harsh/edgy at times. The A3’s were connected to a Dan D’Agostino Progression amp which has 600w into 4 ohms, so plenty of power. We streamed Tidal through Roon using a Chord DAC (I didn’t catch the model) and the new Chord Hugo M Scaler. After listening to the A3’s we swapped them for the S1 MKII’s and they were much more refined and smooth. The S1’s MKII’s were excellent, but lacked the bass of the A3’s which is expected. The S1’s MKII’s were tempting but I knew I would end up missing the bass and I don’t want to add the sub. I also had a chance to listen to a pair of TAD E1’s and they were impressive, now discontinued so I could score an amazing deal. In the end I purchased the Sopra 2's.

Interesting, I think that the Sopra tweeters are much coarser then the A3.
Did you listen to the Sopra on the same equipment? Roon always sound harsh and glossy to me. With such a transparent speaker like the A3 you would hear it clearly. I agree the S1 Mk2 are tempting...

Unfortunately, I couldn’t audition the Sopra’s on the same equipment in the same room and we know that can make a difference. However, I use Tidal and Roon almost daily and we played tracks I’m very familiar with. Don’t get me wrong, the A3’s were good, they just didn’t win me over. I was ready to buy just based I what I had read. If I had 20K to spend I think I would have a tougher decision between the S3 MKII’s and Sopra 3’s.  I will say they looked a lot better in person than they do online.

I listened to them recently for about an hour at Rhapsody in NYC with an experienced audiophile friend who also does online reviews. Neither of us noted any harshness or edginess in the least. In fact we thought it to be one the smoothest, most transparent speakers we've heard in a long time. What makes them special is that they are able to impart an amazing amount of detail and clarity and sound smooth and extended. A very sophisticated sound.  I'm very seriously considering them for my next speaker.

It didn’t help that I listened to the S1 MKII’s after the A3’s and there was no comparison. Even the store owner who sat with me for almost 2 hours agreed the S1’s were much more refined. Granted the S1’s cost more, so it shouldn’t be a surprise. It was hard to go back to the A3’s after that. I wish they had something between the S1 and S3. Knowing myself, I would have bought the A3 and then been looking to upgrade to the the S series in the not so distance future, so probably best I didn’t buy.