Magico vs the world

smodtactical and others
I referenced Erik Squires' comments regarding the A3, I have not heard them.  I did audition the Rockport Avior 11, digital source, and  Rockport Cygnus loudspeakers, analog and digital sources, and I own the B&W 802d3's.  I wish there were means to directly compare the B&W, Magico and Rockport speakers.  As I said, the Rockport Avior 11's reproduction of orchestral sound 'seemed' to dissect sonic timbres such that a large orchestra's sound resembled the sound of a much smaller, chamber orchestra.  I can described this characteristic as 'thin and loosely resonant'.  Could this perceived characteristic due to diminished midrange speaker cone 'self-damping'  ?  Conversely, is the B&W 'continuum' speaker cone material a source of 'fatter' midrange and lesser midrange resolution due to its self-damping quality, and was the choice of cone material 'tuned' to American listeners of non-classical music ?  Further, is there 'self-damping' inherent in the vinyl lathe cutting process such that loudspeaker cones with lesser self-damping are a better 'match' for analog reproduction ?  

When I was demoing gear in the Magico A3 price range

#1 Yamaha NS5000  
#2 Paradigm Persona 5F (and 3F)
#3 Vivid Kaya 90  (interested in the cheaper Kaya 45 but no demo available)
#4 Magico A3

The 3 speakers I liked more sounded more coherent across the frequency range. I did not notice the drivers at all in #1 and only slightly on #2 and #3, The A3 was slightly more noticeable though not that big a deal.  There were some other factors in play too such as the gear I wanted to use to drive the speaker.  The Magico A3 seemed to need some paower.

The A3 was excellent but I liked the other 3 a bit more. I am interested to see if Magico adds the A5's bass driver tech to the A3. A dealer said no on that to me but I think it makes sense to do so.

I spoke to a prominent reviewer who has heard both A5 and NS5000. He basically said they were both in the same league in terms of performance but the A5 has a more inert cabinet and is somewhat more detailed and has a bit more bass. But he said he would be happy with either speaker. His reference is Alexia 2 which he found superior to both but  again not hugely so.

Aren’t the Alexia 2 right around 60K? If so, I would certainly hope that they can do something better than a pair of 15k and 22k speakers.

The Yamahas are incredibly transparent, if you feel youre lacking anything try out some better up stream components.