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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
jhills
615 posts
 
@ebm It perplexes me why it should take a $25K amp, a $10K or $15K pre-amp and $10K worth of cables to make a $10K pr. of speakers sound impressive!?
I’ve auditioned a VAC Phi 200, tubed amp, with several different speakers, including: Wilson Audio, Sophia IIs; Raidho, C-1.2s and the Quad ESL 2912s. The VAC had no problem nicely driving any of these fine speakers and while my preference over all was the Quads, I would not describe the sound of any of these speakers as being dark or sterile, when paired with the VAC.
It seems to me that it shouldn’t take $50K worth of equipment to make a $10,000 pr. of speakers sound good...just sayn...Jim
satbox
3 posts
 

Hi,

I’m a new owner of Magico A3 driven by an Hegel H360 and they sound very very good, in any case, not dark. For me, this amplifier is a very good pairing with A3.

jhills
615 posts
 
I agree with Al, regarding using the 2 ohm tap on the VAC, when paired with the A3s.
I have no doubt that the Magicos could sound very good when paired with the right equipment, as well as a lot of care given to set up and room treatment...Jim
jhills
615 posts
 
@satbox Others have said the same, regarding the Hegel H360 with the A3s.
Happy listening...Jim
melbguyone
294 posts
 
@jhills, I don’t thing you need to throw $35-$50k worth of amplification at the A3’s to make them sing. However $10k worth of cables given even a simple system is not over the top imho. Re: amplification, I could name three integrated amps which would have good synergy with the A3’s & would not break the bank.

- Audio Analogue Maestro Anniversary which would retail in the US circa $9k
- Audia Flight FLS-10 which would retail circa $11k
- Accuphase E-470 which is $12kUS

The Audio Analogue amp in particular is a peach & punches well above it’s price point. Though in a larger room, the AF amp would be the better choice. Another integrated I recently reviewed, the Vitus RI-101 would also be an excellent choice, though that amp would be on the high side of $15kUS. And as you pointed out, there are probably several tube integrateds which would have good synergy with the A3’s incl: Vac and Octave Audio.
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