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
@soundsrealaudio, You know I was ambivalent as to whether to bother writing up my review of the A3’s because of how much time and effort I knew it would take to it to do it right. But after reading your post, I will now prioritize posting up that review asap. Have a good day....
Yes the Magicos can sound a bit dark and a bit congested.What they need is a really special sounding preamp.I have heard a Supratek Cabernet 300B preamp inserted into a very expensive  system using Magico S5s and Audia Flight Strumento preamps and power amps and the Supratek completely transformed the sound.Like a completely different system.From a bit dark,cold ,small and dull sounding to huge,open,dynamic and vibrant.I would have never believed a preamp could make so much difference.
jtgofish,I have Magico Q3s with Strumento #1 preamp and Strumento #4 mk2 amp it is truly a great musical(not dark)and dynamic combination.I had CJ ET5 and this Strumento #1 preamp is in another league.I am getting wonderful sound beyond my wildest dreams.Thanks for your response enjoy!!
Congrats @ebm , that’s a very nice setup you’ve got there. I could see the warm sounding AF amps being a good match with the very neutral/linear Q3’s 👍 . I’m a happy camper running Vitus Signature series gear with my S5 Mk2’s. There is a slight similarity in that both amps use UI-core transformers.
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