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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
folkfreak's avatar
folkfreak
1,349 posts
 
Please review my system for good results combining Q3s with VTL and ARC. Very high powered tubes work excellently with the Q series
https://systems.audiogon.com/systems/5707
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melbguyone
294 posts
 
@fleschler Few tube amps provide the low impedance stability to propertly drive Magico’s less efficient models. Anecdotally Magico has good synergy with the flagship CAT mono’s, CJ Art 300 Anniversary mono’s & the new Absolare Signature hybrid mono’s. I could also see the bigger VTL mono’s such as the MB-450 Series III used by @folkfreak and Siegfried Series II being an excellent match.
fleschler
2,046 posts
 
Maybe that’s one reason Magico sounds bad most of the time. I heard them with several VAC amps and truly bad sounding with a Jadis amp.  Many tube amps used to drive them instead of solid state.  Maybe underpowered even for the smaller speakers, like B&Ws that crave power.
melbguyone
294 posts
 
"Maybe that’s one reason Magico sounds bad most of the time" - I can’t quite agree with that view. My experience auditioning various Magico speakers over the years has been quite the opposite. That’s not to say every Magico speaker i’ve auditioned has sounded good on a given day. Issues like system synergy and speaker hours have been mitigating factors on a couple of occasions.

The best amps i’ve heard for synergy with Magico are Vitus, Boulder (latest series), Absolare & Soulution (latest series). Though I could also see CH Precision pairing well. In fact Magico LLC are now using CH gear in their listening room.

Thanks for posting the link to your room. I’ll check that out properly tomorrow if I get a chance. I like the VTL amps. If I ever come across a stonking deal on a pair of 2nd hand Siegfried Series II mono’s & a TL6.5 Series II pre, I could be sorely tempted.
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