Thoughts about the Magico A3, Revel Salon2/ Studio2


Just curious to find out what are the thoughts of the Magico A3 ? I do not have the opportunity of listening to the pair as the dealer is in another state but it maybe worth heading upstate to audition them.

So far, I have listened to the Revel Salon 2s that I really like. The Revel sounded very extremely neutral, detailed and are easy to position. As much as they are good, they seemed pretty dated judging that they are over 10 years old but that being said, there are not many speakers like it these days.

Just wanted to find out what the overall characteristics of the A3 are, pros and cons. 
bob82
seasdiamond wrote:


Both the Salon 2 and F228Be have more bass extension than the A3

Huh?

The Revel F228Be is spec’d from 27 Hz - 44 KHz

The Magico A3 is spec’d at 22 Hz - 50 KHz

When I auditioned the Magico the bass sounded very deep and full, so I’m not sure where you are getting your specs.










seasdiamond,

Perhaps I'm reading the graph wrong - the F228Be's frequency graph isn't labelled like the others - but I'm not seeing a significant bass advantage over the Magico.  Also, note the kind of weird downward tilted response of the Magico noted in the measurements and by listener comments.  That seems to have been an issue as well.


Both speakers “sound power” are down ~15 dB at 20K ("listening window" on the Revel actually deviate down more then the Magico), they just, conveniently, gave the Revel graphs more smoothing, so it is harder to see (Note the Magico scale is a bit larger). I also like how they pick on some Magico “bumps, but say nothing on their own (look at the 228 tweeter at 5K). The biggest difference will be the upper midrange, the Revel is more forward, and will sound more “present”. That can also explain a preference in A/B testing but may prove fatiguing for long terms listening (i.e., the "BBC dip"). Most experience audiophiles will agree that flat FR tend to sound too bright. These speakers were design by engineers, that may be doing too much A/B testing and not enough listening ;)
There are other things to consider, JA just published his own measurements, where you can see some serious issues with the enclosure around 250Hz (you can also see it in the impedance curve). I suspect the A3, being made out of aluminum will have none of these issues. Nevertheless, two well engineered products.
@mzkmxcv 

Rubinson's high frequency hearing must be pretty limited at this point. I don't see how anyone could think the Salon 2 or F228BE are indistinguishable. The F228BE is a more forward speaker and clearly has more energy above 7k in the off-axis measurements.