Magico vs the world

How can anybody make a better speaker than magico? Its a cost no object speaker designed to be the absolute best. What are you supposed to do to make it better? 

Of course, this is all my humble opinion. Please keep things civil and love them if you love them. :)

I’ve gotten to hear the Magico S1 in the Magico demo room, and the A3 at a local dealer.

Here’s what they do well:

• Glass smooth mid to treble
• Fantastic off-axis imaging
• Very good dynamic range
  

But are they perfect and perfectly neutral? Not to me. What keeps them from that:

• Slightly cool tuned treble
• Scintillating color in the mid to treble, kind of makes them sound like ribbons (in the sense of adding things not in the recording)
  
• Extra resonance in the bottom of female vocal range / piano makes them sound chesty to me, like they hit a range where it is going to be more pronounced.
  
• That extra wide imaging also needs a great room or lots of space.
  

The Revels do as good a job with off-axis imaging, and modern Wilson’s have a better tonal balance with similar or better dynamic range. The humble Fritz line to me sounds overall much closer to neutral with great dynamic range and live-ability ( low total cost of ownership, small size, affordable), while the top-end Vandersteens sound great in a number of rooms neither Magico or Wilson would.

As always, buy what you like. This is of course based on my personal preferences and limited experience, and I don’t really need to impose my beliefs or values on you, so please afford me the same level of respect.

Best,

E

Given the sales volume of speakers like the Magico A3, I would think they have a ton of fans. I have heard a lot in the line Magico lineup with reference caliber gear and my 2 favorites were S3 MKII and the A3 (cost wise). I would not have bought any of the more expensive models even if money was free.

if I had to spend my own money here are some speakers I would take over my favorite Magico, the S3 MKII.

KEF Blade 1 or 2
Vivid Giya Series II (only heard Giya 1 but room size would dictate mode)
Yamaha NS 5000 (buying this or maybe smaller variant when Covaid-19 goes away)
Parasound Persona 5F (or 9H though not heard 9H)
TAD ME1 (does not have the low end but in a small room it is amazing)

Thanks guys for your thoughts.
@mheinze I wish! I've never seen a critical professional review of magico and what I mean by that is a review where they talk about their modern speakers having  an obvious weakness (obviously pro reviewers are not going to bash a product).
As for other people and all these detractors... I have simply not seen them. Im not saying everyone  in the world loves magico. But I would the vast vast vast majority that hear the newer magicos all seem to gush about how great they are.
@yyzsantabarbara  nice list... definitely those are some solid speakers that can compete. Actually I found impressions on the NS5000 from TAS that actually put them above many heavy hitters except for the magico m2 and even then it was just slightly worse (they gave grade rankings).

Oh ya its here: https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articles/jvs-tokyo-international-audio-show-report/
I think magico definitely has competitors like vivid... maybe persona. But that tank like build quality and pretty much universal praise makes them sell incredibly well. This is what left me with the impression that in high end speakers it really is like magico vs the world. Again I am not saying people don't like other speakers but just that magico seems among the most praised and popular in the high end ($10k speakers and up).