Magico vs the world

     I happened to hear a demo at a local dealer of the Magic A3s being driven by a Mark Levinson 5805 integrated with hi-res digital files as a source.       I noticed the glass smooth midrange and treble mentioned by Eric, not as powerful but I thought better and more natural bass than the SF Strads and excellent imaging with a wide and deep soundstage illusion.
     I’m a big Magnepan fan and thought the A3s sounded very close to as smooth as my 3.7is on the midrange, treble and imaging.  Those were their most surprising qualities to me.

Tim

@ozzy62,

Just what are you talking about?

Last time I heard an A3 they sounded bottom heavy in a Spinal Tap'ing way, but it might have been the rest of the system.  Moving up the Magico line, I'd detour to the Vivid path.

Appearance is part of build quality. Outside of how they sound, Magico designs their speakers to stylishly fit into a rooms decor in a restrained manner as possible for something that size. To my mind many, if not most, other floor standing speakers are designed as individual self contained pieces of commercial art. Unless you happen to have the same style of room furnishings they usually stick out. Magico’s are designed to complement a rooms’s setting, as well as sound great which is the main thing.

Some of best sounding speakers really clash with many home environments, and it’s no wonder our spouses are appalled by us having them in our homes. These same ones might look fine in a strand alone setting or in a commercial modern art museum setting, but not too many other pre-existing locations like our living rooms. Magico’s look has to have added to their sales appeal as they’s fit into many a home decor. Appearance wise I've not found any other line I've liked any better that sounded as good as Magicos. 

How's that for a different take.

Mike

Well, in my opinion, the A3 and the S3 mk2 with the proper room and proper system, are very revealing speakers, with very nice sound stages. IMO, the S3 mk2 are better than the A3. But for the money, it may not be worth the difference in money. But that is dependent on whose wallet we are talking about and other factors. After careful listening and comparisons to other speakers I went for the A3s. Without the side by side comparison to the S3 mk2, the A3s are very satisfying. Plus there are logistics in my listening room which would make it very hard to integrate the bigger and heavier S3mk2s. But it’s not just the speakers. It’s about the room and the rest of your system. I’m not saying that you can buy lousy speakers and bring them to a whole large other level like putting lipstick on a pig, so to speak. But with the proper cabling, power management and other components, you will put what ever speakers you get, in a position to perform up to their potential.