Magico compared to Tannoy

Great post....

Thanks from a past  happy Tannoy user....

@jimmy2615 I am happy to hear that you like your Magico A3s. I preordered them when they were announced. I would like to say that my experience with their need for current or watts is different than yours. I don’t know how loud you play your music. I play mainly jazz. But not exclusively so. However, I have driven my 88dB 4 ohm A3s very well with First Watt SIT-3 and a M2. Also with an F5 I used to own. No issues. Good SQ and volume. They are also driven well with the 3 tube amps I own: PrimaLuna Dialogue Premium HP with stock preamp tubes and stock EL34s. Also with a Boyuurange A50 Mk3 300B tube amp that has only 7-8 WPC. Also driven well by a Raven Blackhawk Mk3 I recently acquired. All of these amp drive the A3 with authority. I never get the volume knob to 12 o’clock. Also tube watts are greater than SS watts, so to speak. Are your A3s rated at 88dB and 4 ohms? Do you use stock cables or upgraded cables? Do you take your power straight from the wall outlet or do you use power conditioning or regeneration? Also what size room do you have? Mine is a medium to small room. Also have you optimized your speaker positioning? Just curious as to why your experience differs. Thanks. 

King, my room is 13.5 by 21 feet. I listen mostly to classical, some jazz, blues, etc. I wasn’t saying the primaluna wasn’t enough power - note that in at least the nominal ratings the Luxman 509x 120 w/ch is less than primaluna dialogue premium monoblock with KT120s at 150 w/ch at 8 ohms, if memory serves correct. Also, I preferred the PL over a well regarded SS 400 w/ch integrated amp (JRDG Continuum) with the A3s. I just found that the A3s to my taste were much better suited to the Luxman than the PL Amps. For the purposes of this discussion (comparing tannoy with Magico) I was just presenting the best combination of amps I had with each speaker at the time, for sake of comparison. And having owned both, I do think the tannoy is less fussy than the Magico for pairing with amps. That doesn’t mean you can’t use the Magicos with different amps to good effect. I think the magicos just respond better to a quality amp, and I was told by two dealers that “they need high current”, which in my experience is a common trend with sealed LS (and subwoofers). But I have no idea if that is why I liked one over the the other. However, having replaced the Luxman integrated with their M900, which is in fact a much higher current amp (and given, a much more expensive amp), there was a big difference in sound quality. I had the amps plugged directly into the wall with upgraded power cords (PS audio AC-10) with Nordost Heimdall speaker cable. And I listen relatively low, probably about 75-80 db or so without considering peaks.

I just thought of something else that may answer your question better - I mentioned I listened to classical, but failed to mention I am an enthusiast of organ music. Listening to 16 to 32 Hz notes at 85 db, along with the rest of the music being portrayed, eats up a lot of power. Believe it or not on such occasions I could feel the tops of the Magicos resonating (but not the sides...), with those smallish woofers in a smallish cabinet trying (and doing an awesome job!) to pump out that bass. Listening to jazz you may only consume a few watts. At an efficiency in the 90s dBs and being ported the Tannoys don’t have as much of an issue with power. If you want to try an example, listen to the last 5 minutes of Felix Hell’s recording on reference recording’s label of the Liszt piece (the final track).  It’s available on qobuz, not sure about tidal, if you stream. Just be careful not to turn it up too loud.

"Magico has the latest drivers and cabinets Tannoy has fifty year old cabinets and drivers.They both have cult like followings."

Well, just because something has the latest whatever does not necessarily mean it sounds better, but you should know that. There are some "old" tannoy drivers going for a small fortune, that should tell you something. The fact is you are assuming things about current Tannoys....they have fused current technological advances into their drivers, yet have retained the original design philosophy (ie..the current Legacy and Prestige line), meaning that the materials used in the surrounds as well as the crossovers are "up to date". As far as 50 year old cabinets, I bought mine in 2019, so only a few years old. Why change something that is beautiful to look at?? Tannoys have some of the most fantastically crafted cabinetry in the business. If you want to use turtle wax on your speakers then go ahead...I’m saving my turtle wax for my automobile. Lastly, I would not necessarily say that Tannoy has a "cult-like" following....just that once heard, most tend to NOT go back to conventionally designed separate driver speaker.