Rockport Atria II or Magico A5

cantorgale,

Having compared the Atria 11 and Magico A5, I applaud your decision and question only the inference that the Magico A5's ("speakers in this price range") handle music well.  Whereas the Atria 11 seamlessly integrated base, midrange and treble drivers, the Magico's....to my ear...had harsh, 'boxy' sound, with deficient treble clarity, and ample base but annoyingly clipped lower base notes, those defects evident throughout the speakers' volume range.
The B&W 802D3's have a 'different' sound from that of the Atria 11's, a more ample and deeper base, plumper midrange, transparent but 'fuller' treble....and like the Atria 11's, 'elegant' and coherent throughout the frequency range.  The 802D3's to me compare with the Rockport Avior 11's....with the edge going to the Avior 11's.
Your further thoughts on these comparisons are more than welcome.
Thanks

I own the A5. After reading this thread, I jumped on an opportunity to audition the Atria at a privet setting. To say that I was unimpressed is an understatement. Hard to tell what people hear, and needless to say proper setup is critical. To my ears, there was nothing the Atria did that impressed me. A much smaller, darker, smeared sound with a noticeable Beryllium glare (this is the same Scan-Speak tweeter used in the first generation Magico S series - which always bothered me).
In particular, the bass, which was anemic and soft compared to the A5 ( I just can’t imagine anyone preferring this one 9” woofer to the 3 in the A5). I am sure that the lean bass response can be easily measured, unfortunately, no one has tested the Atria yet.

I was interested in the A5 until seeing the stereophile review and they roll off too early. I'm sure the huge boost in bass sounds impressive, but the overall measurements suggest a speaker that will be more room dependent than most. the persona 7f is close in price, doesn't need much power and sounds amazing. 

That’s not the case.

"I have not shown the in-room response below 45Hz, as this was affected by the presence of subsonic noise from his building’s heating/ ventilation system. This could not be turned off on the morning that I was able to perform the measurements"

There are better measurements on Soundstage review (https://www.soundstageultra.com/index.php/equipment-menu/1042-magico-a5-loudspeakers?fbclid=IwAR1u3iW2ntPgFYAKxntjiDjhgcy5V1BUG0kVBglql15l2u_japSj09lDWAU)

The bass is phenomenal, as the review mention.