New Magico Speaker Break-in Question

To @jmeyers -

• What amplifier are you running and can it handle down into 2-ohm loads?

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How about dips into 2.6 ohms, more specifically. Your other speakers were 6 ohms. These are 4 ohms nominal, and dip down if you trust this SP test graph for reference. There was another member here who experienced something similar, different speaker, same type of situation as I recall. We ended up figuring out his tube amps and others had some trouble driving the speakers at low impedance and it becomes shrill, harsh, not fun to listen to for long periods.

Worth checking this more and comparing A5 speaker versions, and worth asking Magico more on what amps are best to use. One of the tests, they used a mighty Boulder amp in a few tests and people mention trying some Pass amps to fwiw. See the comments below about "no tube amps", worth noting as well.

Yes, looking at the crossovers and caps used, some 250+ hr break-in can help some, but I’d first be looking closely at what amp capability you have now, and compare from there. Apparently this is known about needing an extra capable amplifier to drive these well. My question is about what happens to the sound when other parts of the frequency experiences impedance dips like this. Others wil chime in, I suspect. 

Maybe you have this covered already, good luck.

Stereophile article, for reference:

https://www.stereophile.com/content/magico-a5-loudspeaker-measurements

My advice: Don't listen to your new speakers for 2-4 weeks. give your Aurel memory time to fade. Of course, make sure the speakers are functioning properly to avoid return issues, then don't listen. Assuming you heard the dealer's pair, and liked them, yours should sound the same after break-in. 

Magico are very sensitive to input electronics and absolutely any anomalies passed from your components will be reproduced. So the first thing I looked at were your components... well the Mac stuff is unlikely to be the problem, it is very soft in the treble. The Bricasti might perhaps be too "detailed oriented". Secondly,  I am not a fan of Wireworld silver... it is not a relaxed. Overall, though, most of your stuff is not oriented towards the detail / fatiguing side of audio. Magic are relentlessly accurate. 

But, get another couple hundred hours on them before any final conclusion.

Congrats on the new speakers. I jumped from Revel to Focal Scala Utopia, which have a beryllium tweeter. I believe there are some similarities between the Magico and Focal speakers in that both are going to be very revealing of the electronics and the track. They will faithfully reproduce the signal you give them. In contrast, long ago I had SF bookshelf speakers and regardless the electronics, they reproduced a smooth, warm sound - good for some music, but not for other types.

Once you break them in, I think you need to decide if you want to go down the path of adjusting your electronics or swapping speakers. Magico are very backordered so you can easily sell them. I have been upgrading all my electronics and the high mids and highs are much better, but there are still a few tracks that are troubling to me. I have the same issue on other speakers so some of what you hear may be your ears or room. I want to blame my benchmark dac, but it could be the tweeters.

My advice is to let them break in and consider your electronics and room. Reducing toe in help me as well and I prefer a wider sound anyway. Be aware that you may be upping the volume to get the bass to hit harder, but then adding too much high frequency at the higher volume.  Also, try to embrace the highs and the details. There are two sides to every coin and that level of detail and reveal is addicting and adds so much to the soundstage and nuances of all instruments and voices. IMO, each system excels in certain areas, but also has drawbacks. If you like all types of music, then an all-around system may have a few rough spots but mostly hits home runs across all genres - I think this will be your system. I listen to everything from slow soft vocals and instruments to techno club music. So embrace the highs and admire them, and don’t ignore or wish them away. I listen into the high mids and highs and am amazed at the clarity and detail. I won’t have these speakers forever so while I do I appreciate their characteristics. It takes time to adjust to new speakers.