Rockport Atria II or Magico A5

Nobody can choose for you these are 2 great speakers.

Rockport are truly musical speakers. Magico are uninvolving and antiseptic. That's just my humble opinion.

Do not bad rap MAGICO the best selling speaker on the planet.You are totally wrong (blu guy).

I find Magico interesting. Somewhat dry, damped, and very quiet. They didn't stir my soul but if you like their presentation, there's not many speakers like them.

Hi ebm
I have listened to at least half a dozen Magico speakers in showrooms and at shows with Alon Wolf playing them and always felt that they were somewhat antiseptic. But I had not listened carefully to any Magico speakers in a number of years and the Q7s got such good reviews that I decided to test listen to them last year one on one against the similarly priced Raidho at my local dealer. I much preferred the Raidho.
But do not be offended because we do not share a love for Magico.
I am not the be all and end all of objective opinion here. However, the OP asked. To my ears, Rockport makes very musical and soulful speakers which draw me into the music and are among my favorites. I do not feel the same way with Magico ,although I do admire their heroic construction.
You may have a different opinion and you may state it here. There are many competent professional audiophiles who would agree with you and pick Magico over Rockport and indeed Magico sells many more speakers than Rockport.
Some like chocolate. Some like vanilla. I like Rockport. I don't care for Magico.

This a personal taste thing.  I like Rockports and Joseph Audio Pearls.

Jump on Rockports ASAP!!!!

Another very underrated high end contender not often discussed.
Joseph Audio Pearls. Agreed.

All good comments thanks.   Have heard good things about the Pearls.  No nearby dealers unfortunately.   

@gpgr4blu 

Would love to hear a Q7 vs. similarly priced Raidho, may I ask where such a dealer reside? 

It was Rhapsody Audio in NYC.

Hi Everyone,

Actually Rhapsody has NEVER had Q7s in our shop OR any of the large Raidho speakers other than current smaller XT-5's.  

We had D3s but that was 5+ years ago now.  We never had the larger  Raidho D-4s or D5s.  

Must have been some other shop.

Stay safe.

Bob (Rhapsody.Audio)

Btw, this video is of the A5s, but I did not have my liquid sounding Pilium amps as I had sold my demos when I did the video.  I was using fairly non-liquid sounding electronics with this video.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq1oAeeLOrY

The A5 video was also Qobuz streaming, which is a step down from our cd, vinyl or R2R sonics, but personally I’m a "streamer":)  Also a cell phone video, so it's not close especially to the in-room experience.

@cantorgale
The A5 are indeed incredible, not just for their price, but at any price. However, you should hear them yourself.
As you can see, people here consistently "reconstruct” false memories. I wouldn’t have much trust in any hearsay comments.

I have only heard the A3 as opposed to the A5. They sound like Magico but certainly junior in refinement to the S3mk2. I'm not sure what is compelling about the A5, when the Atria was preferred over the S3. My experience with Rockport is that they kind of sound like a better version of Wilsons...big, dynamic and a little forward. Both great brands, so all this talking goes out the window after firsthand experience. 

The A5 are in a different league, and I own the A3. Probably better in some areas then the S3 and S5 as well. 

Ohlala, certainly you won’t find the A5 compelling if you haven’t heard them. Give them a listen when/if possible. It would be interesting to hear your first hand experience after you hear the A5’s. That’s if you choose to do of course.

Btw, the A5s are NOT just bigger A3s. As stated by the other posters they are in a different league all together.

And yes talking about any speaker without hearing it in a well set up system is nothing more than mental gymnastics, which of course is fun, but not very insightful.

If anyone is interested in "why" the A5’s are special and not just a bigger A3-

The A5’s were the next speaker that was introduced by Magico after certain driver technologies became available in the development of the M9 Magico flagship.

Alon/Magico put the "goodies" realized from M9 development, into the A5, although at a different level of course than what is in the M9, but still of the same pedigree.

When you hear the A5 in a well set up system you will see or at least I did that there are things going on ie, transparency in the midrange and mid bass, which create realism, that I have not experienced prior.

It’s a fun listen, give it a try if possible.

Thank you Bob:
Looking at the photos on Raidho and Magico's website it is clear that I was mistaken. They were, I believe, Raidho XT 5s against a larger and more expensive Magico. This was a few years ago. I preferred the Raidhos

BTW, I think Bob (Rhapsody) is an excellent dealer and anyone who wants to hear Magico (which many swear by) or Raidho or any other products Rhapsody sells--could not find a better dealer.

@cantorgale   Not sure where you are located, but if you happen to be anywhere near NC, I do keep a demo pair of Joseph Audio Pearl 20/20's on hand (and they are fantastic speakers).

Thank you @goldprintaudio .  I am in the Chicago area.  

gpgr4blu,

Hi, no doubt about it many people would prefer Radios, Rockports, Joseph Audio etc.  SO many super duper speakers available.  At least everyone should be able to find something that "floats their boat" and allows them to enjoy music.

Happy Holidays!!!

@cantorgale   If you ever end up wandering down South, you are more than welcome to take a listen to the Pearls!

As long as I posted an A5 video, someone saw this video and asked if I would make some A5 videos with my Pilium Leonidas, 212 pound, 400 watts/4ohnm integrated amp.  Just did these two quick A5 videos streaming Qobuz.  

All for someone showing some Pearl, Rockport videos etc, not trying to monopolize the conversation but this combination was requested by two different gents, so here ya go.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojQVkD5Hwfo&feature=emb_logo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KE7jGQoCvw&feature=emb_logo

I auditioned both and bought the Rockport.   

Natural sound.

Good luck in your search, 
Jose

Jose,

Congrats on your Rockports? Which model, Atria IIs? Rockports ARE very natural sounding and beautifully made.

Where did you hear the A5’s and the Rockports? I ask as there are not that many A5’s circulating around yet with Covid and dealers doing demos.

Bob

Sorry for posting all of the videos in this post, but yesterday I had 3 people from this thread ask for more A5 videos. Rather than post the videos here if anyone is interested please go to https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Rhapsody.audio The last four videos are the A5s with the Pilium Elektra DAC and Leonidas integrated streaming with the Taiko Audio Extreme server.

I will bow out now, let’s see some Pearl or Rockport videos:)

Bob, I auditioned Magico and Rockport speakers, I dont recall which models.

I preferred and purchased Rockport, the Cygnus to be exact.

Take care,
Jose

Hi Jose,

Thx.  Cygnus are beautiful!  All the best with them!!!

Stay safe!

Bob

Magicos are great speakers but Rockport makes a highly musical and real sounding speaker.
every model is great. There is really no reason not to buy used for half,

Those speakers are no better then yours. They will just be a little different is all.
Sure, maybe one blends with your room or DAC a bit better here or there but maybe not also.

Very little real world consequence to be had with that list of speakers. All good speakers, all great companies. Little different price targets but pretty close stuff. The winner will go to whoever is running the best source in the best room.

Sorry don’t mean to bum you out but it’s true.

Those Focal’s are good speakers. None you listed are great. All are really good though. The Magico’s will be more dynamic and transparent but a bit constipated. The Rocky’s will chill, very nice but a little laid back with my mind on my money and money on my mind. Yes the Focal’s are a little hot up top but nothing a little intelligent rig matching can’t solve. 
I would save your money until you can buy a speaker that is better enough to actually matter.

Now if you want change for the sake of change then that’s cool. Been there and will be there again I’m sure. That’s part of the gig so no worries there. There will be times when you spend quite a bit more $$ and go backwards in SQ as well but that’s all part of the fun. 


I would save a few more bucks and look for a used pair of Scala Evo’s or M Series Magico’s or Avior II’s. Then you can get your Sox knocked off rather then squinting and saying I can hear it I think? Yes or no or I think? 

If you're serious, you really need to buy both so you can A/B them for a couple of months to insure break-in...sure, this requires a decent hand truck and good audio memory,  but it can be made easier by installing a set of dual small guage rail tracks maybe bought from a film production gear company. This is the only way to decide between these speakers...utterly worth it.

I am willing to bet that none of you actually heard the A5.
If there were any reservations regarding Magico, the A5 addressed them all. And at an unbelievable price point.

I asked this question on another forum and was immediately flamed...so I will put on my flame suit and ask it here...How much power is required to truly drive the new A5's? IOW, for those with SET's or low powered amps...say below 50 watts/ch, are they a non-starter?

Pass would be a great amp 350.8 350ch the speakers need at least 250 watts i am a Magico owner on my 3rd pair.Tube amp should be at least 150 watts channel Set amps will not work well on Magico.If ypu have Set amp look at Horning speakers as i do not like horns.Good luck!

I would not use any tube amps under say 90watts P/P.   I would not use any SET, even a powerful 50 Watt SET amp.

My Jadis 90 Watt PP I-88 integrated lights up the A5s in a fairly large space.

I think a good quality 100 Watt SS or 90 Watt PP tube amp, DEPENDING on the size of the room and how loud one listens, would be sufficient for most listeners in regular size rooms.

I probably prefer 200 Watt SS into 8 ohms, 400 Watts into 4 ohms.  They sound REALLY GOOD with this type of power.

No doubt they DO respond to GOOD power.

I am actually in a similar position. I went to audition both the A5 and Atria II as a replacement for my Magico S1MKII. I am fortunate in that my local Magico dealer is also the local Rockport dealer. I was able to hear them back to back on the same gear. I auditioned both with a Hegel H390 as i currently have a Hegel H360 this is the closest I could get without bringing in my amp. The dac was a moon cd dac combo that I don’t feel is on the same level as my dCS Bartok but it is still better than the dac that is built into the H390. 

I have a JL F110v2 paired with my S1MKII and it fills out the bass nicely but I am still left wanting more in terms of scale that the S1 can’t provide. I started off listening to the Atria II and found it to sound more natural than the S1. The bass was obviously deeper and more impactful than on the S1 by themselves. It is really close to what the S1 do with the sub woofer.  The resolution was on par or better than the S1. 

I went on to the A5. The first take away from the A5 is bass. Wow it is deep controlled and impactful. It should be considering that it houses 3 9” woofers. The imaging was not as good as the S1 and is not close to the Atria in my opinion. The off axis listening is also lacking to me. The S1 is incredible in this regard and I was disappointed by the A5. I know that everyone is raving about the new midrange driver but i find that the S1 and Atria were more natural in this regard. I would say that the S1 is more refined than the A5 and is a better looking speaker. The A5 is incredible and could easily wow folks that have never heard a MKII S series speaker. I would choose the S1MKII with a pair of subs over the A5 for my taste. I think that the S series is where the Magico magic really starts.

I left and decided to pick-up an additional F110v2 sub. It improved the stage of the S1MKII. At the end of the day I have just placed an order for a new pair of Rockport Atria II. I am hoping that they will be delivered early next week. I will update once they are delivered and in my room. 

Congratulations on your new speakers.
Both the S1 and the Atria have a bigger midrange driver (more like midbass in the S1), which means not nearly as wide dispersion as the 5” midrange in the A5. I am surprised you found the off-axis response lacking.

you would be remise not to audition the Wilson Benesch speakers. 

mheinze -

you think no one on here has heard the A5?

How does that work? Like its some, exclusive, member only speaker?

They are in almost every Magico dealers showroom on the planet. It’s their red hot, entry level series speaker. Its a gateway drug not an end of the road speaker.

Pump the brakes on the A series ...

I’m a Magico fan boy and think the A5 is fantastic but still settle down ...

You know this website is Audiogon right?
Many of these guys flip speakers quicker then their phones.

In my opinion the monitor audio Platinum generation 2 is better than both those speakers. That AMT Tweeter is so sweet and open and the mid-range is very natural very wide three-dimensional sound stage.

@fsmithjack 
From your response, I am willing to bet you never heard then either!

I don’t own the Rockports but recently auditioned them. I did not like everything about them but I was very impressed with the separation of voices, imaging and coherence.  The found them a bit thin and forward but my audition was at an audio show so maybe not reasonable that they can do everything right in this environment.

One thing that is great about this hobby; are the many choices, in speakers or otherwise and all at different price points.  I auditioned Magico and Rockport extensively.  I also auditioned many Wilson models.  The Rockport provide me the sound signature that  I was searching for, and thus, my choice.  No one brand is the end all be all; buy what pleases you and replace as you want, when you want.

Good luck in your search and enjoy in good health,
Jose

I have home auditioned Magico S3 and dealer demoed S1 and A3 and heard the Rockport and Magicos at the Munich shows. The Magico sound is quite clinical sounding, and they all sounded absolutely spell-binding on electronic music. I really did not warm to the sound of the Magico on acoustic music or classical. In terms of a rather dry sounding analytical speaker I feel the top of the Wilson Benesh range does it better than Magico. The Rockport, by contrast, sounded a lot more musical. Like a Wilson but to my ears, more engaging. However, whilst the Munich show is good, with big rooms, it is not the ideal environment.

Avalon and Joseph speakers have that very musical (maybe slightly ’warm’?) but still detailed sound too, and are even further away from the Magico sound. From what I heard Rockport sit more in the middle of this spectrum.

@rhapsody  Thanks for your information on the required amp to drive the A5. I think this would rule out a lot of great sounding gear. I also believe that very careful amp/speaker matching is going to be required with the A5's, given what you posted. Pity that so many manufacturer's of speakers still require one to acquire a more powerful tube amp or a brute of a ss amp in order to properly drive their design. IME, the more powerful the tube amp...the worse it sounds. YMMV.

The only point that I would make regarding my amp suggestions, is that I would say the same pertaining toYG, Wilson, Rockport etc and almost every dynamic/cabinet speaker. Not the same with horns or other higher efficiency speakers or course.

So, if low wattage tube amps are ones desire, then more efficient speakers are appropriate.

I personally try to find the speaker that I like and then amplify it appropriately vs finding a speaker that matches the types of amps that I want to listen to. But I understand the lure of low wattage SET’s or even low wattage tube PP amps. All personal preference. Many great choices for everyone these days.

Happy Holidays!

I think the philosophy of finding the speaker first and then trying to acquire the appropriate amp could lead to an expensive mistake. Take for instance the pricey YG’s  ( which I think are excellent speakers), here we have a good example. One of my friends buys the YG’s, which takes up a chunk of his budget ( a BIG chunk); he now attempts to find an amp that works well with these YG’s, given his budget...lets just say that he is more than disappointed at the results!! So, what to do, increase the budget significantly ( not always possible), or live with the result of having an amp/speaker mismatch and not getting what he paid for with the speaker, or lastly--sell the YG’s and get a speaker that will fit his budget and be well driven by an amp that will will allow said speaker to give off its best. Again, the latter is probably an expensive endeavor. OTOH, if one is very familiar with the amp that one is going to be using, then matching up a ’synergistic’ speaker to this amp- will probably result in a more ’appropriate’ result.
Bob, I appreciate your thinking--and certainly the more efficient horn type designs are going to be easier to drive than the dynamic/cabinet speaker, BUT shouldn’t the consumer of the YG/Magico/Wilson/Rockport type design be very aware of the drive requirements of these type of speaker...and their limitations? I am sure you are one of the dealers who is going to take this into consideration before suggesting a speaker for purchase ( and educate your customer), but you would be surprised how many dealers out there have no clue about this issue!! ( or, do know, and don’t care anyhow, just so long as they can make the sale!!)