Auditioned Magico A3 - VERY DARK...


So today after waiting for months to try and listen to the Magico A3, I went to Scott Walker audio at Anaheim and listened to the Magico A3, connected to some VAC Tube amp, being fed from a Sony audio streamer, here are my impressions:

- They look fantastic, I wish they made them in silver too, but they are just great in brush black aluminum
- They're quite small and could fit everywhere
- Fit and finish is impecable
- The bass they generated was nothing but amazing for such a small cabinet, you could hear the drums, the down beats and incredible depth of bass at an amazing level
- Imaging was INSANE, you could literally place everyone and everything...
- Sound was VERY VERY DARK!!! This was a bit of a surprise, the top end lacked for my taste to a quite a degree
- I felt like the combo of the Tube amp and Magico lacked resolution, while bass and mid was great, the top end absolutely lacked resolution
- The sound was extremely laid back, again dark
- It does NEED POWER, like he had to crank the volume up, to get good sound out of this, so be aware of that

Overall, I "personally" did NOT like the sound, it lacked details and resolution at the top end, while it was great at the bottom end.  Now, the rep and I think this is mostly due to Tube amp, and connecting it to a solid state amp would bring back resolution, but we simply didn't have time to do that today.  I look forward to listen to these at another time with some decent solid-state amp, but as-is, I was NOT as impressed as I expected and wouldn't have purchased one and I strongly believe Tube and Magico A3 do NOT go well together! 

Anyone else with similar impressions?! Curious to know what others may think, or maybe there was something else in play?

Thoughts?
alexb76
Yeah, the broker I bought the A3's from said they need AT LEAST 300-400 hours of break in. That's a lot of albums! I typically listen to 1-3 albums at most in a sitting. Although with new speakers I suspect that number will go up! Now I'm thinking of adding the Modwright 9.0 phono preamp in order to have both of my TT's connected. That may add a touch of warmth with the tubes to clean SS power. Another consideration down the road if I need additional power would be to add the PS Audio BHK stereo power amp which delivers 500 Watts @ 4 ohms. If anyone has information on those two components please discuss your impressions. I'm getting excited, the A3's come tomorrow!
I've owned the A3's since December and believe that they're still breaking in, paired with the Yamaha A-S3000 integrated. I borrowed a Prima Luna Dialogue One integrated for three weeks and the sonics were much more natural even though they could have used more power. I added a DYNA PAS-3X tube preamplifier to the Yamaha and the sonics do sound much more natural that with just SS amplification. I think Prima Luna EVO 400 mono blocks and preamplifier would be a killer combination.
Sounds real audio I agree with you I listen to the A3 and I found the bright and edgy. They monitor audio Platinum 200 Gen 2 are much better speaker they sound more natural and that MPD tweeter is much much better than the dome Tweeter that magico uses.
And I highly doubt that these are the most transparent transducers in the world LOL
The A3's need to be paired with the right speakers in order to get all out of them. Anyone who doesn't think they're some of the very best speakers they've ever heard isn't listening with a proper pairing, period.

I upgraded my amp from a Yamaha A-3000 to Prima Luna EVO 400 power amplifier and the change couldn't have been more dramatic!

I had a buddy over yesterday who was moved to tears while hearing Beethoven Symphony no. 6 in F major with Bruno Walter conducting. Analogue Productions Basie Jam was also pretty spectacular sounding!