New Magico A1 Bookshelf Speakers!

@verdanaudio

You want ultimate, give the Kaiser Chiara’s a listen

And what makes these the "ultimate"? Is it the price? Or the look??
Not as good as drivers ( Scan-Speak, paper cone mundane woofers, and an AMT shrilling tweeter), passive radiator; a concept that never works, all in an MDF box (albeit pretty). Never heard the A1, but on paper, it will blow the Kaiser.

I heard the Kaiser Chiara's in a shop in NYC side-by-side with the Magico S1s and Scansonics top of the line and they delivered as much detail as the Magico's with soundstage that was jaw-droppingly wide and deep.  It is a special speaker.  

IMO, what makes them the "Ultimate" is strictly sound.  They look nice though I did not love the integrated stand.  Could be the shop I was in and the way they had them setup.  Could be the VAC gear that was driving them.  They were also 8-10' from the back wall which is not terribly practical.   They were phenomenal sounding with the above caveats and I say this as someone who makes a $7000 stand-mount speaker that competes with the A1s.  They are better than mine (though they are 3x the price).  

I am not sure how they are making such a great sounding speaker using such mundane components.  I am definitely not convinced advanced drivers are critical.  Listen to Wilson.  Regarding the tweeter, not even a tiny bit of shrillness but it was driven by VAC gear which maybe tamed it a hair.  I hate MDF and make my cabinets out of composites (and I am working on "solid bamboo" products that will be less expensive).  I have no idea how Kaiser isolates the drivers enough so that resonance from the MDF is not impacting the sound.  I would love to get my hands on a pair and take them apart. 

Regarding the demo, the dealer did a side by side hot swap Magico for Kaiser mid song.  It was as clean a swap where memory, dealer suggestion, bias, price, etc.. would have the smallest possible impact.  They are magnificent.  

On paper, you are right.  The A1 should win.  In practice, the Kaisers beat the S1s.  

I have not heard Kaisers side-by-side with the Duette IIs.   I have heard the Tune Tots separately and although lovely, the soundstage was lacking compared to Kaiser, Raidho and IMHO, my Blackthorns.  Though, I heard the Tune Tots driven by a Naim integrated rather than VAC mono-blocks.  

Both the A1 and Tune Tot seem to be optimized to near wall placement which is cool.  Mine are rear ported and the bass gets a little boomy with near wall placement.  A bung works wonderfully but you are going to lose 10hz in bass response where I will bet the opposite is the case with the Magico's and the Tune Tots.  

I know for a fact (having owned a pair) the Raidho's need 9' in spacing between them and 3' of space from rear wall.  Without that spacing, they are rather mundane.  I would be the Kaiser's need as much if not a little more with that passive radiator to be at their best.  

feel free to look at mine at verdantaudio.com. My carbon fiber cabinets are the Blackthorns and I use magnesium composite drivers and magnesium & ceramic tweeter. The Nightshades are fiberglass cabinets and use paper cones and a silk dome. All drivers are from Eton.  

Was it the S1, or the S1 Mk2? Big difference. 
Also, to the unsuspected ear, the AMT tweeter will always win on a/b testing. Try long terms listening, and the craze of changing amps/cables etc. start in the hope of taming the highs (plastic coloration stays). There is a reason they always play these with AN, Kondo or, in your case,  VAC amps. Not my idea of fun, YMMV. 

Thanks for the input so far ... very appreciated.

Back to the point on the A1s, I'm guessing it's too early for any of the sites and rags to have reviewed them?  

Guess we'll have to wait a few more months.  

I'm encouraged but also have a feeling the A1s are going to need a good deal of (clean) power to run them well.

If you are LA area, Brooks Berdan has them on display. I get emails from them.