Thoughts about the Magico A3, Revel Salon2/ Studio2


Just curious to find out what are the thoughts of the Magico A3 ? I do not have the opportunity of listening to the pair as the dealer is in another state but it maybe worth heading upstate to audition them.

So far, I have listened to the Revel Salon 2s that I really like. The Revel sounded very extremely neutral, detailed and are easy to position. As much as they are good, they seemed pretty dated judging that they are over 10 years old but that being said, there are not many speakers like it these days.

Just wanted to find out what the overall characteristics of the A3 are, pros and cons. 
bob82

Showing 3 responses by prof


seasdiamond,

Perhaps I'm reading the graph wrong - the F228Be's frequency graph isn't labelled like the others - but I'm not seeing a significant bass advantage over the Magico.  Also, note the kind of weird downward tilted response of the Magico noted in the measurements and by listener comments.  That seems to have been an issue as well.



I haven’t heard the Salon 2 at length (it sounded spectacular at a show), but I auditioned a few lower models (e.g. Performa) and I had a long audition of the Magico A3. The Magico certainly seemed highly resolving of detail, and had nice spacious qualities. But the Revel did strike me as more even, full and neutral, a bit less colored.

FWIW, results of blind testing at Harmon of the Magico A3 against the Solon etc:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/quvk1ffpqw9hmyl/Revel%20F228-Magico%20A3-Paradigm%203F%20%20Test%20Report%...

One may be inclined to say "Well, yeah, sure Harmon employees picked the Harmon model." But keep in mind it was double blind testing so they could not know which speaker they were listening to. As well, a great many non-Harmon subjects (including reviewers) have produced similar results when comparing the Revel models blind to other speakers.

Not that I’m advocating buying simply on the Harmon data, but it, along with information from Floyd Tool, is something to consider.
seasdiamond wrote:


Both the Salon 2 and F228Be have more bass extension than the A3

Huh?

The Revel F228Be is spec’d from 27 Hz - 44 KHz

The Magico A3 is spec’d at 22 Hz - 50 KHz

When I auditioned the Magico the bass sounded very deep and full, so I’m not sure where you are getting your specs.