Used Magico V3 or Rockport Mira 2

I actually disagree with Peter's take. I Have heard the Mira 1 (many times), Ankaa and Acquila and the V2/V3 at Goodwins and personally the Magicos (either model) are sterile and analytical sounding and for me the Rockport Miras sounded very musical. Also the bass is very different: Magico has sealed enclosures which give you quick, punchy but dry bass, whereas the Rockports will go deeper, still have great control and articulation but are much more textured in the bass. I have not heard the Mira 2s yet but talking to the folks at Goodwins, they say they are a material improvement over the original versions. If that is the case, for me, there is no contest. If you want hifi artifacts then Magico is the one to go with, if you want musical and emotional engagement than Rockport is the one for me. Of course, that is my opinion and Peter clearly had a diametrically opposed take on the comparison, so I would say the only real way to make a decision is to seek out an audition of both. As peter said, Goodwins in Boston carries both, so if you can get on a plane and arrange for a comparative audition, that will be your best way of deciding which way to go.

Good luck.

Yeung...Soundcomponents just received the first Avior speaker in the US for demo purposes. And he also has heard the Mira 2 extensively. You can ask him for his thoughts on the Rockport speakers.

A “musical” speaker?? A totally subjective, and quite frankly, useless description. Unfortunately, it is used by audiophile all the time. In my experience, “musical” basically mean a coloration of some sort which for some reason one may fancy . A speaker should be as “true to the source” as possible. That does not mean analytical or austere, which are also forums of coloration. To my ears the Rockport are much less “true to the source”, and therefore more “colored” then the Magico. You may fancy that but I would not call that “musical”. Listen to a cello recording, and immediately after to a soprano. It takes a second to hear how significant the loudspeaker coloration on the sound is. To my ears, the Rockport “sound” is more evident than the Magico one.

Different strokes for different folks. It's funny how we all perceive sound differently. To me, the Magico sound is anything but "true to the source" if your reference is live unamplified sound. To me the Magico sound lacks any of the organic natural texture of instrumental and vocal timbres. It sounds clean and highly resolved for sure but lacks texture and body and sounds almost austere and clinical to me. But this just goes to show the OP that opinions are just that opinions and one has to go and listen with their own ears and see what is pleasing to you.

Usermanual...perhaps "highly resolved" was not appropriate. I should have used the descriptor that the Magicos generally reproduce a lot of detail (which can give the impression of high resolution) but for me they lack a key ingredient for reproducing instrumental timbres and vocals, and that is the body and texture that one clearly hears when listening to a real instrument playing or a person singing. One of the key areas I find this to be the case is in the reproduction of bass where the Magicos can admittedly deliver punchy and cleanly articulated bass but it is dry and lacks the natural harmonic overtones (again the body is the best term I can think of to describe this) in the low frequencies. That is but one example. In any case, I do not wish to enter into a prolonged argument over the Magicos with you. You clearly are a fan of the Magico house sound, and that is great. When I listen to Magicos, I admire the speakers but do not get emotionally engaged. To each his own. My original point to the OP is that he should listen for himself and make up his own mind because we all hear differently, have heard the speakers in question with different playback equipment in different rooms, and so it becomes very hard to make valid comparative comments. All the best to you.

Ricred1...where will you be listening to the Mira2s? Please let us know what you think after the audition. Thx

I was going to remain quiet but Usermanual, your last comment put me over the edge. If anyone is making "weak points" it is you unfortunately. So let me pick them off for you one at a time:

You are claiming a “lot of (dry) details”, yet Sibelius here just claimed it is too smooth and “pretty”. You claim “lacks of natural harmonic overtones in the low frequencies” where even MF, the bass freak that he is, admitted that they have the best resolving bass he ever heard. In theory, and in measurements, Magico bass alignment is more accurate and extended then ported design.

First of all, Sibelius was commenting about the Magicos smoothing out the trumpet's sonic signature as compared to the real instrument's bite at fortissimo levels. I believe my example was talking about the Magico's bass as sounding dry to me, lacking in harmonic overtones. Unless I took a wrong turn somewhere, the trumpet's register does not go into the bass region, rather it remains largley in the midrange band and at the higher registers reaches into the treble region. So his comments do not contradict mine. Secondly, dry and smooth are not polar opposites. Dry means it lacks harmonic overtones and body. Smooth in audio lexicon suggests that a speaker can fully reproduce attack, the fundamental, and the decay of a note, leading notes to flow from one to the next, giving music a continuous flow. Two very different sonic phenomenon, so the one does not negate the other.

...but you should Google the subject, keep your mind open and trust your ears less because they are lying to you all the time). That is in theory, but also how, I and many reviewers and music lovers around the world hear them.

With all due respect, I cannot imagine giving anyone any worse advice when it comes to selecting high-end audio equipment. You may be comfortable parting with your hard earned money based on what reviewers tell you you should want, but for anyone who wants to be satisfied and happy with their purchases, I would submit that one's ears are the only ones to trust. At the end of the day, if a speaker (or any high end audio equipment) does not emotionally pull you into the music (for whatever reason), then you can kiss your hard earned money goodbye, because I guarantee you, you will end up with gear that you listen to less and less, and that you will eventually "upgrade."

JV, MF, RH, PM, JF, AS are all pushers!!

Hmmm...YES! This may come as a shocker to you, but audio reviewers work for audio publishing concerns that generate the majority of their revenue from advertising.

BTW, you are agreeing with people that do not like anything Magico does, including your Mini…

Absolutely not true. I believe I stated above that I have always walked away from a Magico audition, admiring the speakers but not falling in love with them, because I just could not get emotionally pulled into the music when listening to them. I believe Sibelius mentioned that he thought Magicos did a lot of things extremely well but that he was not a fan of their ability to reproduce tone, harmonics, body to his liking.

I could go on but this is getting a bit tiresome. That you are a Magico fan is clear and great for you. That you probably own a pair also may explain why you are being so defensive when comments are being made that may differ from your perspective. That's too bad but it is what it is. That you also depend on reviews as crutches to justify your own choices is also clear. If you want to gobble up marketing materials, reviews, and spew them back to the Agon community that is fine but please do not presume to know more about this hobby than others. I do not care how many reviewers agree with you.

In any case, this is getting to be counter-productive and I apologize to the OP who has seen his post devolve into a pissing match. So after this I will bow out, having contributed my "opinion," one of many and that is all it is. For the OP, once again, my best advice is to hop on a plane and listen to both Magicos and Rockports and make your own mind up. As has already been mentioned many times, Goodwins carries both speaker lines. Good luck.

Knghifi...the guys at Goodwins are very professional and recognize that there will be many tire kickers who come in to audition equipment who will then shop the business around. They get it and recognize the encroaching competition from the internet, Agon, etc...Because they get it, they also understand that to differentiate themselves and win the business, they go above and beyond the call of duty in servicing clients because that is what lands them the sale vs. a competing channel. I have been dealing with Paul, Al, and Jim there for many years and they all recognize the competitive landscape and what they have to do to win (they will compete within reason on price but where they try to differentiate is on service - pre- and after-sale service). As for the OP going to Goodwins to listen to both Rockports and Magicos to compare the speakers of interest to him, it sounds like he does not have local options, in which case, Goodwins can actually sell him the speaker of his choice since he does not apparently have local dealers who carry either line, otherwise he would have listened to the speakers locally. So I see no issue with the OP using up their time to audition especially if they have a fair chance of selling to him if indeed he does not have any local dealers. My 2c. Best wishes.