Magico vs the world

It's kind of odd to me that, w/the exception of the JMLabs reference above, Focal doesn't seem to be on anyone's radar...I'm thinking that choosing between a Magico S3 and a Sopra 3 would probably be tough, and getting the cost evened out a bit more, how about something from the Utopia line?As many have observed, it's what sound you like/prefer ~ for me, the detail, imaging, and tonal accuracy of the Focals is wonderful...and best of all, I can get a slice of it for less than Magico's "cheapest" speakers [Aria, Kanta].

i have an s5mk2 and absolute love it. especially with big class a power from a symphonic line kraft 300, the speakers have incredible tone and texture and have overcome any narrow soundstage issues that can be the case with magicos. i've come to understand that these speakers LOVE power. the more the better. they sounded great with 250watts from my odyssey amp but the 500 or so watts that the kraft can do just opened the speakers up in a massive way. high current designs are the way to go with any magico imo

i plan on listing them in the near future to move up to an m2, alsyvox tintoretto, or an mbl101e mk2. the s5's are no slouch compared to any of these and, ironically, the m2 offers the least upgrade (but damn are they cool!). the alsyvox and mbl's have a different magic that only those kind of designs+ribbons can give. that said, i never left those demo's feeling like my s5's were behind. it's more a matter of taste and being a gear hound. i think the s5mk2 can easily be the speakers around which to build a cost no object system.

Unless some pot of gold falls out of the sky, I won't own these.  I personally found the 30K Sonus Faber/MAC more enjoyable than Wilson Sasha DAW/Audio Research.  Also like the Paradigm sound.  So many brands out there but Magico seems to have plenty of fans. And now for something completely different(Monty Python) the Tannoy sound was good.

Avantgarde Duo Horns get my vote
https://www.avantgarde-acoustic.de/en/

Haven’t heard anything that can touch them

But like other posters have said - I need a lottery win :-)

@ smodtactica
Relaxed can be just as fatiguing as aggressive and bright. I just don’t like the sound of ceramic drivers; to my ears they have an unpleasant coloration; once you spot it, it never goes away. As I said in my posts, I have the A3, currently with the Pass INT-250.