What is your experience with Magico A3 or A5 speakers and the company as a whole?

@deep_333 

I don't disagree with the gist of your post, but nothing in it proves that proprietary drivers necessarily outperform those from specialized brands like Accuton or Morel who do this all day.

Chances are, a large part of developing proprietary drivers is the manufacturer's desire to control the supply chain.

As an owner, everything else being equal, I would rather my speakers were equipped with off the shelf drivers; the odds of finding a drop-in replacement 20 years down the road are that much higher.

Speaker design is more about the enclosure than the drivers anyway. As an example, the acclaimed Kii Three ($15K) rock basic Peerless woofer and midrange (the latter you can get off Digikey for $14) and SEAS tweeters. But the enclosure and DSP are extraordinarily evolved.

We were on our way to listen to a Magico speaker but stopped along the way to hear the Yamaha NS-5000. Bought the Yamaha’s. 

I auditioned the A3 with ML gear, very good electronics. I had some issue with the coherence of the sound from the A3. I felt like the bass was not nicely integrated with the rest of the sound. Not really a big deal but not perfect.

I then went to demo the NS5000, and that demo was the worst in my life because the room was a nightmare. However, I listened to the speakers like headphones and came way, thinking this maybe a lot better. As I was driving home with fatigued and burning ears, I kept thinking this could be a great speaker. I eventually bought it and my intuition was correct.

BTW - the drivers on the Yamaha are likely the most advanced, better than Beryllium. Same specs as Beryllium but without the negatives. The 12-inch woofer is made of the same material as the tweeter and mid-range. Ultimate in coherence.

Clearly Deep_133 suffers from Wilson Derangement Syndrome.  

The issue here is no loudspeaker is perfect. The 5 notable High-End US speaker manufacturers Magico/Rockport/Wilson//YG and Von Schweikert all excel in different ways. Despite Wilson Audio being the least desirable IMO, of the 5 companies mentioned they retain the highest resale value due to being an aspirational brand.

I was in a similar situation to you two years ago looking to replace speakers I had lived with for 15 years and still really liked their sound.  I was in no hurry so I listened to a lot of speakers, including Magico, Rockport, YG, Vandersteen, Estelon, Focal, KEF, Sonus Faber, B&W and Wilson.  Nothing really made me want to replace my speakers for the cost of new.

Magicos were too sterile and polite.

I was close to buying Rockport Aviors.  They did everything right but for some reason just did not excite me.  Don't know why.  

YG Hailey were great with a Vinnie Rossie integrated but that was over 100K of system and the YG Vantage 3 powered speakers were really not to my liking.

Vandersteens were ok but only the Kentos sounded as good or better than what I had and not enough to justify the cost to me.  The complexity of the Vandersteen system was also a negative factor for me.   

Estelon Y's sounded great, but again with high end hardware (Vitus).  I also think they look cool.

Focals were just too big for my room.

KEF blades were good but not enough better than what I had.  The same for B&Ws.

Most Sonus Faber are too laid back for my tastes.  Then I heard the Lillium.  They were spectacular but too big for my room and too big for my wallet.

The previous iterations of Wilsons (after the Sophia 2) I thought moved away from the sound I liked from the Sophias.  That was until I listened to the 50th Anniversary Watt Puppies.  I played them with an Ayre 8 series integrated and they sounded great.  I listened to them with a Boulder 866 and they sounded great.  I took my own equipment to the shop and they sounded even better.  They just put a smile on my face with each song.  Can't explain it in detail but I knew it when I heard it.  They also fit in my room perfectly.  Now I find out that I also get this awesome street cred too!   What is not to like?

What this longwinded post is intended to say is, if you listen to enough speakers you will eventually find one that puts a smile on your face and results in involuntary foot tapping and you just know they are the ones for you.  If you haven't had that feeling yet, keep looking and listening until you do.  If beryllium makes you uncomfortable, move on.  There are plenty of great speakers that don't use it.  If you have to analyze micro details or listen for hours to tell the difference, move on.  Trust your instincts and realize what you have are pretty great speakers that may be hard to replace.

Best of luck in your search and enjoy the process.