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

I find the sound of the magico too “sharp”, not so pleasant. But it’s just my personal taste. I compared them with Wilson Audio and I went for the latter 

People hear what they hear, opinions are a dime a dozen. To some, Wilson sounds just like it measures, completely discombobulated. 

I have A3s going 3 years powered by Hegel 590 with good quality Innuos digital and VPI analog. I upgraded the Magicos from Volti Razz and have been very pleased with the upgrade. I got the A3s slightly used at a big discount from someone desperate for an upgrade. I think they are very accurate in producing whatever the quality of record or digital track they are fed. I have all quality cables and power cable to the amplifier being the possible weakest link. Well engineered media, digital or analog) sounds fantastic to my ears. And some will poo-poo my SVS subs but they further enhance the bass sound at a reasonable price. I know the A5s will sound better but, for the difference in cost and the small size (15’x14’) of my room, I can’t justify the upgrade. The only contact I’ve had with Magico was buying the grill covers ($650) direct from them. Well, I thought they were pricey I am happy with them. I know that if I was going to spend full price for the A3‘s, I would probably consider several other brands, but I am extremely happy with them for the price. I also have good Acoustical room treatment. You just need to hear as many speakers as you can and get what sounds good to your ears. I am limited here in SC as to the availability of dealers where I can audition speakers. But, I have been to two fairly large Audio shows in Dallas and for the money, my little modest system sounds extremely competitive with what I heard. Good luck with your search!

As an aside, I only wanted the grills because we have cats and a dog. While it is a no pets dedicated music room, one will occasionally follow me in there and I didn’t want to risk an accident. If not for the pets, I wouldn’t bother with covers.

As a somewhat recent owner of the A5s (since 2023), coming from a Chario (silk dome tweeter) with dual REL subs, there were are few considerations I had to explore before purchasing the A5s.

1) Room size - given you have B&W 802 they are relatively modest in height and girth.  the A5s are comparable vs the A3 which is smaller and probably won’t do the same job in bass, sound stage presence/size and imaging as the A5 (others have commented about this too).

2) Electronics - Magico speakers are what I call "transparent", in other words they sound like what they are being fed - source through to amplification and cables.   As you know, electronics sound different. Some do not sound as smooth/delicate and full (or palpable) on the midrange to top end, more 2 dimensional or edgy.  Magico speakers are revealing of everything in the signal path including the source - good recordings/mastering vs crap.  Garbage in = garbage out.  FYI, I’m running a MSB Premier DAC, Rowland preamp and roland amps in bridge mode. I do like the sound very much, but I’m currently exploring Burmester and MSB amps to hear the differnece.  I feel there is more umph/definition on the bottom end as well as improvements in mid to upper range and fullness of the instruments/vocals.

3. I asked about the tweeter too - Peter McKay is the rep who can answer all of your questions. I bought the grills for cosmetic purposes, but hardly put them on.

I saw a couple of people using Burmester with A5s - would like to hear from you on which amp and how it sounds.