Magico A3
erik_squires3,375 postsFor the money I MUCH prefer the A3 to the S1 Mk II. I think it is a much easier speaker to live with in several ways, while giving up nothing. Pleased to hear that. I have heard the S1MlI at a dealers who set up a system to match my home Digital source - Ayon Pre - and Accustic Arts Amp (in place of my Pass Amp). I was impressed with the S1 and its accuracy. A3 on my radar, as well as Dynaudio Contour, Canton Ref. |
@audiolabyrinth - the way to think of a SuperTweeter is that it is to tweeters as a SubWoofer is to Woofers i.e. it complements and extends rather than replaces. The Sopranino, like the Townshend and the recently introduced KIT HIT (https://www.monoandstereo.com/2018/04/new-kit-hit-super-tweeter-from-japan.html#more) operate in parallel with your existing speakers. That is you run a short speaker cable directly from your speaker connections to the terminals on the SuperTweeter. The SuperTweeter then comes with adjustments for crossover and level so you can match it to your existing speakers - generally like subwoofers the rule is if you can hear it operating you’ve got it set too high (e.g. level too high or cross over too low) Some other SuperTweeters require their own mains power and this adds to the complexity. |
So I listened to the A3 last week for the first time, and on good electronics (Constellation), well setup in terms of the room (very large room, no apparent problems there). I was frankly extremely surprised to to find them tonally VERY DARK so I’ll have to agree with one previous poster there. I listen primarily to classical music and there is no way I would EVER be happy with them. If I had any biases they would have been to the positive on this speaker. I expected SO much more. I also learned that the mark II versions of the S series are darker than the mark I versions at least to this dealer. Regardless, I haven’t hear the S3 or the S5 although I would like to. I was shocked. There was an absolute level of bass that was far too pronounced. It killed whatever the speaker was doing farther up the frequency spectrum, at least on well recorded classical music. I rarely have heard anything that sounded this wrong. Good source equipment (Esoteric I think), good recordings and I'm told that the speaker is just too dark. The dealer seems to think that the S5 Mark I was the homerun but the A3 waaaaaayyyyy too dark tonally to be a contender for me. Shocking. |
Interesting that a number of you are agreeing they are dark. I have not heard them and I am just the peanut gallery. Bewteen these common comments and the price hike to $12.5k I will probably not bother demoing them as my closest magico dealer 3-4 hours away. I hate dark speakers. Neutral with a little warmth is fine and enjoyable but dark... no thanks. |
