My apologies fsonicsmith, don’t know what I was thinking. Everybody misspells my last name, O’Neill too, so I’m usually conscientious about that type of thing. I won’t fail you again.
Tomic601, you’re lucky to have seen the Pretenders live. The closest I’ve ever come is listening to a drunken Clyde McPhatter and the Platters sing "Yes, I’m the Great Pretender" on stage at my college at a golden oldies show. I always figured the Pretenders named themselves after that song.
Thanks prof. I was actually quite influenced by your extensive post and reviews of so many speakers in that price range. Your post helped narrow down my search considerably. I read you review of the Magico A3 , Vandersteen and the Devore speakers twice.
I couldn’t get past how well the 50’s jazz selections sounded on the Magico’s. Just the right sonic qualities for my listening taste I suppose. I hope they sound half as good at home, especially until I can upgrade my old, but still functioning Phase Linear 400 amp and 4000 preamp.
Another thing I liked, having nothing to do with sonic qualities, is the Magico A3’s appearance. They seem to be designed to blend in with a decor, not be a jewel in their own right as some are. I’ve antique furniture pieces in the same room and I don’t desire twenty-first century modern design speakers competing with them, or drawing attention to themselves. Instead, blending in as much as possible is the goal. That being said, the A3’s do look good in their own right with a stylish subdued industrial look that should fit in with my other electronics, and provide a pleasing contrast to the mahogany wood in the antiques. We’ll see. My old Dahlquist DQ10’s were admittedly always an eyesore in this room and referred to as "big black holes" on many occasions I did not thoroughly enjoy.
I wish the old Thiels were still being manufactured. Your’s sound wonderful as described. I talked about them with the Vandersteen dealer.
Mike
