Magico A3 commentary

[Rhapsody]

http://www.soundstageglobal.com/ind...mber-2017/739-magico-a3-loudspeaker-the-sound

 

[DaveyF]

Nice write up by Doug Schneider. I wonder how come the new "disclosure" that the hard Beryllium tweets tended to sound 'bright' on several of the older Magico models, now just comes to light! So much so, that apparently AW has modded the tweeter to try and reduce this issue. Perhaps a trip to the engineers at Morel with an excellent silk dome or ribbon in hand- may be a better solution, LOL.

 

[ack]

No manufacturer that I can recall cares to talk about design flaws until years later. I care more for us audiophiles to point out the defects than anyone else in this hobby. This why I and others challenge what manufacturers do and say, and the real problem for me is those who don’t, yet they either know there are flaws or just too selfish to accept the criticism

 

[thedudeabides]

Perhaps a trip to the engineers at Morel with an excellent silk dome or ribbon in hand- may be a better solution, LOL.

Or Joseph Audio.

 

[cannata]

.....with an excellent silk dome or ribbon in hand...

There is no such thing as excellent silk dome tweeter, they are all fundamentally flawed (not a piston)

No manufacturer that I can recall cares to talk about design flaws until years later.

So any improvements automatically means prior products were flawed

 

[ack]

So any improvements automatically means prior products were flawed

Yes, and by definition. There is no such thing as a non-flawed/perfect component

 

[cannata]

Yes, and by definition. There is no such thing as a non-flawed/perfect component

True, but you made it sound like some sort of a crime'

 

[andromedaaudio]

He the magico police has arrived , i already wondered why it took so long


So any improvements automatically means prior products were flawed , yes off course otherwise you d call them merely changes , but dont worry development is a worldspread phenomenon , lol , it got humanity quit far

If prior owners off magicos find the tweeters to pronounced , they could put some woolfelt around the tweeter with a cut out hole , and if the membrane is sufficiently deep inside the front one could fabricate some 1 mm or 2 mm woolfelt in front of the tweeter beware it doesnt touch the membrane off course , it will dampen it and improve focus, it doesnt mean the whole speaker is bad or outdated

 

[cannata]

If prior owners off magicos find the tweeters to pronounced...

No need to worry, the actual owners are doing just fine

 

[DaveyF]

No need to worry, the actual owners are doing just fine

And, as usual one of them feels they need to defend anything negative about the brand!!

Silk domes are an excellent tweeter, as are most ribbons...neither of them 'ring' like a bell---like the beryllium tweeter that AW insists upon using. Neither the silk dome nor the ribbon may be perfectly pistonic....who cares if we are actually using our ears and not our eyes!!
Like ack states, there is no such thing as a non-flawed/perfect component...

 

[PeterA]

No need to worry, the actual owners are doing just fine

Indeed. The tweeters in my Magico Mini II and in my friend's Magico M Pro speakers are excellent. No apparent artifacts which cause fatigue, just nice extended, clean high frequencies. I suspect the diamond coating on the current beryllium tweeters makes them less harsh. I find the new generation of tweeters to have incredible resolution and a very natural sound.

 

[cannata]

Indeed. The tweeters in my Magico Mini II and in my friend's Magico M Pro speakers are excellent. No apparent artifacts which cause fatigue, just nice extended, clean high frequencies. I suspect the diamond coating on the current beryllium tweeters makes them less harsh. I find the new generation of tweeters to have incredible resolution and a very natural sound.

+1
Same with my S5 Mk2. I am looking forward to hearing the A3, should be interesting as the tweeter seems to be based on the new 28mm dome, like the M series.

 

[caesar]

Thanks for sharing. An excellent write-up. I wonder why Magico thinks of Focal as their primary competition at that price point. I would think virtually everyone is - Dynaudio, Vanderstein, Martin Logan, etc., has a product at that price point. Transparency of Martin Logans, along with rabid fans and many more points of distribution, would be hard to beat at that price point, I would think.

Also, shows one how the sunk costs of R&D play out. Once R&D is done for their top models, going forward those costs don't matter anymore. To produce a new speaker, with the research already done and the factory already running, it's primarily the incremental costs of materials and extra labor costs that will determine Magico's cost of the overall speaker...

Also curious if they will be able to sell 15 or 16 of these for 1 model of their top M class speakers for roughly the same revenue in a very crowded market...

 

[ddk]

Also curious if they will be able to sell 15 or 16 of these for 1 model of their top M class speakers for roughly the same revenue in a very crowded market...

You have no idea of the appetite for high end products in Far East and the enormity of the market, US and European sales are a small to tiny fraction of what's going on in Asia & Far East. The only problem established brands are facing there is delivery!

david

 

[caesar]

Hi DDK,

I have no doubt you are right. In the US, seems like things are slowing down tremendously. Obviously, there is a lot of camaraderie on forums such as this one for the uber high-end, yet I have seen a lot of excellent dealers going out of business in the last few years, and frankly it is sad...

So considering most of these will be sold outside of North America, why are they putting the focus and anchor on $10K US? I am assuming outside of the US, gear prices are more up to negotiations.

 

[DaveyF]

You have no idea of the appetite for high end products in Far East and the enormity of the market, US and European sales are a small to tiny fraction of what's going on in Asia & Far East. The only problem established brands are facing there is delivery!

david

Interesting that you point that out. I have heard that without the Asian and Far East market there would be no high end audio companies left in the US....none! This makes sense as one of the US manufacturer's was recently telling me that over 90% of all his product is sold there...and at prices that are far far too high for US consumption ( or European for that matter as well). Take that market away and all these guys close up shop the next day....Pathetic, IMHO!!

 

[Tango]

Interesting that you point that out. I have heard that without the Asian and Far East market there would be no high end audio companies left in the US....none! This makes sense as one of the US manufacturer's was recently telling me that over 90% of all his product is sold there...and at prices that are far far too high for US consumption ( or European for that matter as well). Take that market away and all these guys close up shop the next day....Pathetic, IMHO!!

Another thing to point out is that Uber gears and speakers system seem to be doing better than the lower price point ones. You can see many European audio designers or owners constantly visiting the Asian and Far East mkt. More and more audio designers are adapting to the market demand of cost-no-object, custom limited production audio gears. I think Wilson Audio can earn as much money from their biggest speaker systems as the lower ones combined. Don’t know how many are sold in the US but in Thailand alone a few have been sold. Passionate limited run product like what David is doing is also a smart business model. He is clever reading the market.

Kind regards,
Tang

 

[fish fingers]

I havent heard the diamond coated Be tweets in the Magico's but if anything I found the B&W diamond tweets to be almost unlistenable over a long audition. The 2 Be tweets I've heard are from a Meridian design and my own DIY effort, using TLab Be tweets. No harshness at all, almost up there with the best ribbon's

 

[Lee]

I havent heard the diamond coated Be tweets in the Magico's but if anything I found the B&W diamond tweets to be almost unlistenable over a long audition. The 2 Be tweets I've heard are from a Meridian design and my own DIY effort, using TLab Be tweets. No harshness at all, almost up there with the best ribbon's

Agree on the B&W tweeters. I also hear brightness on the Be tweeters in certain Focal models.

 

[Lee]

And, as usual one of them feels they need to defend anything negative about the brand!!

Silk domes are an excellent tweeter, as are most ribbons...neither of them 'ring' like a bell---like the beryllium tweeter that AW insists upon using. Neither the silk dome nor the ribbon may be perfectly pistonic....who cares if we are actually using our ears and not our eyes!!
Like ack states, there is no such thing as a non-flawed/perfect component...

I feel like the newer Wilson speakers got much better once they switched to the new silk dome CST tweeter.