Floor Loudspeaker Reviews

Magico A5 loudspeaker Specifications

Sidebar 1: Specifications

Description: Three-way, acoustic suspension, floorstanding loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1.1" (28mm) beryllium-dome tweeter with neodymium motor system and engineered back chamber, 5" (127mm) midrange driver and three 9" (229mm) woofers, all with Graphene "Nano-Tech" cones with aluminum honeycomb core and titanium voice-coils and copper pole caps. Frequency response: 24Hz–50kHz, ±3dB. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.83V/m. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Recommended power: 50–1000W.
Dimensions: 10.5" (267mm) W × 44.75" (1137mm) H × 14.9" (378.5mm) D (including spikes). Weight: 180lb (81.6kg) each.
Finish: Black with matte or eggshell sheen.
Serial numbers of review samples: 000406 and 000407. Made in the US.
Price: $24,800/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 35. Warranty: 5 years from date of purchase.
Manufacturer: Magico, LLC, 3170 Corporate Pl., Hayward, CA 94545. Tel: (510) 649-9700. Web: magico.net.

COMPANY INFO
Magico, LLC
3170 Corporate Pl.
Hayward, CA 94545
(510) 649-9700
magico.net
ARTICLE CONTENTS

COMMENTS
remlab's picture
Submitted by remlab on June 18, 2021 - 12:28pm

Something that competes with the Revel Salon 2, Price and performance wise

partain's picture
Submitted by partain on June 18, 2021 - 1:29pm

I believe Smiling Phases is from their eponymous album. Which is their second , not first .

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on June 18, 2021 - 4:34pm

... the $25000 Magico A5 versus that of the $1200 Wharfedale Linton Heritage whose frequency response was described by JA1 as being "superbly flat"?
https://www.stereophile.com/content/wharfedale-linton-heritage-loudspeaker-measurements

daveyf's picture
Submitted by daveyf on June 18, 2021 - 7:39pm

Looking at the specs, and as JA points out, these speakers require an amp that doesn’t have a problem driving a 2ohm load! How many amps have no problem driving a 2ohm load??

Strat56's picture
Submitted by Strat56 on June 19, 2021 - 1:30am

https://purifi-audio.com/eigentakt/

Tested with any kind of load down to 1ohm. It confirms the committed performances. Transparent as a short 0ohm piece of wire, on ML Ethos, MA PL200II, Allison One.

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on June 19, 2021 - 7:52am

... rated output of 400W/ch into a 2 ohm load.
https://parasound.com/2250-v2.php

Price is a mere $999.
https://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=PAC2250V2

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on June 19, 2021 - 4:22pm

The Parasound amps in their more expensive lines (above your example) would be also work in those 4-2 ohm loads, and be a much better match sonically and power-wise.

At this speaker's price point, there are a ton of amp choices that would work fine... more so in that point of the market than on the mid-level or entry-level end. It's part and parcel to moving up in many areas of performance, and should be a no-brainer here.

a.wayne's picture
Submitted by a.wayne on June 19, 2021 - 4:27pm

Parasound amps don't like running below 4 ohm ( JC-1’s no problem ) much , it would not be my choice for this Magico model Speakers ...!

Regards

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on June 19, 2021 - 9:20pm

... capable of 900W into a 2 ohm load.
Need more?
According to a Hi-Fi News test, the JC5 is capable of 1680W into a 2 ohm load.

daveyf's picture
Submitted by daveyf on June 20, 2021 - 12:13am

Safe to say that most every tube amp out there would be excluded. Why these speakers have such a brutal low impedance drop is really the question?

Ortofan's picture
Submitted by Ortofan on June 20, 2021 - 8:29am

... have 2 ohm taps on the output transformer.
The MC1502 can output 240W/ch into a 2 ohm load at 1% distortion.

JRT's picture
Submitted by JRT on June 19, 2021 - 1:18am

I had noticed the mention of titanium voice-coils in the magazine article, so I checked Magico's marketing web page and confirmed that also mentions titanium voice-coils. I suspect that might be an error, and was waiting for the article to appear here to comment on that.

The voice-coil and voice-coil former/bobbin are two different things serving two different purposes. The voice-coil is a wound coil of electrical wire. The voice-coil former/bobbin is the structural tube that the voice-coil is wound around and structurally connects to the diphragm and to the suspension spider. The structural voice-coil former/bobbin might be made of titanium, but the voice-coil very probably is not wound using titanium wire since titanium is a relatively poor electrical conductor relative to copper which is commonly (but not always) used in voice-coils.

aRui's picture
Submitted by aRui on June 19, 2021 - 4:09am

Punchy on bass region, but doesn't go deep on the sub bass region (~40hz is the best?), I have expected more for 3 x 9" woofers. The 2-ohm requirement and 86db sensitivity would make anyone want to buy these speakers spend more money to make the speaker 'sing' effortlessly. Revel Salon 2 is better in term of performance/measurement, but it has been discontinued.

remlab's picture
Submitted by remlab on June 19, 2021 - 7:32am

"I have not shown the in-room response below 45Hz, as this was affected by the presence of subsonic noise from his building's heating/ ventilation system. This could not be turned off on the morning that I was able to perform the measurements"

The Salon 2 is still available..
https://www.revelspeakers.com/products/types/floorstanding/Salon2-.html

Glotz's picture
Submitted by Glotz on June 19, 2021 - 4:14pm

Many rush to judgment without even hearing them, let alone trusting the professional.

a.wayne's picture
Submitted by a.wayne on June 19, 2021 - 4:38pm

Its 86db with 2 watts , so actually its only 83db with 1 watt , so think of using 300 watts/ch to get the best out of these ....!

Regards

music guy's picture
Submitted by music guy on June 19, 2021 - 5:33pm

….and can heartily concur with this review. Had Q3’s in the past and these wonderful speakers easily exceed those worthy speakers. Extraordinary fidelity at low levels but can do “concert” levels if the house or neighbours allow.
Added the SPods as a measure of safety as we now live in a condo.

Awsmone0's picture
Submitted by Awsmone0 on June 19, 2021 - 7:27pm

Why don’t they move to the more expensive Aluminium ;)

SNI's picture
Submitted by SNI on June 20, 2021 - 5:48am

I cannot think of excellent audio engineering of a speaker with an impedance as low as this one. Considered that the phase angels are pretty mean in the bass region, where enrgy in music often is high, doesn´t make things better.
And then the massive amount of delayed sound on the waterfall plot?
What makes this loudspeaker excellent engineering?
The waterfall plot should actually mirror the stiffness of the cabinet, but it doesn´t at all.
To me a reasonable impedance combined with a reasonably uncorrected linear progress, will make almost any amplifier perform better, and a clean waterfall plot is paramount for transparancy in speakers.
It seems like none of these qualities are found in this speaker.

Awsmone0's picture
Submitted by Awsmone0 on June 21, 2021 - 3:14am

I assume it’s mass must store the energy and release it slowly , has always been an issue with mass loading it stores energy, part of the reason some speaker manufacturers prefer light mass construction
Having heard these , they are very impressive for the money when I heard them, in fact I thought they must be more expensive than they are
Being a sealed design, they drop off slower than ported designs per octave, and will have generally less room interactions, the fact they got 20 hertz in room audible, a feat in itself given the relative loudness is much lower at this frequency, unless they were hearing the second harmonic ?
Pass amplifiers seem to work very well with Magico, but would have been interesting to have tried with the Gryphon essence which are a scale above the Pass in my experience

Jim Austin's picture
Submitted by Jim Austin on June 21, 2021 - 7:11am

I wasn't hearing 40Hz. In fact, that's a pretty hard mistake to make listening to descending warble tones.

Jim Austin, Editor
Stereophile

HC63's picture
Submitted by HC63 on June 20, 2021 - 9:02am

Indeed! Most modern amps will have no issue. We use Pass X150.8 to driver these beauties. These are not much different then most other speakers reviewed here lately (Focal, Wilson etc.)

dcolak's picture
Submitted by dcolak on June 21, 2021 - 1:33pm

Are you kidding? Where are the highs above 10Khz?!

remlab's picture
Submitted by remlab on June 22, 2021 - 8:38am

.. The less important the last octave becomes, and on top of that, The teenagers who can hear the last octave can't afford them, so...
But still, from an engineering standpoint, I agree.

Lorton's picture
Submitted by Lorton on June 22, 2021 - 9:44am

"As with the Magico M2 that I reviewed in February 2020 and JCA reviewed in March 2021, the use of a pistonic tweeter with a high-Q ultrasonic dome response results in a lack of energy in the region below that resonance.

remlab's picture
Submitted by remlab on June 22, 2021 - 10:28am

..that are extremely linear well beyond 20khz, let alone 10khz, but I've never seen one this linear below 12khz.

daveyf's picture
Submitted by daveyf on June 21, 2021 - 10:38pm

I would suspect that this speaker would be a total no no for any tube amp out there. Pity that a lot of competent speakers these days are such a bear to drive, requiring a significant outlay to not only buy the speaker in question, but also the monster amps to drive them!

C_Hoefer's picture
Submitted by C_Hoefer on July 19, 2021 - 3:04pm

…is what Jim Austin didn’t mention at at all: how the A5 compares to the M2 he just spent a year with, and which cost 2.5x as much. Given how much audio writers tend to emphasize that the more expensive sibling really is worth it, even when praising a low priced overachiever, JA2’s silence on this point says it all. The A5 either betters the M2, or equals it.
To me it’s still completely academic, I will never buy speakers this expensive, but if I did have 24K to put into speakers, this one would be on my list to audition.

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