A3 ?
 

Hi
As anyone listen to them ? Demos will start here in ten days only...
http://presence-audio.com

Comparison and 4 to 6 months delivery
 

Well looks like this thread never took off. I was one of the first to hear the A3’s in my area when my local Magico dealer first got them in. They actually played them 24/7 for a week before allowing auditions.

At the same time though I was also deciding whether I wanted to go from my AR setup to either Naim or Mac. So even though my focus was on both it was more on the front end. My dealer at that time had 12 on order and 1 avail for me if I wanted. I didnt move on it as I had to sell my current speakers first.

So putting my Ref 3’s on the Gon I got some bites and in July thought I had a sale, so went back to listen with my music. Listened front end was C2600, Esoteric CD player and MC611’s. I was then told I could have a pair at the end of August if I wanted to put a deposit on them. I held off awaiting a sale that week which never developed.

Now 4 months later I went back to listen again. Brought in a variety of music, female and male vocalists, 80’s rock, 70’s rock and at the end to really put them to the test System of a Down and Everlast. We did a comparison between the A3’s, Focal Sopra 2’s, Kanta 2 (they didnt have the Kanta 3 yet) and Sonus Faber Olympica 3’s.

I’m not a good reviewer but the A3 seemed to be a better all around speaker than the others. The bass was deeper and very well controlled. The woofers sounded much larger that they were and didnt have that snappy sound as smaller ones seem to have to me. The high frequencies were very smooth, but not so much to not have life and the midrange seemed terrific.

Compared to the Kanta...no comparison. The Kanta seemed very thin compared to the A3. And although it was doing pretty good playing the lower frequencies, you just couldn’t feel it like the A3.

A3 vs Sopra 2...This was a bit closer contest and I guess it would depend on a users ears. Again I like the lower extension of the A3 better but it wasn’t completely blowing away the Sopra 2. The midrange and highs seemed a bit more airy and dimensional on the Sopra 2’s than the A3’s and with Nora Jones they blew the A3 away. But with some older classic rock they seemed on the brighter side. And I do have a lot of less than perfect vinyl recordings,which I think the A3 will be a bit more accommodating with.

Sonus Faber...was just not a comparison. We actually stopped listening to the after just a few minutes. Not even close the the A3 or either Focal speaker.

So at the end for my listening the A3 was really the speaker for me. But here is the catch. They are now 4 to 6 months out for delivery. Ouch !! Especially since I am without speakers now. Going to CAF this saturday and going to listen to the Legacy Signature SE’s, Daedulus, Bache and Salk. So I’m either going to like one of these better or find a cheap pair of speakers and grin and bear it for 6 months.

This was a comparison between just a few speakers, but I have been listening to everything over the last few months and have to say the A3 has been one of the best all around speakers for the price. One local dealer told me I was wasting my time and would never find what I was looking for unless I went to the 30K range, but I think I totally proved that wrong with the A3. So even though there hasn’t been much buzz around here for this little Magico they really seem to do the job.

If you thought the Sopra 2 had an edge everywhere but the bass, listen to the 3. It sounds like it will combine everything you liked about the A3 and Sopra 2.

Don't settle... wait and get what you want. It's amazing sometimes how product that has long wait time shows up early. Lastly, see if your dealer has a pair of something to loan you in the interim.

The salesperson told me that as well. In his words the Sopra 3 is a “beast”. But not wanting to put out the 20K right now, so didnt listen to them although he said he would bring them in if I wished. He also had the the S3 MkII but also a bit out of my range at the moment.

He said he had a pair of bookshelf’s I could use and keep as a loaner. There is also a dealer I know that has some deals on some inexpensive floor standing speakers as well that I could probably resell for same price.

I’m going to CAF tomorrow morning and if my other choices there dont blow me away then I’m just going to wait for the A3’s

Good choice. I bought an A3 for my office. Superb for the money (and then some).
I also listen to the Focal. I think that the Sopra 2 is better than the Sopra 3, don’t let anyone fool you. The 3’s have too much upper bass; it was pretty annoying after some time.

I had Wilson Sasha2, Raidho 3.1, B&W802s3, 800d2, and others...
Passlabs Xa monos...

With Mcintosh the Focal for my taste are the best combo: I love "hard tweeter" = sasha1, berylium, ......Isophon Berlina 7 mk2 best speaker listen!

the A3 from Magico are a great speaker but the Sopra 2 with price/perfomance is the best choice.

A demo/seond hand S1mk2 / S3 is much better vs the A3 for me .....room, ampli, ecc.. play a very important role on the result....

If you are going to listen to Legacy Audio, the Focus SE is closer in price to the A3 than the Signature SE.

BTW, at RMAF, the 5th floor room with the Sopra No3 sounded excellent. Used sets are starting to show up at ~$15K.

I listened to the Signature Se about 6 mths ago but the demo was not good. Although I liked the sound the dealer couldn’t get his Tidal to work properly, wasn’t prepared to play vinyl and basically just tried selling me on his merits and why I should dump my gear and buy into his.
So I went to CAF after hearing the A3’s again and first went to Legacy booth. But week prior I contacted them for another dealer near me and spoke with him over the phone and got a great feeling from him. Got to CAF and met with Victoria (Bill’s daughter) and a local dealer who assisted. The service I received from the two of them was incredible. You would think I was buying the 80K speakers and not interested in 8-12K speakers. In the end with pictures of my current listening space and future it seems like the Signatures are going to work best for me.
After I spent the day listening in all the other rooms. At the end of the day for my budget room and ears I liked the Signatures the best.

Sooo....Do I like them better than the A3’s..I’m really not sure as I liked both. But I will say if the A3’s were available I would have made that my purchase.