“From the Listening Chair” is a new column that will focus on picturing current audio components and loudspeakers, as opposed to the vintage photography that Howard contributes to “Audio Anthropology.” As we all know, audio gear can be visually as well as sonically appealing.
While visiting the New York City retailer HiFi Loft, I spotted a pair of Magico A3 speakers. At 110 pounds per side, much of the A3’s weight is accounted for by its machined 6061-T6 aircraft-grade aluminum cabinet. The outer walls of the speaker’s extensively-braced enclosure are made using 3/8-inch aluminum sheets. The A3’s driver compliment includes a 1.1-inch beryllium dome tweeter, a 6-inch midrange driver, and two 7-inch woofers. The mid and bass cones feature the company’s Graphene Nano-Tec material, which utilizes multi-wall carbon fiber mated with their XG Nanographene, a combination said to provide an ideal combination of weight, stiffness, and damping. The midrange driver and tweeter each have their own enclosures to protect them from the woofer’s back waves. The A3’s rated sensitivity is 88 dB. Its retail price is $15,400 per pair, but note that grilles are an upcharge.
Takeaway: Magico not only has some of the world’s most respected speakers, but their Hayward, California listening room is also sublime. It features 14-inch-thick walls consisting of sound-dampening QuietRock gypsum panel with an internally suspended, interior channel that flexes to absorb excessive low-frequency energy. Essentially a building in a building, the room is one of the best-performing and quietest-sounding that I’ve heard.
Detail of the Nano-Tec woofers.
Simple elegance: the Magico nameplate.
The view from the listening chair.
The machined spikes the A3 rests on.
Like most high-end speakers, the A3 offers a variety of binding post connection options, shown here with Nordost cable with banana plugs.
Howard Kneller’s audiophile adventures are documented on his YouTube channel (The Listening Chair with Howard Kneller) and on Instagram (@howardkneller). His art and photography can also be found on Instagram (@howardkneller.photog). Finally, he posts a bit of everything on Facebook (@howardkneller).
