Thanks to Mike Short from Studio AV for this adhoc opportunity to finally get up-close and personal with the Magico A3 speaker within my own listening space. The Magico A3 was near the top of my ‘must listen’ list for some time. My intention was to share as much information regarding my listening experience (a typical experience review), but due to the super quick decision to move on, it made sense to compact this down to a brief encounter…

One of the significant physical attributes of the Magico A3 speaker is its 49.89kg weight! The reason I highlight this early into this encounter is due to the shoulder injury I sustained while lifting and manoeuvring these aluminium monoliths from my car into position. I would not normally attempt such a feat on my own, but there was nobody around in good health that could assist. You will note each speaker is placed on a rough and ready piece of wood. This was the only viable solution to enable speaker position adjustments on my precious porcelain tiled floor.

Though I was impressed with the higher frequency clarity, lower octave (bass) speed and speaker transparency (the attributes which encouraged me to add the A3 to my listening list) I quickly began to miss the three dimensionality and palpable soundstage height offered by my MartinLogan ESL11A speakers. For me the A3 does not convey emotion I know is within the recording. I was able to conduct quick A-B comparisons and I simply preferred the richer overall musical picture offered by my MartinLogan ESL 11A speakers.

Perhaps one day I might move further up the Magico speaker tree. I have briefly experienced various Magico models at shows and dedicated demonstrations in the form of the S and M series and was impressed. My inner invisible music ears still believe Magcio are onto something.
Never say never.

And as for my beleaguered shoulder? It is feeling much better after three months of physio therapy!

Robin Francis
© Michael Valentine Studio
December - September 2026

Complete system details:

Turntable
AMG Viella V12 turntable with AMG Teatro MC with the Fritz Gyger II stylus
& AMG reference tonearm cable.

Phono stage
Whest PS.40RDT Special Edition phono stage.
Townshend F1 Fractal balanced XLR interconnect cable between the phono stage and
Audio Hungary C200 Preamplifier.

CD player
Musical Fidelity A3 CD player.
Pure silver bespoke RCA cables between CD player and preamplifier.

Amplification
Audio Hungary P200 Amplifier (with Tung-Sol KT150 tubes) & C200 Preamplifier

Speakers & speaker cable
MartinLogan ESL11A speakers (ARC - Anthem Room Correction switched off)
with Townshend DCT Isolda speaker cable.

Tables & Isolation
Quadraspire Q4 EVO 4 tier shelf & single tier shelf (for Amplifier)
WellFloat Slim Model 3534SF for turntable, phono stage, amplifier & preamplifer.
WellFloat Delta Isolation Base corners for MartinLogan ESL11A speakers

Power & mains cables
Russ Andrews balanced mains unit (BMU 3000)
SY bespoke mains cables with Viborg IEC connectors for Russ Andrews BMU 3000, amplifier, preamplifier, CD player and speakers.

BMU 3000 configuration
Power amplifier plugged direclty into the wall socket
Preamplifer, phono stage & CD player plugged into the BMU 3000 gave best results to our ears.

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