Loudspeakers

Magico’s original S3 demonstrated a slightly dished mid/presence response but the 2023 model further flattens out the trend with errors of just ±1.7dB and ±1.6dB, respectively, and a tight 0.6dB pair matching [see Graph 1]. The extended treble is also very well controlled, reaching all the way out to 35kHz where the 28mm diamond-coated beryllium dome finally betrays its breakup mode [pink shaded area, Graph 1 and CSD waterfall, Graph 2] at ~10dB above the mean midband output. A slight dip at 1kHz reduces sensitivity to 86.7dB but the averaged 500Hz-8kHz figure of 87.0dB is just a little closer to Magico’s rated 88dB (though no input level or frequency is specified here). The power handling of Magico’s 125mm ‘8th Gen’ mid and treble units has been improved and this is reflected in the low ~0.2% THD (re. 90dBA/1m) – a fine result bearing in mind the conservative sensitivity of this sealed-box design.

The latter also plays into the S3’s improved (bass) transient response and extension where the ~75Hz peak of the two 230mm ‘Graphene Nano-Tec’ sandwich cones rolls away very gently – closer to a first-order than second-order slope here – to yield a diffraction-corrected 38Hz (–6dB re. 200Hz). In-room, especially with the two woofers placed close to the boundary (the floor), the S3 will deliver deeper bass still. However, there is some penalty in amplifier loading – Magico’s nominal 4ohm rating is realised in a sub-5ohm trend from 53Hz-1.7kHz, and a minimum of 2.85ohm/75Hz and <2.5ohm above 18kHz. This is toughest in the deep bass where a big swing in phase angle of –66o/48Hz precipitates a minimum EPDR of 1.09ohm/62Hz. PM