I’ve been listening to and reviewing Magico loudspeakers since the firm marketed its first product, the remarkable two-way Mini, back in 2004, and they’ve certainly made a lasting impression on me (and a lot of other music lovers). As I wrote in our “Most Significant Loudspeakers of All Time” feature from 2010: “Certain speaker companies don’t just change the way the game is played; they change the playing field. In the new millennium there has been no more influential loudspeaker-makers than Alon Wolf and Yair Tammam of Magico. Their creations have set new standards for neutrality, resolution, dynamic range, frequency extension, and musicality—and they’ve done this not just by upping the ante on the way enclosures, drivers, and crossovers are built but also by upping the ante on the science that speaker manufacturers bring to bear on designing enclosures, drivers, and crossovers.”

Since the Mini, Wolf and Tammam have steadily raised the bar in sound and technology, pioneering aluminum enclosures with the Q Series loudspeakers and then sculpted aluminum and carbon-fiber enclosures with the M Series, developing new and superior drivers ranging from their “Nanographene” woofers and midranges to their 28mm diamond-coated beryllium tweeters, and perfecting their low-distortion, phase-linear Elliptical Symmetry crossovers. Given these continual advances, it is no wonder that several of their offerings have achieved “classic” status.

While I haven’t yet auditioned the humongous $750k M9 or its slightly downsized brother, the $375k M7, Robert Harley is on record calling the former the best cone loudspeaker he’s heard. In my own experience, the two-way Mini II, the limited-edition M Pro, and the superb three-way M6 certainly stand high among the best transducers I’ve auditioned in the many years I’ve been reviewing high-end audio. Of course, the Mini II, the M Pro, and the M6 were very pricey offerings. (In 2004, the market had never before seen a $20k+ two-way; in 2015, the $100k+ M Pro was scarcely chicken feed; and in 2018, the $172k M6 was priced close to the top of the market.)

Comes now a substantially different critter—the three-way $45,500 S3 2023, which is said to be the first Magico loudspeaker (the newly released M7 is the second) to use technology trickled down from the company’s flagship M9.

The more affordable S Series loudspeakers are Magico’s “second-tier” offerings (the pricey no-holds-barred M Series being the top-tier and the A Series being the most affordable). Despite the differences in pricing, no Magico speaker cuts corners in technology. While the S’s are less sophisticated than the M’s (e.g., their enclosures are made with extruded aluminum panels rather than from the monocoque carbon-fiber shell and constrained-layer-damped aluminum front and rear baffles [with tensioning rods] of the M7 and M9), thanks to the new state-of-the-art R&D technologies employed in the M9 (the costly Klippel Nearfield Scanner, in particular), the S3 2023s were redesigned to outperform the original S3s in every way.

The new S3’s tear-drop-shaped enclosure, for example, is now assembled from four separate extruded aluminum panels, ranging in thickness from ½” to 2″. Each panel, including the front baffle, is machined to an overall edgeless shape. The S3 2023’s massive, machined top plate is curved and “has an upward pitch to minimize diffraction and break up vertical standing waves.” The thicker, more substantial baseplate incorporates a freshly designed, 3-point outrigger system with new feet (CLD cylinders, which, to my ear, work and sound quite a bit better than Magico’s previous pointed feet), lowering the speaker’s center of gravity and increasing its overall stability to reduce the noise floor and improve dynamics.

Magico used its new in-house 3D laser interferometry system to measure each S3 2023 enclosure panel at up to 1000 points a side and to calculate the aggregate resonance of the entire assembly. “This highly accurate analysis enabled us to compare the enclosure resonance contribution in relation to the acoustical output of the transducers and strategically apply internal bracing and damping to optimize the overall sound of the S3 in its finished form.” Magico claims the S3 2023’s enclosure is 30% quieter than that of its predecessor.

Magico also used its laser interferometer technology and (its experience developing the M9) to redesign the chassis and diaphragms of the S3 2023’s midrange and bass drivers. The new 5″ midrange uses a honeycombed aluminum core sandwiched between inner and outer layers of graphene and carbon fiber—a combination that is said to result in “wider dispersion and greater midrange transparency.” The cone is supported by a custom basket and a new foam surround “for better cone/surround integration, faster settling time, and lower distortion,” The diaphragm is driven by an all-new, underhung neodymium motor system with extra-large magnets and copper pole pieces that minimize eddy currents and improve efficiency. Taken together, these advancements are claimed to “set a new benchmark of measured performance in both the frequency and time domains.”

The two 9″ woofers in the S3 2023 feature an “enhanced” version of the Graphene Nano-Tec cones used in Magico’s M7 and M9. (Graphene, a hexagonal lattice of carbon atoms, is said to offer 50 times the tensile strength of high-carbon steel.) The new diaphragms use a honeycomb aluminum core sandwiched by outer and inner layers of carbon-fiber graphene, “which combine to achieve the highest possible stiffness-to-weight ratio, ideal damping properties, and extremely low distortion.” The new bass units also incorporate oversized components, including a 5″ pure titanium voice coil and huge copper cap pieces; the surround is said to allow ½” of linear excursion. “The super-stabilized magnetic field enables the S3 2023 to reproduce superior low bass output (112dB @ 50Hz measured at 1 meter), while maintaining very low distortion and inductance.”

Making use of key elements of the M9 tweeter platform, the newly designed S3 2023 tweeter features Magico’s 28mm diamond-coated beryllium diaphragm. Optimized geometry, created using state-of-the-art Finite Element Analysis modeling tools, allowed Magico to increase the dome diameter from 26mm to 28mm, improving many aspects of performance and allowing even greater power handling and lower distortion. “Combined with a neodymium-based motor system, new acoustically improved back chamber, and customized shape to integrate into the curved front baffle, the new S3 tweeter registers the lowest distortion measurements possible today from a high-frequency transducer.”

Magico makes large claims for its newly developed S3 2023: “Its technical superiority, achieved through an uncompromised commitment to the most advanced research and development techniques in the industry, results in a sonic masterpiece that will reveal more listening pleasure than thought possible at this price point.” Happily, these claims are true.

When Robert and I first auditioned the new S3 at AXPONA 2023, both of us were floored by its sound. The room was small, limiting soundstage width; nonetheless, the timbre and dynamics of the speakers were superb—particularly in the bass (which, as Alon Wolf showed us via in-room measurement, was going down to an astonishing 20Hz).

Though I was unable to travel to Europe for Munich High End, Robert attended that fabulous show and told me that the Magicos were even better there than they were in Chicago. Thanks to state-of-the-art room treatment, Robert said, in print, that S3 2023s sounded as if they should’ve been priced well above $100k, which is about as clear a confirmation of Magico’s exorbitant claims as you could get.

Of course, shows are one thing (usually lesser ones), and real-life listening rooms are another. Though I expected good results from the S3 2023s based on what I’d heard in Chicago (and Robert had told me about Munich), I wasn’t wholly prepared for what I got.

One of the knocks against Magico loudspeakers (in so far as there have been “knocks”) has to do with their bass response. All Wolf & Company loudspeakers use sealed boxes with acoustic-suspension loading. Though the advantages in low-end linearity, extension, and resolution that sealed-box bass holds over ported bass are well known (and incontrovertible), there is no question that well-designed ports add “sock” to the bottom octaves. While their resonant bump in the mid-to-lower bass is not as textbook clean and flat as sealed-box low end, on rock music (and much jazz) it does add power, color, and excitement to the sound of low-pitched instruments such as bass guitars or double basses, Hammond organs or synths, bass clarinets, trombones, saxophones, and tubas, big drum kits, and other percussion. This addition of power, color, and excitement isn’t wholly factitious; it can be quite lifelike, as anyone who has experienced the sock-in-the-gut impact of a rock band playing live in a bar or club can readily confirm.

While acoustic-suspension speakers typically shine on vocals, acoustic rock, much jazz, and large (or small) ensemble classical music, where their higher clarity, increased extension, and greater fidelity more readily and accurately reveal who’s playing what (and how), they aren’t as ipso facto thrilling on rock (and some jazz) as ported ones, especially ported speakers that are designed to go very low with a fair semblance of linearity, control, and lifelike dynamic headroom, as, for instance, the superbly engineered subwoofer stacks in the MBL 101 X-Treme MKIIs.

Now, the S3 2023s’ low end is never going to be confused with (or be comparable to) that of the MBL sub stacks. Magico’s twin nine-inch woofers just don’t have the sheer power, weight, and dynamic headroom of MBL’s twelve newly designed 12″ woofers. However, the new S3s do have much richer, deeper going, more powerful bass than I’ve heard before from Magico floorstanders (keeping in mind, of course, that I haven’t yet auditioned the M9 or M7). Indeed, their bass-range response is extraordinary. No, you don’t get that thrilling low-to-midbass resonant bump of a ported speaker, but what you do get is a density of color, a dynamic power and ease, and an extension and clarity of very low-pitched instrumental and musical line that are at least as exhilarating.

What you also get, as I hinted in my DS Audio review (p. 24), is a continuousness of sonic character from those bass octaves right through the top treble. Though I don’t believe Magico buys into the roll-off of the upper mids and highs that the AES (which keeps a running tally of the average energy-over-time-and-frequency in commercial recordings) recommends, there is no question that the S3 2023’s aural “center of gravity” is situated squarely in the bass and lower midrange, with very slightly declining energy in the upper mids and treble. Though this gives the S3 2023 a somewhat darker, more “bottom-up” harmonic cast than previous Magicos, it also gives it a smoothness and timbral beauty—a rich sameness of sound character—from top to bottom. I’ve not heard a Magico in which the diamond-coated beryllium tweeter melds more seamlessly and harmoniously with the graphene midrange and woofer.

This sonic continuity and top-to-bottom beauty makes for unusually easy and enjoyable listening. However, lest you get the idea that the S3 2023 is trading away transient detail for a richer, more lifelike tonal balance, be apprised that, like all Magicos, the S3 2023 is a very high-resolution loudspeaker. It just doesn’t rub your nose in all that detail, thanks largely to its darker, richer, more continuous timbral palette. In this respect, it reminds me of DS Audio’s optical cartridges.

Take, for example, the MoFi reissue of Thriller (which I reviewed in Issue 335). Everything I praised about the MJ album is not just there as described; with the Magicos, it is also there more clearly and completely than it was before. No, the MoFi “Billie Jean,” which is more of an audiophile mix than a dance cut, still isn’t quite as hard-hitting as the Epic original, but through the S3 2023s the song sounds a helluva lot richer and more robust in tone color, clearer in scoring, and higher in transient detail than it did through several other more expensive transducers I’ve had in-house. Listening through the S3s to those famous “Ndugu” Chancler drumbeats at the start (the ones about which recording engineer Bruce Swedien bragged: “See if you can think of any other piece of music where you can hear the first three drum beats and know what the song is…”), you can clearly visualize the pedal, beater, and kickdrum head. The same with Louis Johnson’s bass ostinatos, which propel the music like a funky metronome. Once again, the Magico S3 2023 delivers the notes with near-visual presence—you can almost see “Thunder Thumbs” Johnson’s fat fingers slapping the Yamaha BB Series bass guitar’s strings.

While this level of instrumental, performance, and engineering detail is not new to Magico, the S3’s uniform density of color and softer-edged, more laid-back 3-D imaging are. Not only do you hear things you haven’t heard as plainly before (like the weird little Beatles-like warble of Lana Del Rey’s voice on the choruses of “Venice Bitch” or “I’m Your Man” from NFR), but you also hear them with richer, more lifelike timbre, texture, and volume. (I don’t want to repeat myself, but these things really do go to the heart of sonic “completeness,” facilitating the gestalt shift that allows you to visualize musicians more readily.)

In addition to its superb bass, dark rich timbre, excellent detail, and three-dimensional imaging, the S3 2023 also fulfills Magico’s promise when it comes to its enclosure’s lower noise and improved disappearing act. The new S3 has truly sensational staging, with instrumental images (or choirs) thrown far beyond the boundaries of its box—both horizontally and vertically. While Magicos have always been good at this, the S3 is especially wonderful, casting a soundstage of terrific width and depth (for a smaller cones-in-a-box loudspeaker).

So, what is wanting? Not much. One supposes that Magico’s top-line M7 and M9 will play louder and with greater impact and dynamic headroom in the bass (and everywhere else), offer even higher resolution, perhaps deliver a more neutral (less bottom-up) tonality, image with even greater solidity, and fill large rooms with an even wider, deeper, more encompassing soundstage. Whether they will have the timbral and dynamic continuousness of the S3 2023, I don’t know. Whether they will be as purely pleasing and enjoyable to hear—gorgeous in timbre, immensely detailed, whip-fast, and powerful without the slightest trace of the analytical—I also don’t know. What I do know is this: Never have I heard a full-range loudspeaker in my home that does as much as this one does for the money that Magico is asking. If that doesn’t make it a classic of some kind, I don’t know what will. Here is a truly great dynamic loudspeaker that competes with the twice-as-expensive competition from stalwarts like Stenheim, Estelon, Wilson, Acora, Rockport, and Magico itself. The S3 2023 will not only join my small select group of reference speakers; because of its incredible value-for-dollar, it will also be my nominee for one of TAS’ 2024 Product of the Year Awards.   

Specs & Pricing

Driver complement: One 1.1″ MB5FP pure beryllium, diamond-coated tweeter; one 5″ Gen 8 midrange driver; two 9″ Gen 8 bass drivers
Sensitivity: 88dB, 2.83V at 1kHz
Impedance: 4 ohms
Frequency response: 24Hz–50KHz
Recommended power: 50–750 watts
Dimensions: 12″ (17″ with outrigger base) x 44″ x 17″
Weight: 222 lbs. each
Price: $45,500

MAGICO LLC.
(510) 649-9700
magicoaudio.com

JV’s Reference System
Loudspeakers: MBL 101 X-Treme MKII, Magico S3, Magnepan 1.7 and 30.7
Subwoofers: JL Audio Gotham (pair), Magico SSub (pair)
Linestage preamps: Soulution 727, JMF Audio PRS 1.5, MBL 6010 D, Siltech SAGA System C1
Phonostage preamps: Soulution 757, DS Audio Grand Master EQ
Power amplifiers: Soulution 711, JMF Audio HQS 7001, MBL 9008 A, Constellation Audio Hercules II Stereo, Siltech SAGA System V1/P1, Odyssey Audio Stratos
Analog source: Clearaudio Master Innovation, Acoustic Signature Invictus Neo/T-9000 Neo, TW Acustic Black Knight/TW Raven 10.5
Tape deck: United Home Audio Ultimate Apollo, Metaxas & Sins Tourbillon, Analog Audio Design TP-1000
Phono cartridges: DS Audio Grand Master, DS Audio DS-W3, Clearaudio Goldfinger Statement v2.1, Air Tight Opus 1, Ortofon MC Anna, Ortofon MC A90
Digital source: MSB Reference DAC, Soulution 760, Berkeley Alpha DAC 2
Cable and interconnect: Synergistic Research Galileo SRX (2023), Crystal Cable Art Series da Vinci, Crystal Cable Ultimate Dream
Power cords: Crystal Cable Art Series da Vinci, Crystal Cable Ultimate Dream, Synergistic Research Galileo SRX
Power conditioner: AudioQuest Niagara 5000 (two), Synergistic Research Galileo SX
Support systems: Critical Mass Systems MAXXUM and QXK equipment racks and amp stands
Room Treatments: Synergistic Research Vibratron SX, SteinMusic H2 Harmonizer system, Synergistic Research UEF Acoustic Panels/Atmosphere XL4/UEF Acoustic Dot system, Shakti Hallographs (6), Zanden Acoustic panels, A/V Room Services Metu acoustic panels and traps, ASC Tube Traps
Accessories: DS Audio ION-001, SteinMusic Pi Carbon Signature record mat, Symposium Isis and Ultra equipment platforms, Symposium Rollerblocks and Fat Padz, Walker Prologue Reference equipment and amp stands, Clearaudio Double Matrix Professional Sonic record cleaner