My Magico A3 are finally broke in

In my experience, and I'm on my 4th Magico pair, Magicos need around 600h to properly break in. Out if the box, they sound thin and compressed.

I have actually stopped listening to speakers in the first 600h, to avoid disappointment. I still remember when I first fired up my S5 mk 2, which compared to S5 mk 1, out of the box, sounded considerably ... worse. Burned in, they are a much better speaker.

My recommendation is to play music on them 24/7 for the first 3 weeks. Use them for some background music. During the nights, play ocean waves.
 
My experience with S3 MkIIs similar to Elbereth's - takes around 500 - 600 hours. 'Stage 2' for me was the worst: flabby, overblown bass while woofers break in. Worth the wait - superb speakers.
 
My Magico S5 MKII took about 300 hours to break in according to my ears and congrats on the A3s. The Bryston 4BSST was the first Bryston amp I purchased over a decade ago. I have since moved onto Bryston 7B3, and that is where I plan on being for the next two decades.
 
GSOphile said:
My experience with S3 MkIIs similar to Elbereth's - takes around 500 - 600 hours. 'Stage 2' for me was the worst: flabby, overblown bass while woofers break in. Worth the wait - superb speakers.
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I have experienced electronics go through stages that were not always a linear improvement. I have never heard it with speakers. Shouldn't they get progressively better without any relapse? Is it the crossover components on Magico speakers causing the "stages"?
 
Dizzie said:
I have experienced electronics go through stages that were not always a linear improvement. I have never heard it with speakers. Shouldn't they get progressively better without any relapse? Is it the crossover components on Magico speakers causing the "stages"?
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Mine definitely not linear.
 
GSOphile said:
Mine definitely not linear.
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My dealer had similar experience with his S3 MkIIs. He contacted Magico and was told that the two woofers broke in at different rates due to their positioning within the enclosure. Can't comment on crossover effects, but I'm sure there's more going on here than just the woofers. During break-in I played normal music (mostly classical at moderate levels).
 
john1970 said:
My Magico S5 MKII took about 300 hours to break in according to my ears and congrats on the A3s. The Bryston 4BSST was the first Bryston amp I purchased over a decade ago. I have since moved onto Bryston 7B3, and that is where I plan on being for the next two decades.
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Well the 20 Year Bryston warranty will cover the 2 decades! Wish all audio stood behind their products for this length.
 
I read that Magico recommend against using 'white noise' and other non-real-music audio to break in speakers. Am I right about that? Some of you have mentioned using forms of "noise" for break in and I'm wondering. I'll want to break in my A3's the right way.
 
I was curious about this as well. There is verbiage in the manual regarding playing noise. It is said it shouldn’t be used to speed up the break in process, but whether it is okay, in general, is not specified.

Bart001 said:
I read that Magico recommend against using 'white noise' and other non-real-music audio to break in speakers. Am I right about that? Some of you have mentioned using forms of "noise" for break in and I'm wondering. I'll want to break in my A3's the right way.
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John from Pearl Audio who has delivered and setup many speakers including Magico recommended running Brown noise fairly loud for many hours. I just listen to music during the day and at night I'd run background noise from youtube. I don't have enough experience to tell what is the best.
 
Using steady noise or tones, in general, is not a good idea. These steady signals put a lot of stress on the drivers, not allowing for any “cooling-off” periods. I would not use them. Some break-in disks do have fluctuating noise, these would probably be ok, but you never know how much low end frq. they are generating, and depending on the volume, they can put a lot of stress on the system. Play music, it may take longer, but it is safer.
 
I realize this thread is older, but, I came across it searching for "Magico A3 break-in" on the web. I purchased a pair of A3's a couple weeks ago and initially wanted to put a gun to my head. What did I do? They sound awful.

I've owned numerous speakers over my 30+ years as an audiophile so I'm no stranger to speaker break-in. Generally, out of the box, and especially at 50 hours or so, most are listenable. The A3's don't follow that scenario, in fact, they may be the worst sounding "out of the box" I've ever owned. I quickly went searching for owners who could qualify my observations, but a couple times here I read "they are good out of the box". For me, nothing could be further from the truth. Prior to 60 hours there was no sparkle on the top... no cymbal trails, etc.. Mid-range was compressed and uninspired. Bass - boomy, overbearing. Mid-bass - running up into the mids and obnoxious. I've now surpassed 125 hours and the mids and top end are starting to open up. There was a bass drop at about 75 hours and the bass has come back tighter and more defined. I sit here listening and realize there is a ways to go, but things are dramatically better.

Now, these are incredible speakers as evidenced by all of the reviews and my own listening session in the showroom. I'm just starting to hear what I had hoped for when purchasing.

I wish I would have read some of the same observations before freaking out and thinking I just blew $12k. I was not for-warned about this upon purchase and I can't imagine others not having these experiences. Just wanted to share in case someone else is in the same boat
 
Welcome to the forum, thank you for joining.

Very happy you are loving the speakers now.
 
I could hear significant changes to my S3 Mk2s for the first approximately 500 hours, especially the first 250 and especially in the bass. YMMV.
 
Yes, these will take some hours to break-in. I was told that due to the large quantities, Magico can't break-in the A3 in house.
You don't want to critically listen to them before they are properly cooked.
 
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