Audiophilepure

https://www.hifinews.com/content/magico-s3-2023

The Espen Eriksen Trio/Andy Sheppard’s recording of ‘In The Mountains’, from the album of the same title [Rune Grammophon RCD2227] was a perfect choice for Magico’s S3 2023 to set out its stall – the immediate impression being of presence and three-dimensionality, along with fine instrumental timbres, especially in Sheppard’s sax. Similarly, Anaïs Reno’s atmospheric Live At Pizza Express, on the venue’s own PX Records label [PXRCD1008], arrived with all its ambience intact. It was a real ‘you are there’ experience, with Reno’s voice almost tangible.
The recent Lang Lang Saint-Saëns album [Deutsche Grammophon 4875019] is so deceptively easy to listen to via these speakers that it’s easy to overlook the sheer amount of information on offer, from the scale and delicacy of the soloist’s piano to the accompanying orchestra. There was a lovely light airiness to the woodwind in the ‘Aviary’ section, plus tight control of the plucked strings, while the ‘Fossils’ section proved joyous with its xylophone and exuberant finale.

https://www.hifichoice.com/content/sonus-faber-lumina-iii-0

And the longer you listen, the more sense the Lumina II makes. Where specific rivals will best it in specific areas, when you judge the Sonus faber across a really varied selection of different music, it quite literally doesn’t miss a beat. It might lack the joy that the sheer improbability of the Lumina I’s performance can deliver but, as a £1,000 all-rounder, the Lumina II is a hugely compelling speaker likely to win many converts to the Sonus faber brand

Our experience with the aforementioned models was always somewhat of a mixed bag; proper alignment of the drivers and positioning of the loudspeakers were critical to getting the maximum amount of performance out of them.

EIC Ian White recalls more than a few Avantgarde demonstrations with very expensive amplification that were shockingly poor considering the extremely high price of admission.

Get everything correct, and the older models could absolutely vanish in your listening room and deliver a rather immediate and forceful sounding presentation.

Get it wrong — an absolute mess that would have a hard time making a case for itself against most systems today under $10,000. And that includes everything.