These are beautiful high-end speakers in terms of both aesthetics and sound. You should be very proud to be able to own a pair of such premium quality loudspeakers as not many can afford its staggering price tag. The Magico S5 is not sought after just because of its luxurious price point but instead of its exceptional sonic performance.
Like all discerning audiophiles, the Magico S5 can be demanding when it comes to amplifier partners. To really bring out the full potential of the S5 high-end loudspeakers, one must use a matching amplifier of the same caliber. To find such a matching amplifier, we must first understand the prowess and requirements of the Magico S5.
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Sound Characteristics and Strengths of Magico S5
The Magico S5 is made of premium parts and drivers of the highest quality. This is a pair of floor-standers that use 1″ Diamond Coated Beryllium Dome Tweeters. Each speaker also consists of one 6″ Graphene Nano-Tec Cone midrange driver and two 10″ Bass Aluminum Cones. They are capable of delivering full-range sound reproduction, with a frequency response of 20Hz-50kHz. Based on this, it seems there’s no need for a subwoofer to supplement the bass performance as the Magico S5 is able to reproduce sub-bass frequencies on its own.
To deliver such powerful sound, the Magico S5 requires a lot of power. The recommended amplifier power for the S5 floor-standers goes all the way up to 1000 Watts. It is rated at 4 Ohms impedance as well. As you can see, the Magico S5 is rather demanding when it comes to power and you should only go for the highest quality amplifiers to drive them. Your listening room should be acoustically treated too and have ample space for the Magico S5 to breathe.
Magico S5 effortlessly delivers bass frequencies of down to 20Hz but it does roll off as it reaches its limit. Most of the bass responses, 25Hz and above, seem more prominent. The low frequencies sound clean and tight as well, you won’t hear low-ends overwhelming the upper registers which enabled us to hear a massive amount of music details. The capability of delivering low frequencies at such a wide range helps to add weight when it is needed and fills the listening room with a strong musical presence.
The stereo imaging of the Magico S5 is immaculate, you can hear clearly defined musical instruments on an open and expansive soundstage. Every detail and nuance are been produced with high clarity and precision. Magico S5’s ability to create a 3-dimensional sound will simply leave you fully engaged with whatever music you are listening to. The accuracy is superb and you can hardly detect any colorations. Their faithful reproduction of the music doesn’t make them sound over analytical too.
Below you will find a list of the best amps to pair up with your Magico S5. Do take your time to have a look at each one of them.
Best Amplifiers for your Magico S5
The award-winning Dan D’Agostino Progression Integrated amplifier will be one of the best amps to match with your Magico S5 floor-standing speakers. Like the S5, the Dan D’Agostino Progression Integrated is able to deliver a high level of music details with crystal clear clarity, making it a suitable match with these Magico floor-standing speakers. The Dan D’Agostino amp is also powerful enough to drive the Magico S5. It is able to provide 400 Watts into 4 Ohms, which is sufficient enough.
The Pass Labs XA-200.8 is a mono power amplifier and will be one of the best amps to power up your Magico S5 speakers. It uses Class A power most of the time which is highly sought after by serious audiophiles due to its high sound quality for music. The neutral sonic characteristics of the Pass Labs XA-200.8 also make it a suitable match with the Magico S5 floor-standers. The powerful low-end performance of the XA-200.8 will complement the S5 loudspeakers really well.
The VTL Siegfried Series II is another exceptional monoblock power amplifier to get your hands on and match with your Magico S5. These beasts are reference-level mono amps that have enough power to make the S5 floor-standers sing their hearts out. The soundstage projected by the VTL Siegfried Series II mono amps will fit and complement the Magico S5 well. The transparency and accuracy of the Siegfried Series II monoblock power amplifier are incredible too.
If you are looking for a more affordable mono amp option, the Parasound JC 1+ will be an ideal choice for you. It may have a more modest price tag than the above amps but the Parasound JC 1+ has more than enough to drive the Magico S5 floor-standing speakers with ease. The JC 1+ monoblock amplifier has 850 Watts into 4 Ohms of power and with peak currents of up to 180 amps. Parasound JC 1+ is able to handle most music demands without breaking a sweat and the ability to bring the music to life.
The Boulder 3060 is one of the best stereo amps to go for and match it with the Magico S5. The Boulder 3060 stereo amplifier has absolutely no problem driving these floor-standers to their fullest potential. This power amp is also ideal for listeners who want to improve the bass performance of the S5 speakers by bringing it to the next level. The weight and presence of the low frequencies delivered by the 3060 would help to solidify the stereo imaging, giving us a holographic sonic performance with a sense of tangibility.
For listeners who are looking for an integrated amplifier that is sanely priced and is still able to drive their Magico S5 floor-standing speakers. The Marantz PM-10 will be a good choice to check out. Marantz amps are designed for music and made for audiophiles. The PM-10 is able to deliver a wide dynamic range and a high-resolution music presentation with plenty of details to boot. The overall sound reproduction is musically refined and has that warmth to it. This helps to add a bit more smoothness to the music delivery.
More Details of Marantz PM-10 at Amazon
In Conclusion
To bring out the best of Magico S5 floor-standing speakers, you will need sufficient power to do so. We understand that you may not want to spend too much on an amp and this is why the price range of the listed amplifiers varies a lot. If you do have the budget, we highly suggest going for monoblock power amps and then purchasing another matching preamplifier for your Magico S5 speakers.
