California hi-fi company Magico – maker of some of the world’s most expensive loudspeakers – has redesigned its much-loved S3 Mk II loudspeaker. The new-and-improved S3 features some of the tech wizardry found on the company’s flagship M9 speakers (£1m, about $1.2m / AU$1.9m).
This includes a newly designed housing made of four separate aluminum panels that are up to 2 inches thick. Each panel is inspected using Magico’s ultra-precise “3D laser interferometry system”, which allows the company to perfectly tune the internal damping. As a result, the new S3 case is apparently “30% quieter than its predecessor”.
Magico relied on the state-of-the-art M9 floorstanders to enhance the S3’s drivers too, and both models now feature diamond-coated 28mm beryllium diaphragms. Magico has also paired the S3’s tweeter with a new “acoustically enhanced backroom” that promises to declare war on distortion.
The 5-inch pure midrange driver cone is formed from a honeycomb-shaped aluminum core with layers of graphene and carbon fiber in between, while the 9-inch bass driver features the latest generation Magico Graphene Nano-Tec cone.
Fun fact: Graphene has 50 times the tensile strength of carbon steel, giving it an insanely high stiffness-to-weight ratio. That should further improve the damping.
The new 2023 edition of the Magico S3 will ship in the first quarter of 2023. There are two different finishes to choose from: M-Cast, a textured powder coating and M-Coat, a high gloss lacquer finish. The UK price for a pair of S3 MkII speakers in an M-Cast finish is £56,998 (about $70,000 / $104,000). M-Coat raises that to £66,000 (about $80,000 / AU$120,000). As always, Absolute sounds is the only place to buy the S3 in the UK.
Oh, and you might want to hit the gym before throwing money away – each 1.2m tall S3 Mk II speaker weighs 100kg.
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