Since the late 2000’s, Bay Area speaker designer Magico has been dazzling the audiophile world’s intelligentsia, and causing major consternation and fidelity-envy among less well-heeled listeners. Once you hear a $75K speaker, it’s tough to go back. And then there’s the company’s Ultimate set, a $600K speaker that looks like it was stolen from Dr. Morbius’ living room on Altair IV. Now, that’s esoteric audio reproduction equipment of the most alluring kind.

For those who can’t manage to drop even $25K on a set of speakers, though, Magico has their A series, and the entry-level speaker in that series is the $9,800 A3. As a continuation of the Magico loudspeaker ethos, the idea—and ideal—is to diminish the line that separates live and playback until it is no longer audibly discernible. Or, to diminish it as far as it can be diminished.

Driver and enclosure designs betray the heavyweight aspirations of the company as surely as the higher price-tag models. The A3 speaker uses a beryllium tweeter, graphene cones, and neodymium motor system with Magico’s damping system; the enclosures are fabricated from anodized aluminum, and are fully braced for rigidity. Voice coils are made of pure titanium, and Magico’s elliptical crossover is used.

The numbers are staggering for Magico’s entry-level speaker: the overall frequency response is 22 Hz to 50 kHz, and sensitivity is rated at 88dB. You’ll need a high-current amp to drive them, of course, but that probably won’t be a problem for those seriously considering calling a set of Magico speakers their daily listen.

The Magico A3 speakers will begin shipping in the first quarter of 2018.