After I finished up my review of the super-sweet Sophia Electric 91-03 integrated 300B amplifier for Positive Feedback Online for Issue 72, Sue asked me if I'd like to give their new Magik Box a listen (below).

I told Sue that I  couldn't review the Magik Box at this time due to a combination of having to finish up some previous review commitments and having taken on the role of caregiver to my parents (Mom just turned 89, Dad will be 91 in a couple of months), which means I don't have as much time to write about audio as I did previously.

Sue told me not to worry about writing a review, she and Richard just wanted me to listen to the Magik Box at my leisure because they think it is really good, and would like to hear from me what I thought about it when I had time.

Unfortunately, the Magik Box does not appear to be compatible with my preferred Sablon Audio Panatela cables, so I substituted back in some Acoustic Revive cables. I'm trying to figure out what is going on there with the Panatelas, as I may be missing something, so I want to talk with Mark Coles about it and see what I can learn. I'll report back when I know more. Below is the Sophia Electric Magik Box with my vintage McIntosh MX110Z preamp/tuner.

As you can see in the photos, the Magik Box is a sizable device. Its design is something like a moving-coil step-up transformer, with a pair of RCA inputs going through transformers to RCA outputs (below), but it is not just a MC step-up, it is much more than that.

The Magik Box is designed to be able to handle a multitude of signal levels from teeny-tiny MC levels all the way up to PC audio, a CD or DVD player, or between a preamplifier and amplifier. So you can insert it into your system in a variety of ways: as an MM or MC step-up transformer, on the output of a DAC or CD player, or your preamp outputs, or pretty much anything else you can think of.

I don't know any technical details about the Magik Box yet, but as soon as I learn more I'll follow up.

By the way, the Magik Box really does sound like magik, the improvement in my system was not at all subtle, I almost fell out of my chair when I first heard it in my system. This thing is impressive, and I'll try to comment at length on its use in various applications as time goes on.

By the way, the Magik Box may be the King of Step-ups, and it absolutely kills my Auditorium 23 step-up, which is a damn good step-up, and has been my go-to reference until just now.

Much more to come ... I'll try to post some initial listening impressions a little later, but suffice it to say the Magik Box is really nice!

Thanks for stopping by!