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Feedback on the current Reference 3a changes ?

To me (IMHO), the new (slate grey) finish on ALL of the current Ref. 3a speakers looks like the crust on the hooves of old knu's. I'm not sure if the texture is the same... I have only been involved with young ones. Couple the knu finish with the "baboon butt plug" sticking out of the woofer and the race will be on for them to suffer the same fate as their Rhino-coat(ed) brethren (with the ribbons in the middle). Show the wife a picture of the 7th Fleet moving into the living room and there will be no "grey area" as to her response. And of course, for additional torture, lets shove brrrr-illium tweeters in there just to keep up with the current status and bling. I'm sure that they work well for some, but I have always walked away from them (The BE. tweets) VERY happy to walk away from them.
It seems as though Ref 3a has snatched the grasshoppers from our hands and we (I) didn't want them to. They looked great the way they were, they sounded superb, and the price was fairly fair. Are the future owners doomed to the knu look of industrial austerity ? Are the current owners of the gorgeous "gloss red maple" forever to sleep with a smirk ? Should we care ? Please tell me while my grey pants are still dry.

Tubeears
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Showing 5 responses by rebbi

rebbi
1,326 posts
 
I have a pair of MM De Capo iA's (the ones with the Surreal Acoustic Lens in the center of the Main Driver) in Dark Cherry finish. I updated to the BE tweeter about a 6 weeks ago... still breaking it in. I was concerned myself about the reputation of metallic dome tweeters for harshness, but Tash Goka of Reference 3A assured me on the phone that the acoustic characteristics of Beryllium are significantly different than say, Aluminum or Titanium. I am going to post a full review (as I did for my Dulcets) but I can assure you that the new tweeters are anything but irritating or bright.
rebbi
1,326 posts
 
Let us know how you like them! And do make sure they're coupled to the stands with blu tai, and that they are well broken in. Both things make a big difference.
rebbi
1,326 posts
 
Blu-Tak (brand name) is a putty like adhesive that can be removed and reused. Ref 3A recommends putting a very small dab on each of the four corners of the top plate of the stand, plus a front-to-back strip.
We're talking about pressing down a VERY thin strip of the stuff. Easiest way is to work the blu-tak between your palms or fingers until it's pretty warm and pliable, then "smear" it down hard on the top of the stand. You want the blu-tak to be almost as thin as a layer of paint on the top plate of the stand. Then you press the speaker down on top of the stand.
Tip: if you ever need to remove the speaker from the stand (as I did when I replaced the tweeters) you want to use a hair blow dryer to warm up the blu-tak, then ROTATE the speaker to loosen the adhesive and then lift it off. Lifting straight up on the cold adhesive may pull veneer off the bottom of the speaker!
rebbi
1,326 posts
 
PS: I found that coupling the speaker to the stand really helped the sound: bass got a lot surer and tighter. Worth the effort!
rebbi
1,326 posts
 
Tubeears,

I've been enjoying my upgraded BE tweeters in my De Capo's for a couple of months and I can tell you that they are anything but bright sounding. More transparent with better ambient space retrieval, but not bright.
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