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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
tubeears
bojack
630 posts
 
OK, you were either educated by voice recognition software or are translating from Russian. Regardless, you are clearly bonkers.
tubeears OP
136 posts
 
Hi Bojack,

Yes, I will agree.... I am a bit on the "bonkers" side. But not near as bad as the folks at Ref.3a that made the decision to turn the (once good looking) speaker line into the color of old battleships. They are good, if not great, speakers, but some people still prefer the to look at good cabinet work. What if Spendor and Harbeth were to suddenly decide to change their cabinet work to "only" slate grey ? I will be the first to agree that the Nextel finish is arguably superior (with regards to defraction)... but at least give the consumer the option. The thrust of my ranting, bad spelling (and perhaps a bit of Russian folklore) is that if Ref. 3a doesn't address it's cosmetics, they may find themselves in the soup line along with the likes of Apogee.

Cheers!
Tubeears
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.
roxy54's avatar
roxy54
7,661 posts
 
The original 3As were so hyped at the time with over the top glowing reviews that I bought a pair. I hated them, and sold the as quickly as possible. A change might well be an improvement.
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