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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
tubeears OP
136 posts
 
Rebbi:

Do I drive the "blue tacks" in from the side edges of the speakers or take the woofers out and hammer them though the bottoms into the top of the stands ? This stuff is soooo confusing !

Cheers... !
Tubeears
saki70
907 posts
 
Tubeears...
Bluetack should be a putty like substance . Just make three or four little balls and put them on the stand surface then put the speakers on the balls and push down .
That is what I did with a generic form of the stuff . There are , however , some who say that the Di Cappo's should not be fastened to the stands but just sit on them .

There are others that suggest putting "beards" on the speakers as well . Beards are three sided wood arrangements that sort of box in the front and sides of the speaker bottom and stand down to the floor . They are supposed to increase the bass response . I don't know about that though .

Good luck .
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!
tubeears OP
136 posts
 
If it works that well, I think that I will try coupling my butt to the recliner with the stuff......

On a more serious side..... I have now a cute little Jolita 202 all decked out with the new Genelex Gold Lion kt77's (outputs) and the new Mullard 12ax7's with Gold Lion 12at7's.
I am thinking seriously of pursuing new DecWare (integrated) with about 6 watts or so of power. Has anyone heard the DeCapo-I with a low power SET amp ? The Jolida sounds VERY good with the upgraded tube compliment and I'm sure the 40 watts will be just fine with the DeCapos. However, I would like to get the best out these speakers.... Any ideas ?

Cheers !
Tony
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