Chance To UpGrade:Spatial Audio vs Reference 3A


Greetings fellow A'goners...All my hard work in 2017 paid off in the form of a sweet Christmas bonus and I have set aside a nice portion for an upgrade to my speakers...Nothing wrong with the Dynaudio Excite X14's I would just like to go a little farther up the food chain...My front end is the wonderful Quad VA-One,EL84 tube amp/DAC...While it only specs at 12wpc.into 8ohms it drives the little Dynaudio's to wall shaking levels in my smallish apartment so I'm not worried about power considering the 2 contenders for my money are both well over 90db.sensitivity...
 After considerable research my shortlist is down to 2...The Spatial Audio M4 Turbo S and the Reference 3A De Capo BE...Completely different approaches to making music I know.. I have fond memories of the original Acarian Systems Alon speakers with their open baffle midrange/tweeter pods as well as of Carbon Fiber drivers so both choices already bring a lot to the table...
 Room is smallish(about 12'x15'x10') and is treated fairly well...Musical taste runs from intimate chamber to classic rock and pretty much everything in between except rap and country...Listening levels are fairly normal with the occasional ear clearing sessions...What I value most in my system is an organic tone(I want to feel the wood so to speak) & decent staging and imaging...
 So what do you guys think...No way to demo either speaker but Ref.3A holds it's value extremely well and Spatial has a 60 day return policy so I feel pretty well covered if my choice doesn't work out...
freediver

Showing 1 response by simao

I had the de Capo's and then upgraded them with beryllium tweeters. A beautiful, full presence with lush mid-ranges and crisp highs. Their basses were comfortably extended without bloating. They would do well in your size room. Be sure to have a good speaker stand and place their tweeters on the outside. No toe-in necessary. If you're looking for that warm cabinet sound, as you indicated, they're the ones for you.

The Spatials, though, are also good and have that money back return if you want to go through the hassle.