Reference 3a Dulcet vs. MM Da Capo i

Are you thinking about replacing your Merlins with the Dulcet or De Capo? The Merlins are fine sounding monitors at about the same price point. The De Capo's would have a bit deeper bass, and be a bit more efficient than the Merlins, but your monoblocks have more than enough power for either. By looking at your system images, I would think your next move should be to purchase or make some room treatments. With those wood floors and bare walls, spending just a few hundred bucks on treatments should pay off in a HUGE way compared to changing speakers. You will be shocked at just how much more focus and image depth you would get by doing so. Purchase a nice area rug to cover the bare floor in front of your speakers, and some affordable 2' x 4' x 1.5" diffusion panels for the reflection points on your walls.

Get the Merlin Floostanders, they have (or had) a much better tweeter They work really well in smallish rooms.

Bigshutterbug,

Hello, and thank you for the thoughtful post. I really do need to update that system picture of mine. things have changed in the room quite a bit. The speakers are now all along the long wall of the room. There was a bass suck out on the short wall that I never could cure. (It also put my listening chair in a goofy and unnatural position.) Also, I put an area rug on the floor, and that has soaked up quite a few of the reflections. As far as treating the reflection points on the walls, with the speakers oriented along wall, the "puffy" blinds that you see over the windows are about as close as I can get to that. Only other thing that I might be able to do in the short term is putting up something to absorb reflections on the wall between the two speakers. but my significant other isn't going to be too happy about me putting anything else in the room to accommodate the system at this point. :-)

I had the opportunity to audition a pair of the Dulcets in my listening room and, yes, made the switch from the Merlins. I purchased them directly from the manufacturer, and Reference 3A has a deal where within the first six months of ownership, they will give you 100% credit toward an upgrade in their line. That's why I'm wondering whether I might want to move up to the DaCapo. I'm just wondering whether they would swamp a listing room like mine which is only about 13' x 16' with an 8 foot ceiling.

I'm also really interested to hear what you like about your DaCapos. Thanks!

You're welcome! Glad to hear that you have been able to work on your room acoustics since your last system update. It should help quite a bit. I don't think you will have any problems at all with the de Capo's overwhelming your room with bass unless you have some issues due to too much liveliness in the room. If so, a few bass traps in the corners should take care of it. The de Capo's low frequency response is quite accurate as stated, and rolls off pretty quickly below 42 hz. I have an even smaller room than yours that is well treated, and they sound quite well balanced in the bass on most well recorded music. I am actually going to be trying a pair of Reference 3A Episodes in place of the De Capo's this weekend. I certainly won't need a sub with them in my room! This is my third pair of De Capo's I have owned over the past 15 years, and I have tried dozens of other well regarded speakers during that time. I love the clarity, texture and immediacy I hear through them out of their full-range driver. They are an easy load for any amp you might want to try, and have excellent tonal balance. I am looking forward to hearing the Episodes to see what their "supertweeter" and added bass brings to the synergy of my system. I'll let you know my thoughts after they get settled in.

Post how you like the Episodes, please. They are way out of my budget but I'd love to hear your impressions. Thanks!

Bigshutterbug, how did your Episode episode work out? ;-)

Hello Rebbi! I have spent about three weeks with them so far, and they are sounding great! I just updated my virtual system, and you can find a more detailed explanation about the Episodes there.

They look beautiful in your room and your description of their performance is really helpful. Thanks! Enjoy!