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Reference 3a Grand Veena for a small room?

I have a relatively small listening room, about 10 wide by 12 deep with high vaulted ceilings. My setup is near field, sitting about 6 feet from the speakers, with a large overstuffed couch on the back wall.  I have always had small monitors (ls3/5a, kef, reference 3a, proac) and now have proac tablette anniversary., partly due to the room size and partly due to my love of soundstage and imaging, and no need to go loud in the small room.

I listened to a pair of reference 3a grand veenas (the older ones and not the be tweeter version) recently, loving them. Desire for ownership started to sink in.  But I began to wonder if my room is too small for them. 

and home editioning a pair likely to be impossible, partly due to my desire for the older non-be tweeter versions which would have to be purchased used.

certainly a small room limits the ability to play around with speaker positioning to find the perfect location. But this has not been an issue with the monitors, as I still have plenty of room to move them around to find the sweet spot.  Wondering if this would be an issue with the grand veena, with the rear facing bass port. Or any larger, floor standing speaker.

driving the speakers with el34 tube amps, the prima luna HP premium.

any advice is appreciated.

Bill
meiatflask

Showing 3 responses by tubegroover

tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Funny you  ask the question as I just heard a pair in just such a space last night, very close to the front wall. The results were better than I anticipated. No boom a few resonances at some frequencies but overall pretty darn impressive, amazing speakers. About 7' tops to listening position, certainly not ideal but still impressive. I would love to hear in a larger space, like my room. I have the Decapos be with 2 subs and they never cease to amaze, pure musical pleasure. The models  I have heard of this line is magical which is most of them including the Taksim and Reflector monitors. 

For a smaller space definitely the Decapos with a sub or two for bass foundation would be a better choice. 
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Meiatflask, to answer part of your question, while I have not directly compared the Proacs to the Decapos I expect that if may be a matter of preference. I generally stay away from recommending one thing over another but suffice to say I much prefer the Ref 3a presentation. 

DEFINITELY the beryllium tweeter over the soft dome. I do agree that in a showroom they can sound a bit bright but assuredly when fully broken in there really is no comparison. The extension and added air can sound most lifelike, present and transparent, no stridency or brightness whatsoever. A listener acclimated to the soft dome may not be won over but I feel quite adamant about the BE. Tash wouldn't use it if it wasn't better. It might be better to get opinions of those with a pair properly broken in rather than brief listens. My initial response was a bit of brightness as well. I've had experienced listeners comment repeatly. Unfortunately it does take some hours for them to settle in. 
tubegroover
2,320 posts
 
Meiatflask, if still interested  PM me,I have a pair of Nextel BE in near  perfect condition. I haven't heard the anniversary edition but can imagine. Tash is always improving.    
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