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.
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.
Both the GVs and the de Capos are worth keeping an eye out for IMHO.
Very investing on the LRS's. I have also been thinking about checking those out in order to experiment with flat panels. It sounds like you have some reservations. What has your experience been?
Ended up ended up passing on the grand veenas. Casually looked for de capos used, but never ran across a pair. No local dealer.
Home demoed a couple other brands from local dealers/friends. Presently trying something completely different: Magnepan LRS on the 60 day home trial. Right now, I think I can live with the Maggies, but the jury is still out. Trial ends beginning of October. money saved will go toward a DAC or cables.
I have the previous GV version with the soft dome tweeter and super tweeter and they are truly special speakers. I have also heard a friend's GV's in a fairly small room and they sounded excellent.
I can weigh in on the Royal Masters vs. de Capo i’s. I owned the Royal Masters first, but sold them at a time when they did not fit into my system set up (WAF issues driving the stereo at that time, I’m afraid...). Later I really missed them and could not find any on the market for quite a while, so I bought the de Capo i’s, which I still own. They are sonically very, very similar IME, so I have not searched again for the Royal Masters. Either/or is my take.
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.
SOunds like the consensus from all four of you at my small room in nearfield is not ideal for the grand veenas. I kind of suspected that, which is why I have had stand mounted monitors forever. It was probably 25 years ago I owned my last pair of floor mounted speakers and came to the same conclusion.
i have not heard the de capos, but it sounds like you all agree that I should give them a listen and serious consideration. Three questions to that end:
First, have any of you compared them to proac tablette anniversary (my current speakers) or any of the other proacs?
Second, I used to own reference 3a royal masters (about 20 years ago) - so any of you know that speaker and how do the de capos compare to the royal masters?
Third, Be or soft dome?
and I live in Illinois- are you aware of a reference 3A dealer in Chicago- Milwaukee area where I might listen to the decapos? Or where did you buy yours? Their website does not list USA dealers.
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.
I agree with ozzy62: you will be too close for the multiple drivers to integrate well for your ears, unfortunately. Reference 3A speakers are wonderful, and having enough space would be cool for the Grand Veenas. I also agree that the BE tweeter is worth passing on, in favor of the previous soft dome version. I have owned three different Ref 3A speakers and loved them, but have never cottoned to the BE tweeters when heard at shows (never have had them in my system, though....). It's not the BE material itself - - I own and very much enjoy TAD CR-1's now, and their BE mid/tweeter works wonders for me.
I actually own a pair of deCapo i's with the soft dome tweeters that are just sitting idle in my basement, but I have not been able to part with them.
I have owned Grand Veenas twice and they are indeed very good speakers. But your room does seem on the small side of ideal. I would be more concerned about the distance of the listening position from the speakers than having too much bass. They don't seem to work nearly as well in the near field. The de capos might be a better choice in your space. I have heard them a few times in a small room and they were quite special.
But if you insist on the grand veenas , use the rear spikes to tilt the speakers forward slightly.
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