Can you tell me why I didn't like the Reference 3a MM's?

Here is the conundrum. Many of us (myself included) believe that source and electronics and cabling are more important than choice of loudspeakers.

While Eric builds speakers, I manufacturer DAC, Phono, Preamp and Power Amps.  I do agree with the statement above to some degree.  I use an old pair of AR 510 model speakers.  The source to me has an impact on the tone, dimension of sound stage, clarity, etc.  The AR speakers are and old box design that are typical old speakers, nice mids, more of a muddy sounding booming bass and the tweeter in them is really a piece of crap with the typical box sound.  Inserting the new hybrid amp we built changed the sound of the speakers completely.  The sound was way out of the box.  I never heard that change before so that steers em down one path of thinking.  But then hearing the Vandersteen model Seven speakers makes me realize how much better those speakers are compared to my Vandersteen 5As.  Much more relaxed sounding, better clarity, better spacing of instruments and vocals, dimension, etc.  But the amp is a lot less that $68K speakers.

Foe monitor speakers I recently heard the Vandersteen monitors with the new sub and they sounded excellent compared to the ProAc monitors.

Happy Listening.

   

mapman and I were at the same show.  Call Fritz up and ask about minimum recommended wattage.  Printed specs tell only a fraction of the whole story.  For years I drove ProAc Response 2.5's with a 14watt Cary 300b, and those speakers were never listed in the usual places as SET-friendly, but they definitely were.

Ok, I contacted Fritz.  : )

@jgoldrick the Unlimited can use multiple signal tubes all all different Mu, so having too much gain can easily be remedied. What tubes are you using in the signal slots (ex: 12AU7, 12AT7, 12AY7, 12AT7, 5751, etc.?

If you restricted to a placement that close to the wall then you might want to look at a front ported transmission line bookshelf like the Reynaud Bliss Jubilee. Call Bob Neill the US distributor and proprietor of Amherst Audio and see if he thinks they will work in your situation.  I own the Fritz Carrera's and they will work with the XA-25 with no problem but the bass may be a bit much that close to the wall.  But like others have said a phone call to Fritz is worth it to get his opinion.