Ref 3A Veena - Devore Gibbon 8 - Audiophysic Yara

:o) Thanks Jaybo.

I did listen to the S8e after I bought the S6e about two years ago. I thought that besides the added bass heft and some what larger soundstage, it's basically the same personality - same tweeter, same detail retrieval, same "thick-in-the-middle, polite warm sound" but of course very musical.
I am looking for a musical speaker similiar to the Spendor but with more detail and open sound.
Maybe that speaker is the Gibbon 8 or the Veena. Josephs are an enigma.

the veena then..a different experience, but a great one.

You know...Just found out yesterday when I went to the only Ref 3A dealer in my area(Florida), and he said that due to the value of the dollar with relation to Canadian, all of the ref 3A products have gone up in price. The price was 3K it is now $3.7K and change, not including tax which puts it at ~4K for a Veena. He did not have any Ref 3A products on display.
So that puts the Veena's into the Gibbon Super 8, Joseph Rm25, and the upper AP model ranges.... Of which is out of my $$ range.
I do not have any Devore, Joseph or Audio Physic dealers in Florida. It is rare, as far as I nave been able to find, to see any of these models on the used market.

I have the AP Yara and I have heard the Super 8's - the Devore Super 8's were one of the best sounding most musical 2 way loudspeakers I have ever heard in my life. Bass was plenty full but in general the speakers are so well balanced and natural that I cannot imagine a better speaker for pure sound. I love their size, about 5 or 6 inches shorter than the Yara. They are not very large - the two tone wood look great, but all walnut veneer is beautiful as well. Another nice thing is they do not require bi-wiring, not a big deal, but it's just simpler. These will soar with tubes. I demo'd them on a 12wpc EL34 set and they bloomed like crazy!

My Yara's are nice, they are quick and most especially excel with acoustic sounds - they are not really a hard rock speaker- jazz and acoustic guitar sound excellent on them, lots of detail, bit lean on the lower end, but not that they dont have good bass because they do, its just the mids and highs seem to be a bit better than they produce deep bass. I am very satisfied with them.

I have never heard the Veena, but reviews tend to be mixed on them - Hifi Plus just did a review of the Grand Veena and based on what I could gleen from that, they liked them very much.

I think speakers really tend to do well with some music styles and not so well with others - if you are into lighter sounds, acoustic and jazz, you may also want to consider the Tonian's TL-D1 out of LA - hand made and the few people I know who have them, love them. http://www.tonianlabs.com/TL-D1.htm

As far as demos go, you will be hard pressed to find any dealers who carry these types of speakers - best is to look on here and see what is for sale - if you find one, email the seller and ask what they like/ don't like about them. I purchased my Yara's sight unseen and love them, but I did a lot of emailing first. The other speaker I was looking at was the 3A DiCapo - but I wanted to do floor standing. Based on what I hear all of the 3A's have a very distinctive sound - I think again based on what I have been told, they are good, but an acquired taste.

Again as I said before, I absolutely loved the Super 8's that I heard - I have never heard the 8's, but have been told same sound just a tad bit veiled compared to the Super - personally I would not go anything less than Super 8's if I were doing Devore.

That is the other good thing, they are made in the USA. I think the German made Audio Physic has pulled out of the US due to the falling dollar and lack of sales - just too expensive when compared to other domestics and Asian imports. The 3A should really not have gone up that much, Canadian dollars have gone up, but they would shoot themselves in the foot to raise their prices.

You can deal direct with Ref 3A - I forget the gentleman's name, but he is happy to work with you. info@reference3a.com