Reference 3A Grand Veena

Lacee,
Give Tash a call or email. Great guy and I'm sure he will answer all your questions about the updates.

I can tell you with that these are the finest speakers I've heard. I had the opportunity to listen to them at Front Row Center in Pompano Beach, FL. I first listened to them in a dedicated room with proper acoustic treatment and I can tell you that this is the closet thing to a live performance I've ever heard from speakers. The amplifiers used were MC2301 monoblocks and a PerfectWave DAC/Transport.

I listened to a wide variety of acoustic and live performance CDs and it was truly extraordinary. I left there absolutely sold.

I came back about a month later and the Grand Veenas were moved out of their dedicated listening room and onto the open show floor which had no acoustical treatments or many walls to speak of. This time it was hooked up to a Audio Research solid state amp (can't remember which) and the same PerfectWave source. Totally different experience.

If you read Harry Pearson's article, you will see how he mentions that these speakers are sensitive to almost everything. Room placement, toeing, amps, source, etc. Of course this is obvious, as the upstream matters for every speaker.

If you had a bad experience with the Grand Veena, let me tell you that it was not the Grand Veena. Look upstream, and look around the room.

These speakers are extremely clear to the point that when closing my eyes and listening to them, I don't think they exist in the room. Instrument placement, depth, dynamics, is just spectacular.

The Grand Veena,reminds me of a few electrostats that I have owned.

The speakers are revealing of tweaks and mods elsewhere in the chain, yet they aren't fatiguing or hyper detailed.

They don't thump like some cone speakers do, but they do go deep.Perhaps it's a speed thing.I find the GV speakers to be fast, but still warm.

Proper room placement is a must.
I have mine set up in my room in a diagonal configuration, and this works to make a small room less of an influence.

In fact I like the sound in the small, sound treated room better than in the large untreated room.

They also sound very good with the 2 watt DecWare ZenSelect.

They lack for nothing paired with this amp.

Guys,

Do you think the 3A are better than the Avalon Ascendants or Vandersteen Quatros? How you you describe their sound in ref to the two listed above?

Thanks

The only direct comparison that I've had with the Grand Veenas were the Vandersteen model 5 speakers at the same dealers.

The grand Veenas shared some characteristics with the big Vandie, and truth be told, if money wasn't a factor I would have gone with the Vandy 5.

But for a lot less money, it wasn't that much of a let down.

At least the differences are ones that I can live with.

I think the GV for the price ,performs close to speakers that cost more.It gives you a feel for what those costly speakers can do.

I've owned lots of stats, so I've a preference for speakers that sound like good electrostats, which is fast and free of boxy colourations.

For me the Grand Veena comes close to electrostat speed and clarity.

If I ever feel the need for more bass I'll just use my Depth sub.