About to audition Vienna Acoustics Beethoven Grand Reference - advice?

Joseph Audio Perspectives and Nola KOs would play nice with that much tube power if you can find them.  Best of luck. 

I love the beethovens, but I can’t justify paying new prices when used gear thats in great shape can be had for a fraction. 
I used a Krell kav300il, anthem 225i, and a hegel h360. Mine are the 2 woofers and 2 mids in the 2nd version which I believe is the same size cabinet as the grand. I could hear improvements with the krell and hegel but they always sounded good. 

I have been waiting to hear them as well. The local dealer hasn’t brought them in yet. I have listened to the Beethoven Concert Grands and liked them just not enough to buy. I am hoping the Reference series will make the changes I wanted to hear. I think Vienna Acoustics has some great products and beautiful cabinets.
on the other hand I am strongly considering Aerial Acoustics 7T but haven’t heard them in a few years. The local dealer doesn’t stock the,. And I hate to invest without one last audition. 
So I too will be interested in the suggestions in this price range.

So to the OP, I ask what is about the Aerials you haven’t liked? In your 20 years of ownership, have you had any problems, failing drivers etc? And how has the finish held up?
Just asking if you don’t mind or answer via private msg if you prefer

Theo

  The Focal 1038BE at todays clearance prices might be something to check out.

Question #2: Suggestions for speakers in the $8-12K range ... good for full orchestra (think Mahler 5th)

Here are a few mid-sized speakers I heard playing Mahler 5 (better still Mahler 8) reasonably well (i.e. the rest of yr musical choices follow):
Vienna Acoustics Beethoven (as above), Genesis V (latest model), Devore X, Wilson Sasha / Yvette (but, price???), Gamut 7, Focal Supra 3 / Scala. These are models I’ve listened to; there are many others, for sure.
A small point driving the Beethovens: when I had (an older model I suppose) these at home, I used a big solid-state 125W class A amp. Orchestral music: the sound was fantastic. Jazz; same. Prog rock & blues: great
Heavy metal: a bit on the polite side (including too much info, not enough noise -- if I’m making sense).
Vienna Grands for 12k sounds good to me, why not stick to these? I think they’re much easier to drive than your Aerials—although they are a nominal 4ohm load, so not SO easy!