In all honesty, these queries always leave me wondering how the person asking could possibly make a good decision.
The two speakers come from radically differing design perspectives, and as such, will reflect that, sonically. It’s not a question of one being a little better suited to the customer than the other. Most often, one will come as very wrong to the buyer. And it’s not as if the other will necessarily prove right, it also might be wrong. Make or break criteria as heard by the individual themselves such as timbre and dynamics cannot be conveyed through reviews or discussions. More than anything else, my advice is to perform a thorough audition, and even buy with a money back arrangement to properly assess. It's good that you heard a pair of Reference 3A, as the DNA will normally come across the product line. Whether they made you happy or not should play a big role in where you go next
The two speakers come from radically differing design perspectives, and as such, will reflect that, sonically. It’s not a question of one being a little better suited to the customer than the other. Most often, one will come as very wrong to the buyer. And it’s not as if the other will necessarily prove right, it also might be wrong. Make or break criteria as heard by the individual themselves such as timbre and dynamics cannot be conveyed through reviews or discussions. More than anything else, my advice is to perform a thorough audition, and even buy with a money back arrangement to properly assess. It's good that you heard a pair of Reference 3A, as the DNA will normally come across the product line. Whether they made you happy or not should play a big role in where you go next