Fried speaker comparison

To add more variables to the mix, I could power to speakers with either valve or SS amps.

I've heard A-3's but too a long time ago to offer an opinion.
I had a pair of Beta's and it was the most musical speaker
of the hundred or so I've owned.
In a small room as good as audio gets.

I used a pair of Fried Beta Signature's for many years (along with the matching Fried "The Subwoofer") and agree with Shubert's finding although I would add that tube amps really made the Beta's come to life. EL34 based amps were especially killer.

In addition, a sub is really needed with the Beta's as used on their own, they are satisfactory but due to their
"Distributed Loading" of the mid/bass driver, there can be audible "noises" that are heard over the music when bass heavy material, especially high level bass kick drum, is played at elevated but clean levels. If your musical taste is mainly classical played at low to mid levels, I doubt one would ever be aware of the distributed loading issues.

High passing the Beta's at ~80hz/6db per octave as is done in "The Subwoofer" solved the noise issue and also increased the dynamic range of the Beta's which enabled them to really come to life.

I have not heard the other Fried models you mentioned but if you come across some used Beta's, especially the Signature series, grab them as you won't be disappointed!

Cheers

Among other Fried speakers I own, there a pair of Betas, Fried subwoofer, and A/6. But, as the cabinet increased in size over time, the floorstanding A/6 will be much different than the monitor sized A/3.

I think they all will be good sounding, and not all that dissimilar. The biggest difference is likely to be between the aperiodically loaded Beta and the other two, which have the Fried Line Tunnel.

Amazing, but the Frieds are a good example of the hype and hoopla of today. Missing the bookmatched veneers, catalyzed finish, and boutique crossover components, I personally find it difficult to outdo my A/6 by any loudspeaker currently under $5000. They run almost neck and neck with my Merlin VSM, giving up only a bit of refinement that could probably be improved by an update of the Radio Shack quality crossovers.

I ran my Beta's with a Van Alstine modded PAS-3 amd Stereo
70 with Telefunken EL-34's .
With string quartets you would think they were in the room.