It is actually a very valid question. It's just that Reference 3A has never offered these two cabinet finished in the same model so the comparison would be impossible as far as Reference 3A goes, but Corian is, in general, a better material to use in cabinets to reduce resonances. Unfortunately, most manufacturers don't use Corian because it is so cost prohibitive.
I can tell you this: my Royal Virtuosos, which are made out of solid Corian are almost completely "dead" sounding. Raping your knuckles againsts the side of the cabinet yields almost no sound at all. If you look at the weight comparison between the Royals and the De Capos, you'll also notice that the Royals are almost twice the weight of the De Capos in the same sized cabinet. All this translates to superbly defined bass in the Royals. I think when you consider all the upgrades they've added to the Royals apart from the full Corian cabinet, they actually seem like a bargain at their price point. I would have thought just adding the Corian cabinet alone would add $1500 to the price, but look at all the additional upgrades you get:
- SEAS Millenium tweeter with six neodymium magnet and longer voice coil motor.
- Custom made, multiple flat-foil paper in oil capacitor on high pass filter.
- Redesigned Main driver with better parameters.
- Thick metal terminal plates with Cardas bi-wire rhodium binding posts.
- Seven point, perforated internal bracing system.
- Mechanically grounded main driver.
- Proprietary Vibra-Puck driver frame and magnet vibration damping material.
- Van den Hul silver-alloy/LSC (carbon) hybrid internal wiring.
- Aluminum road cases for shipping.
I think this discussion has given me an even greater appreciation for the Royals. If you're ever in Santa Cruz, shoot me an email, I'd be more than happy to let you hear them.
