Anyone got ProAc speakers??

What model of ProAcs are they?

A year ago I demo'd the ProAc Tablette 2000 Signatures against a bunch of other similarly-priced standmounters. They're physically gorgeous speakers, but I didn't much like the sound. I prefer the neutral-and-accurate sound of a monitor (ATC, Dynaudio, AVI, etc), and the ProAcs just didn't really fit the bill. The treble didn't seem very transparent or airy, though I seem to remember the bass being quite good.

However, take my opinions as they are - opinions. Everyone's got their own ideas of what sounds good and what doesn't, so just because they're not my cup of tea doesn't mean you won't like them. I know they've been rated highly by numerous hifi magazines (though I don't know how much credit you want to give *their* opinions...) It's also possible that they just didn't like the electronics or the room I was listening in at my demo (it wasn't a home demo either - in a hifi shop with Primare CD player and NAD C370 amp, if I'm not mistaken). Come to think of it, I'm sure they'd sound better with a nicer amp.

On another note, I had the chance to listen to one of the ProAc Future series crazy-looking floorstanders (I believe it was the Future 2, but I could be wrong). This was hooked up to some very high-end equipment and sounded delicate and sweet and detailed and entirely seductive... though a bit too soft and refined for my tastes (again, I prefer the 'monitor' sound - a bit more explicit and up-front). However, I didn't have much time with them (wasn't actually demoing them, they just happened to be hooked up while I waited for the ATC Active 10's I *was* demoing to be hooked up :) ).

Okay, so maybe I'm not being very helpful... :rolleyes: It would help if you could tell us what model you've been recommended. Cheers,

Dunc
 
I have the Tablette 2000 Signatures. If you invert everything the previous replier said about sound quality, you'll have my opinion! I listened a a LOT of speakers - B&W, Raurk, Cyrus etc. I found that nothing could touch the treble of the Signatures - afterall this Sig tweeter is used in some other VERY expensive speakers, both within ProAc range and many others, the new Naim's for example.

In the end, thc choice came down to B&W CDM NT1s and the Sigs. The ProAc treble is smoother, more detailed and certainly much better than the CDM NTs (whole range) from B&W for eg, but the base is not quite so firm - but goes lower than the NT1s, but is not so controller. I intended to use my Sigs with a REL Storm, and I don't seem to notice the bass issue any more - it was very small to start with! My views seemed fairly consistent with HiFi News for both the Sigs in general and the NT's treble as well, for what it's worth. I found the build quality of the B&Ws very poor in comparison - too much plastic and the tweeter pod was poorly fixed in position.

I use the ProAcs for mainly Classical music - hence my interest in the best treble and the Sub is for the last Octive of organ music. They're obviuosly used for cinema as well - with a Tannoy centre speaker. I have no regrets - they're beautiful speakers. If I do change them, it'll be to go up the ProAc range.

Hope this is of some help!

Rob
 
Well, just goes to show - the only way to know whether or not you'll like a piece of hifi equipment is if you listen to it yourself. :)

rob, what sort of electronics are you running the Sigs on? I suspect they're fairly high-end (at least), no? Going by your reply, I'm pretty sure the fault at my demo of the Sigs was the upstream electronics. I realise they're very up-market speakers and the CDp/amp I was running them on were no match.

The reason I suspect it's that, and not just differing tastes, is because I too found the B&W 1NT's very appealing. The treble was sublime, and as long as they were paired up with a suitably serious amplifier, the rest of the sound was equally sublime. They sounded rather soft, muddy, and uncontrolled in the bass when used with a mid-level amp, and they only sounded their best when I heard them hooked up to one of those scary huge American power amps (with a Linn Ikemi CD player).

Also, the sound of the Sigs that I experienced was nothing (and I mean *nothing*) like the Future floorstanders I listened to later on. I would imagine the Sigs sound something akin to that (sweet, refined, detailed, delicate) when paired up with the right equipment.

In any case, the moral of the story is to take everything you read on this (or any other) forum with a grain of salt! :)

BTW, you still haven't told us what model you're referring to...

Cheers,

Dunc
 
Thanks for your opinions, I'm sorry for starting a war.

I'm not sure what ProAc speakers they were, but I looking for plain speakers that are going to be hidden in a cabinet and have a budget of up to a £1000.

I'm goign to do the demo next Saturday hopefully I'll post my views.
 
Hey don't worry, no war has been started between Dunc and myself - we can agree he's wrong about the ProAcs!!! ONLY JOKING! this simply proves that we all have our opinions about this stuff and none of us are really wrong!

Anyway, to answer your question Dunc, I run the Signatures off an old Naim NAP 90 Power amp via a NAC 62 pre-amp, fed by a Marantz 63 signature CD player. I know for sure the Naims produces a very smooth treble, not harsh like rotel and Cambridge Audio stuff I had a direct comparison with. Naims are also known for their ability to hold on to any speaker's bass driver! Oh, when I said Old Naim, I mean OLD Naim stuff - they look awful, but hey, it's the sound that counts! And at £100 for the two, I couldn't say no!

In terms of upgrading, I won't be going to the Future series - i've just take out one mortgage, I don't want another! I was thinking of the other, more costly, stand mounters - the Response range?

Cheers,

Rob.
 

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