Well, you could have knocked me down with a feather!
Last Friday I took delivery of a pair of Proac Studio 140 Mk2 speakers (demo pair on home approval) - something I had intended a while before the the recent WHF 5-star review. I managed to find time on Saturday to set them up and give them a bit of a listen whilst Herself was out at the hairdressers. This amounted to approx 2 hours of listening and fiddling time. Whilst possibly not optimised in terms of positioning and such, there is a definite sonic lift in all departments - they take the Spendor S3e qualities I enjoy and enhance them to produce a sound I am really liking.
Then, yesterday evening, while we awaited the arrival of a couple of friends, I fired the system up (at what is normally around Sound Police friendly levels). As usual, when she came into the room, she wanted it turned down a notch or two. But I wasn't bothered - we were going out and I just wanted her to get accustomed to the new beasties.
Whilst out, our friends queried why I was splashing the cash on new speakers: what would these new ones bring? I began to explain. I was interrupted. The Sound Police interjected: "Oh, they're much clearer, even at lower volumes." Blimey!
OK, so she is not keen on the looks. They're bigger than she expected and those big black circles are going to take some getting used to, although apparently the cherry wood blends in nicely with the décor. Would a darker, mahogany finish be better? Seemingly not, she is willing to get used to the current finish and she says they're better than the Spendors. Well, who am I to argue? [
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This evening, with any luck I will be able to put them through their paces some more. I have to admit that the sound is going to take some getting used to. Although the clarity and detail are enhanced slightly, and there is a greater sense of space, depth and size of sound-stage, the bass weight is a bit of a shock. It's more controlled, less muddy and closed in, but on Saturday morning I could actually feel bass notes. They weren't coming through the floor either - I checked!
Unfortunately, I can't site the speakers as recommended (50cm from the walls), but have isolated them from the wooden floor. I didn't fit the spikes, but am experimenting with half squash balls onto ice hockey pucks and thence onto granite chopping boards direct onto carpet. This seems to isolate the speakers quite well, though I need to try out different combinations (without doing myself a mischief!) The advantage of the chopping boards is that I can slide them, with a bit of effort, out from the wall to give the speakers some room to breathe when Herself is out. The bass is certainly not too boomy when closer in to the walls, but I believe I detected some improvement in overall balance when I did move them further into the room.
I have a feeling these may be ‘keepers'. The Spendors definitely seem more closed in and restrictive of the music by comparison. I think they will shortly be departing for pastures new.
Oh, and the ferrets don't seem able to squeeze underneath to investigate the downward firing port - result! []
I will probably report further later this week.
Last Friday I took delivery of a pair of Proac Studio 140 Mk2 speakers (demo pair on home approval) - something I had intended a while before the the recent WHF 5-star review. I managed to find time on Saturday to set them up and give them a bit of a listen whilst Herself was out at the hairdressers. This amounted to approx 2 hours of listening and fiddling time. Whilst possibly not optimised in terms of positioning and such, there is a definite sonic lift in all departments - they take the Spendor S3e qualities I enjoy and enhance them to produce a sound I am really liking.
Then, yesterday evening, while we awaited the arrival of a couple of friends, I fired the system up (at what is normally around Sound Police friendly levels). As usual, when she came into the room, she wanted it turned down a notch or two. But I wasn't bothered - we were going out and I just wanted her to get accustomed to the new beasties.
Whilst out, our friends queried why I was splashing the cash on new speakers: what would these new ones bring? I began to explain. I was interrupted. The Sound Police interjected: "Oh, they're much clearer, even at lower volumes." Blimey!
OK, so she is not keen on the looks. They're bigger than she expected and those big black circles are going to take some getting used to, although apparently the cherry wood blends in nicely with the décor. Would a darker, mahogany finish be better? Seemingly not, she is willing to get used to the current finish and she says they're better than the Spendors. Well, who am I to argue? [
]This evening, with any luck I will be able to put them through their paces some more. I have to admit that the sound is going to take some getting used to. Although the clarity and detail are enhanced slightly, and there is a greater sense of space, depth and size of sound-stage, the bass weight is a bit of a shock. It's more controlled, less muddy and closed in, but on Saturday morning I could actually feel bass notes. They weren't coming through the floor either - I checked!
Unfortunately, I can't site the speakers as recommended (50cm from the walls), but have isolated them from the wooden floor. I didn't fit the spikes, but am experimenting with half squash balls onto ice hockey pucks and thence onto granite chopping boards direct onto carpet. This seems to isolate the speakers quite well, though I need to try out different combinations (without doing myself a mischief!) The advantage of the chopping boards is that I can slide them, with a bit of effort, out from the wall to give the speakers some room to breathe when Herself is out. The bass is certainly not too boomy when closer in to the walls, but I believe I detected some improvement in overall balance when I did move them further into the room.
I have a feeling these may be ‘keepers'. The Spendors definitely seem more closed in and restrictive of the music by comparison. I think they will shortly be departing for pastures new.
Oh, and the ferrets don't seem able to squeeze underneath to investigate the downward firing port - result! [
]I will probably report further later this week.
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