Proac Studio 140 Mk2 or Response D18 or Response D2 ?

ISAC69

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Hi

I have the the Proac Studio 140MK2 for a month and I am very happy with it : the sound is balanced ,neutral , natural and detailed . it took about 2 weeks of " running period " to open up and show what they are really capable to do . I didn't tried to listen to the Response D18 because I read

that the bass is weak and I really like the bass dominant in my system also I didn't try the D2 beacuse I thought that standmount speakers

can not preform as good as floorstanders speakers in the bass area . Now I have some second thought maybe I made a mistake not to the demo

the D18 and the D2 as well ?. Which one you think is the best option ?
 

CnoEvil

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Short answer....the one that works best in your room (for your taste/music).

FWIW. Probably the D18, as you've become accustomed to a Floorstander.
 

SpursGator

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I think that the Studio 140s are an ideal match with your amplifier. The only real problem with them is that they need some space. If you are happy with them and they have opened up and sound good, I would bin the second thoughts.

My D18s have a very sweet midrange and although the bass is not earth-shaking, it is very refined and natural. Acoustic bass sounds very realistic, really impressively so, and the electronically-generated deep bass line of Kanye West's "Heartless" is powerful and a lot louder than the reviews woudl have you believe. But it is far from earth-shaking - basically it's one of most natural speakers I have heard, but only at low volumes. It doesn't go loud.

I actually think the D18 with outperform the D28 in most people's rooms. The D28s have a deeper, stronger bass but it's very boomy in smaller rooms - very much a bass-reflex pipe-sound. And the midrange in the D18s is better. In a 6+1 floorstander, having less bass can be good, since the bass and the mid are the same driver. I think the D18s sound better than the D28s on acoustic music and vocals in any room, in fact.

Basically to get the scale of music you can get from the Studio 140s, but with the natural realism of the D18s, you need to go up to the 2 1/2-way D40s, which are absurdly expensive. And with a Roksan Kandy K2, would you really do that?

I wouldn't change a thing. That's a great system. I would go for more amp before I upgraded those speakers.
 

Singslinger

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I think there's very little difference between the 140s and the D18s. The latter may have a sweeter midrange but i believe the bass to be very similar.
 

ISAC69

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SpursGator said:
I think that the Studio 140s are an ideal match with your amplifier. The only real problem with them is that they need some space. If you are happy with them and they have opened up and sound good, I would bin the second thoughts.

My D18s have a very sweet midrange and although the bass is not earth-shaking, it is very refined and natural. Acoustic bass sounds very realistic, really impressively so, and the electronically-generated deep bass line of Kanye West's "Heartless" is powerful and a lot louder than the reviews woudl have you believe. But it is far from earth-shaking - basically it's one of most natural speakers I have heard, but only at low volumes. It doesn't go loud.

I actually think the D18 with outperform the D28 in most people's rooms. The D28s have a deeper, stronger bass but it's very boomy in smaller rooms - very much a bass-reflex pipe-sound. And the midrange in the D18s is better. In a 6+1 floorstander, having less bass can be good, since the bass and the mid are the same driver. I think the D18s sound better than the D28s on acoustic music and vocals in any room, in fact.

Basically to get the scale of music you can get from the Studio 140s, but with the natural realism of the D18s, you need to go up to the 2 1/2-way D40s, which are absurdly expensive. And with a Roksan Kandy K2, would you really do that?

I wouldn't change a thing. That's a great system. I would go for more amp before I upgraded those speakers.

Hi

I am not thinking of upgrading the 140MK2 I just have a regret that I didn't demo the Response D2 or D18 . I really think that the 140's need

a better amp once my budget will allow it I am thinking to replace my the Roksan to Rotel 1580 pre + 1582 power or Audiolab 8200Q pre + 8200MB .

This 2 options has neutral/natural sounding some may say "clinical" but I thing that this will be best for the Proac .
 
If you are looking at replacing the amp and are happy with the Roksan sound I would suggest the Caspian M2 would suit your speakers a lot more than the Rotel option you mention, plus it is cheaper. Pre / Power amps are not always the best way to go. :)

Sometimes they are though, as I run this option myself.

Can you actually audition any of the amps you are aiming for? Can you audition the Caspian? If you can I suggest you do.
 

SpursGator

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ISAC69 said:
I am not thinking of upgrading the 140MK2 I just have a regret that I didn't demo the Response D2 or D18 . I really think that the 140's need

a better amp once my budget will allow it I am thinking to replace my the Roksan to Rotel 1580 pre + 1582 power or Audiolab 8200Q pre + 8200MB .

This 2 options has neutral/natural sounding some may say "clinical" but I thing that this will be best for the Proac .

I agree that a very neutral amp will be best for the (slightly) warm ProAcs. I would not go anywhere near the Rotel setup...ugh. At least it is their class AB range. But the house sound is bright and the bass control is sub-par. I have not heard the Audiolab.

If you go up from the Kandy K2 I would recommend one of two approaches. You could upgrade to the Caspian, as others have recommended. People love this amp and it's got some real grunt to it (compare its bass on the 140s against the Rotel - no comparison). But you could also keep a close eye on the used market. I bought a near-mint Pathos Logos for little more than a new Caspian. Look at the other 4-5k amps and that's what you could have for around the price of a new Caspian. Electrocomponiet, Bryston, Sugden - this stuff can be had for under two grand if you're patient, and it's light-years beyond the Rotel/Arcam/Marantz quality tier.
 

ISAC69

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Hi

I heard the Caspian with the Proac 140 and I didn't like it ; the sound was to smooth and soft for my taste . I heard the Rotel 1580/1582 combination

at a freind house with the B&W 805D and the the sound stage was superb . Isn't it better to move the Proac with pre+power that integrated amp ? Is the Rotel combination isn't good enough it recived positive reviews also I heard and liked it(although I did't herad it with the Proac) ?
 

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