nathan0001:Well, i finally managed to get a listen to the 9.1s via a friend of a friend who received his brand new pair the end of last week. They are very impressive speakers and I liked them far more than I expected to. They are certainly bassier than the Proac Tablette reference 8's, but I think in the mid and treble departments it's all going the way of the Proacs. The midrange in particular is warmer yet still just as clear - the 9.1's sounding a little bit thin on male vocals. And I would agree with What Hifi that the treble is sometimes a little over enthusiastic - the Proacs however are so very detailed but refined with it ! The 9.1s are super value though, providing you with a very nice sounding speaker and amps all for a little over a grand. Just, in my opinion, up against something as good as the Proacs I feel they lack just that last degree of refinement and balance.
Mmmh. As a former ProAc owner I would say it is very unlikely the little tablettes can possibly sound clearer than the ADM's even with some serious amplification/source and as to detail ... I won't say anymore. They are also not active. This publication has not yet reviewed the new 9.1's, which, I can assure you are another step up from an already good monitor. It may also be worth mentioning that its unlikely they have been anywhere nearly run in if your friend just got them. As a little side note, and not really super important for most of the time but if you ever want to listen LOUD and I mean almost recreate your local pub live band, the AVI's will continue to serve up the musicians in front of you when the little proacs have long burned their drivers and disintegrated into smaller bits. Try Rodrigue & Gabriela (please excuse my spelling, I'm tired and have'nt got the cd at hand) not nearly at full volume with the ADM's and you know what I mean, awesome.
But they are not an immediately impressive speaker nor will they appeal to everybody. Others do 'boom'n tizz' better. A slow grower and much better for it in the long run. A quality fast sub is imo mandatory with this speaker if you want wideband replay and lets face it, with a speaker like that it'll be a shame not to!
By the way, I think the tablettes are very good speakers too and I can understand if you prefer them on short listening but perhaps (just perhaps) you've missed the point and many advantages a good active speaker such as the ADM's have to offer.