Thank you for that. Did not think about the D30, perhaps I should have. I can only give any speaker about 16-19 inches behind the speaker and a solid brick wall.
Perhas this is why the D48 is a bit out of control bass wise and the bass definition is suffering because of it.
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Thank you for your thoughts Milpai. The thing is I can only have them 16-19 “ from a back wall and from speaker to my listening chair is 8’. However my total room area is 26’ x 13’ x 14’. Hence my initial demo. of the larger speakers. I guess I should have thought don’t worry too much about total room size, go off distance to back wall and listening distance to speakers as more important factors than room size.
The D30RS won’t sound “small” in my room ? |
Hi Milpai, the reason is my room is open plan shared lounge room, dinning room area.
My hi fi system is set up on the left half of this room. Speakers are set up on the long wall, so very restricted in regards how much space behind them. Unfortunately this is the only area I have to work with.
I am starting to realise perhaps the well designed 3 way Spendor is going to work out a bit better for me. The flow port design of this is pure genius, no boom whatsoever. Only the very deep bass is coming through, and it is so very tight and tuneful like a sealed box design.
The ProAc has to be moved out from the wall way too much to stop the excessive bass. I am seeing that in comparison it struggles a bit in comparison with deep bass vs tunefully bass. Not so with the D9.
And I am starting to feel like the Spendor is still in the running in phase, given them another 20 hours or so since I get them. The treble is now starting to open up and rival the D48R in detail. Perhaps not as fast though, midrange , vocals seem to be a tie on both now, Although the soundstage is better on the D48R. But the deep bass is not as bloated and is more tuneful on the D9.
Whichever way I decide, neither will be a bad option and I am surprised how great both are with my system, taste and the build quality is superb on both. |
Naim Audio 252/300.
And I think I was premature with the recent post. The D9 is still running in, today it sounded pretty thin and all bass/ treble. Today the D48R was clearly better.
Very frustrating to try and get a take on which will suit my needs better in the long run. |
I’ll be purchasing the Spendor D9.
It is just a better speaker in my room, with my system and my music taste.
The ProAc is still clearly a very fine speaker, however I just preferred the D9 for my needs. |
I did think about the D30 from an earlier reply from Itzhak. It is not totally off the cards, just worried I’ll not get the “scale of sound” from this one.
Some days the D9 is breathtaking with the transparency this speaker can dig up. Then I put on a less than well recorded song and it is disappointing.
Almost every song sounds great on the D48R, so a bit more of a colored speaker I guess, but still excellent. |
Thank you for that. How long did you find the D9’s needed to be run in for ? I have about 140 hours on the so far. Getting better, but not as smooth as the D48R. |
Really, really not sure where to go from here.
D9, love the speed, bass depth and definition, midrange.
Not so much treble and still slight hot at very high volume.
D48R , love the treble , sweet detailed and fast. Bass is full, perhaps too full , and not as fast as the D9. Midrange is almost a tie, but slight nod to the D9.
However the D48R wins hands down on soundstage width, height and pinpoint accuracy of vocals etc. Just marvellous.
It is a tough choice in which way to go.
Even thought about D30RS and save some money, or ATC SCM40 (liked, but not loved these when I did a home demo.) Might revisit them. |
Avanti1960, yes, yes, I do agree with your findings. I had to return the D9’s. I must have added another 100 hours on them & I have never seen a speaker change so much. More bass, deeper bass, and the nasty mid/treble knocked right off.
I am almost ready to jump on a new pair of D9’s, the Dark Walnut looks nice. Thank you all for comments, there is not any "poor cousin" speaker choice between these . Just personal likes/dislikes etc. I have total respect now for the ProAc brand after my demo. and I can totaly see why they have so many fans !
The D9 just floats my boat a bit more. |
These were a dealer demonstration pair.
So back to the dealer & he will order me a brand new pair in my colour choice. |
I’ll try and close this thread up with a few comments.
I have never heard a speaker change in the space of 130 or so hours as the D9.
The hot midrange / treble has gone, bass deep, tuneful but with real impact as required.
What was disjointed bass/midrange/treble is now a full , coherent soundstage.
One of the other posts here had similar findings with the D7.
Sure, the treble may not be as crisp as the D48R , I am sure no done tweeter ever will be. Ribbon tweeters are special in this regard.
But the D9 did everything as good and in most of the things that matter to me - better than the ProAc in my room with my gear.
Why I chose these 2 as a final speaker bake off is.
1. Budget, they are the only ones in my budget range that I could get to demo. in my house.
2. I am in an area with limited speaker brand choice. For example I would love to hear Kudos, Joseph, Magico and a few other brands, just not possible though.
3. Tried the ATC SCM 40, good, very good but not excellent in my room. And need far more watts than the 90 Naim watts I could give them. Active was an option, but not worth the mess around as naim
and the ATC are not very compatible with cables etc. Just too hard.
Anyway, no bad choice , I just prefer the D9. |
