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New speaker help. Proac-Spendor-Harbeth-Devore-PMC

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year!

I'm looking to purchase some new bookshelf size speakers. I want to get some newer ones and try to improve upon my 8 year old Proac 2000 Signatures I have now.

I am looking for anyones help in this matter as I have not had the chance to audition many of these models. I tend to like the British style of sound and I have narrowed down my choices to 10 different pairs. :)

Of these models I have only had the chance to listen to the Spendor SP3/1R2. My choices are bit limited where I live. I loved the Spendors and have been leaning towards buying them. But at $2550 dollars a pair I know there are many other good choices out there. I don't really want to exceed $3500 dollars or so in my new purchase.

I really like my current Proacs and I was thinking of staying in the same family for a sound I like and that I am familiar with. I only would assume that speakers have improved slightly in the last 10 years and the newer models are a bit better over my 2000's.

The other 3 choices I have not listened to ever. The Harbeths, Devores, and PMCs. But I have read so many good things about these and think that I might like them as well.

The Devores use soft dome tweeters and from what I read are smooth and clear sounding. Maybe good value too considering they are made in Brooklyn vs England like the others.

I have to say that I am not really big fan of metal dome tweeters so I do worry a little about the Harbeths and the PMCs. I find metal domes to always be a bit too bright and sharp for my taste. But many have said that the Harbeths do a great job in this manner with smooth highs.

The PMC's are a little more of unknown and a gamble at this point for me. Great reviews though.

I will use my new speakers with tubes. I have a Granite Audio 30 watt tube amp at the moment. So they will need to be somewhat efficient. I may purchase a slightly more powerful amp in the near future. But no more than around 50 tube watts.

I have narrowed down my choices between mini and regular size bookshelf speakers. Either size will work fine in my smallish sized listening room. I understand the brands bigger brothers will have slightly more bass and higher SPL output but they will also cost me more money as well. So I will have to take that into consideration if the sound quality differences is worth it or not.

These are the speakers that I have narrowed down. Has anyone listened to any of these or had the chance to compare any of the following to each other?

1. Spendor SA1 or Spendor SP3/1R2

2. Proac D1 or D2

3. Harbeth P3ESR or 7ES-3

4. Devore Gibbon 3 or 3XL

5. PMC DB1i or TB2i

Thanks to anyone with any thoughts on any of these models and/or comparisons. It will help me greatly in my search.

Tom
mezzanine
stanwal's avatar
stanwal
3,147 posts
 
I would go with the Spendor SP-1s or SP-1/2Es. I have both and haven't heard a speaker that size I would rather have. I use to be a Spendor dealer but of the 6 pairs I now have I bought 3 used. See REGONAUDIO review. I also have a pair of Mini Utopias but overall I would go with Spendor. Spendors are fairly efficient and an easy load so tubes are fine, buy used , you will get a lot more speaker for the money, I have bought a lot of them used and never had problems.
manny55's avatar
manny55
21 posts
 
Wow, great list of speakers.Any of them would be a good choice.The Devore sound great with tubes.They are not bookshelf speakers but floor standing.I personally love spendor speakers .They have what I consider one of the most important characteristic a speaker should have,excelent tonal quality.To me , no matter how good a speaker might be in certain areas, if a guitar does not sound like a guitar it just doesn't do it for me.On another note,your proac speakers are by themself excelent.I use to have proac studio 1 speakers and they were fantastic reproducers.I personally don't think speakers have advance all that much .There are speakers long gone that would give modern speakers a challenge.Dalquist dq-10 , Spica TC-50 ,TC-60 and angelus models ,Celestion SL6,SL 600 and many others.Hope this was helpful.God bless.
a_e_watkins
106 posts
 
Hi Manny

With this list of speakers, you cannot make a bad decision. I personally own the Harbeth's. Like you I was orginally leaning towards the Spendor's, but then I got to hearing a lot of good reports about the Harbeth's and I gave them a listen, and fell in love.

Like you, I too was concerned about the the metalic tweeter, but this is really not a concern, as this tweeter turned out to one of the smoothest, sweetest sounding high ends I have heard.

The 'radial' driver material is not an advertising gimick! This thing is absolutely fabulous. Very similar to the Spendor, in a lot of ways, but with more inter detail and clarity. However, as previously stated, there is not a bad choice on your list, and the final decision is what you are happy with.

Good luck, and great listening.

Regards,
AEW
nglazer
846 posts
 
I have Spendor SA1's and have owned SP1's. I am a big Spendor fan. The SA1's, which I use in my BR system, are terrific little speakers, with more life than the SP1's and unbelievable soundstaging and imaging. Vocals are eerily natural and realistic. Bass is not very deep but you will be shocked at how tuneful and accurate the bass is. They need power (I would say at least 100 w/ch and good cables. The best compliment I can give them is that I have forgotten about them.

Neal
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