Hi Gang. I really enjoyed Gumbei's "sibling anology" regarding the proac family of sound,rather appropriate here really. I am a big fan of stewart Tylers response series of proacs. When the original tablette was first introduced... it's only real competition at that time was the original 15 ohm version of the LS-3/5a bbc monitor which was sold by rogers or chartwell. I preferred the Roger to the proac at that time and still use the rogers in my kitchen to this very day,and driven by tube amplification of course. When the proac response 2 was first introduced, I was literally mesmerized by it's timbral fidelity and their uncanny ability to disappear in a room. Furthermore: I was stunned by their ability to resolve the midbass with such detail and drive. Of course,I was instantly in love and bought a pair for my small to medium room [16ft x 21 ft x 8ft ceiling] at home. At the time, I was driving them with the ARC d-79b and the ARC sp-10 mk2 preamp. We enjoyed them for a good 3 years. I would sometimes audition different amplifiers, both solid state and vacuum tubed. Even though I was using a tubed preamp... I never did soulfully connect with any of the ss amps and always thought the lower powered amps of each manufacturers sounded more musical. re: threshold,Levinson,krell, bryston and Bedini. The only ss amp that made beautiful music; whereby I could really get lost with the response 2, was the little 25 watt pure classe A Bedini. There are a whole slew of tube amps that really synergize well with the proac without needing to take out a second mortgage. The Conrad Johnson mv-52 is a real little honey of an amp with the response 2 as well as my friends [tricked up]little el-34 based asl 1003 integrated.... makes magic in a big way, immensely enjoyable for very little money.He uses it with the newer [back ported] response 2's. From the response 2, I upgraded to the reponse 3 floorstander and thoroughly enjoyed them for more than a decade....always driven with vacuum tubes of course. In actual fact.... they were a little too large and would overpower the room if one got carried away with the volume control. However...They would still disappear,image, and could flat out rock and roll if the mood called for it. I eventually sold them, as I had the opportunity to acquire the massive response 4 for the right money.However, I still miss the response 3 to this very day. Obviously, the response 4 was much too large for my room at home.... I moved them out to my studio room. A rather large but dedicated room [32ft x 27 ft x 12 1/2 ft ceiling] but the 4's still retained that beautiful proac magic that they all seem to possess when driven with quality vacuum tube amplifiers. Go hear the proacs with decent tube amplification and there is just no going back! Personally speaking.... In a typical medium sized living room or den in the average home, I honestly believe the 2.5 is the most versatile speaker in their entire line up. One that will always make for an enjoyable listening experience. Enjoy!
