Wilson Benesch Discovery VS Proac D38

Oh, my dream is to replace one day my Wilson Benesch Act One with a Proac Response 4 or D80. Wilson is an OK speaker, and with tubes you could get fairly nice soundprint. But Proac to my ears is the music itself. Of course, I think, synergy between loudspeaker and amplifier is very important. Actually, I heard the D25 with AudioResearch pre-power combo (plus meridian transport and wadia32 dac): that system was ok, but nowhere as magic as bigger proacs with naim or ear electronics. I think, that my actone-aronov combo was way better compared to that. But this is a hobby, where personal taste is the ultimate judge.

I run Proac 3.8's in a 13X24'room with vaulted ceilings. No problems whatsoever! I've also had the D38's in this room and did not like them as much. The D38s needed a little more break in time however they were just fine in the room.
I used to have Proac 1.5's and the smaller ones and although excellent sounding just don't give you the realism of a larger (ie taller) speaker. The height of the tweeter may have something to do with this as the 3.8's are quite a bit above ear level.

My understanding is the D38 are voiced more nuetrally than the 3.8s - liking one may not mean liking the other.

I heard the WB compared with the Proac D25. The Proac D25 simply did not impress me, and I own an older and beloved pair of Proac Response 3.5's. I wanted to like the D25 but the WB won that contest. I was not able to compare to a D38 as the shop didn't have any.

I am tempted to upgrade my Proac Response 3.5's to 3.8's at some point in the future. I am just not sure if the new D series has the magic that I've heard in the older Response series. Gary

It's a matter of taste. I personally love the warm detailed sound of Proac. I borrowed a pair of discoveries and too found them slightly cold / thin but if anything i think accurate is the term i would use. Who cares if a speaker is neutral. I want a forgiving speaker so that i can enjoy the music not the production technique! I found myself trying to voice the Benech with cables, mains conditioners etc but to no avail. I think you either like the sound or you dont. Ive owned D15's, D25's and D38's in my time and can honestly say that the 38 is a speaker for life! Ive actually had the pleasure of hearing the D100's with Gryphon gear. I can quite honestly say this massive hulk of a speaker completely dissapeared from the room, it had an electrostatic presence that quite frankly made each guitar strum going from one end of the room to the other, and made me blink a lot, Awesome! hair standing on the back of the neck material.

Id say that the D25's are fairly unlike the rest of the range though. They are absolutely 'magical' for the money with certain types of music (non-electronic) and in my opinion better the Living Voice OBX range. The D38 is the first Proac step into hi-end, 'we only sell a few of these a year territory' and i reckon they spend ages with each pair. my advice , spend the money on the speaker , not the carbon fibre side cheeks and fancy pants plinth. buy a speaker with true sparkle, the D38.

It will be a long time before you upgrade! Currently running a BOW technologies / Shanling / Proac / JPS system. warm, detailed, and voiced to my liking! and under 10K.

id also say that the current drivers in the newer response range seem much faster. Its the first true range where Proac have had strong input into the development of the drivers.

To sum up listen to both, side by side, blind and choose the most enjoyable speaker!