Tough Choice: Proac D25 or Dynaudio Special 25

I'm sure both of these are fine speakers, but how do know that you will really like either one w/o having auditioned them? This could end up being a risky move IMO, as many have gone down this same path only to get burned.

I have not heard the Proacs but am familiar with the dynaudio 25 and own a pair. I can tell you what I like about them. They disappear easily, I like to hear one large deep sound stage and the Dynaudios do that well. I think they have great detail but they are a bit on the heavy full bodied sound side, they do not sound light and airy. I find them to be very liquid sounding with my current set up but with the wrong cables I found them to be a bit grainy at the top end. The base is huge, deep and solid. I listen to Jazz, classical, pop. Prefer acoustic music, light detailed but want all the music, not just the mid range. Very very happy with the Dynaudio 25's .

I had a pair of D25's in my system for a while. Good, though not great speaker and I don't think a very good value for the money. Most importantly, I think your room is much to small to accomodate them. Can't comment on the Dynaudio's however, given your room size I would strongly recommend the Harbeth Compact 7. Take the extra money you save and apply it elsewhere in your system or buy some music. For $2500 or about $1500 used you cannot go wrong. They bettered the D25 in my room in all ways except bass depth (though the Harbeth's were more tuneful) and I'll bet they would hold their own against the Dynas.

Dodgealum,

I'm considering the Compact 7es2 as well. They seem to be getting good reviews.

Didnt you compare the 7es2 and the proac d25 and felt that the D25 was better than the 7es2 ?

I know you did the comparision review awhile back, did you in the end sell the D25 ?

In what ways did you feel the 7es2 was better than the D25 ?

Thanks.

I can't really add much more to the comparison I wrote a while back. Here is the link:

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?cspkr&1130287258&openmine&zzDodgealum&4&5#Dodgealum

I would just reiterate, for your size room I fear the bass of the D25 will bloat and boom even more than it did in my much larger space. Most folks agree that the Harbeth Compact 7 works well in a smallish space and was designed for this purpose. Again, I haven't heard the Dynaudio Special 25 however my extensive experience with the newest Counter 3 and 5 series suggests that the Harbeth will provide a more "flesh on the bone" sound to the leaner and more sterile Dynaudio's. Again, I'm guessing here so Dynaudio fans please don't get out your guns.

Again, given your music preferences and listening space I do not think you can make a better choice than the Compact 7's.

Hope this helps.