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Proac D2/D18 vs Totem Mani 2

Hello good people of the 'gon-shire

I have the opportunity to purchase a pair of Totem Mani 2 in good shape or try and audition a pair of new ProAc D2 and D18 at a local store. I have heard the Mani 2 driven by a Macintosh amp and I have a reasonable idea of what they sound like. The Mani 2 is available on the store here and I will likely have to give the buyer my answer soon on whether I intend to purchase. The ProAc I will likely not have a chance to audition for another week at least. My room is roughly 13' x 13' and my current amplification is a 40w/ch tube integrated (which I plan to upgrade to either the Ayre V-5xe or Hegel h-20).

Can someone here give me a quick rundown on what I can expect from the ProAc speakers as compared to the Mani? Where are their relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of sound?
badri
mattmiller's avatar
mattmiller
1,497 posts
 
Totally recommend the PROAC'S!!! The Mani 2's are not known to be one of there better speakers. Totem makes a few models that I would consider buying but the Mani is not one of them. Go with the Pro's I think you would be getting a more tonally neutral and dynamic speaker. IMO. Both these speakers require power to open up! I'm not thinking 40 tube watts will be the proper amplification, a great sounding SS integrated as you suggest is the ticket!

 


Matt M
yakman18
1 posts
 
I'm using the ProAc D2s in a bedroom setup with a Boulder 1012 preamp and a Boulder 860 Amp (150wpc) . They're lovely speakers. They image well and present a well defined soundstage. And they have the ProAc sound I like so much, perfect for strings and brass. And while I'm using solid state in front of mine, most ProAcs love tubes. I think your amp will be just fine and I'd recommend sticking with it for a little while at least. Just be sure to get a set of very solid and heavy stands to get the most out of your D2s...stands you can fill with shot or sand are the best.
badri OP
69 posts
 
@mattmiller Thanks, Matt! I hear a lot of people saying that the ProAcs sound great with tubes - but what they usually mean is a things like ARC vsi60 - which is in a whole other league compared to my amp, I think. :)

That said, I do plan to try out the Ayre V5xe and the Hegel H20 (and maybe even a Plinius) to really bring out the best in them. Right now, my source is lossless RedBook audio from an Aurelic Aries fed into a Ayre Codex. So the source part of my system is finally good enough for the most part. The speakers and the amp need some work - but I am going about it piecemeal.

Have you heard both these speakers?
badri OP
69 posts
 
@yakman18 Thanks for that. I did think that the amp should work with the Proacs at least for a little bit while I save for a better amplifier. Have you heard the Mani-2s? Do you have any opinions on the differences in sound quality between these two speakers?
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