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After nearly 20 years, I left Magnepan and went ProAc

Listened to proac d48r's a few weeks ago and fell in love at first listen. After a couple of days I got my wife to sign my "permission slip" and took the plunge and they now reside where my 1.6 once stood.  You see, I've never heard a speaker literally mesmerize me and engage me like this before.  Sure the Maggie's have a huge image and soundstage and transparency, but these Proacs simply sound more like a real event, with dynamics and palpability, with a more refined and true sound.  The images are much more dense.   

I only have 48 hours on them so they are nowhere near their final voice, but they are breaking in nicely.  The manual says they require a lengthy break in.  I pulled out my old marantz cd-5000 to do the break in honors and will run these straight for a week or two and then taper off with normal listening.   

One thing I dont care for are the spikes. They have these little slits that aid in tightening, but no tool to go around them, so I can't get a good tightening with just my fingers.......so the spikes jiggle.  When I check  I can hear the spike and lock but chatter, and   this is not helping my  stability or sound.  Any sugesstions to tighten them right would be helpful. Thanks.  Cheers to a new chapter!   Wanted to share my excitement with you.  So grateful and never thought I would have speakers like This.  It feels like a dream!

audiolover718
genez
220 posts
 
The spikes that have a little jiggle?  That may allow your speakers to breath.  Lock them down?  And, you may find the sound becomes a bit choked.  I discovered this years ago when I locked down my speakers from wall mounts.  Then hung them from chains instead, and the sound just bloomed. Not everything we are told is reality.
gary_c
46 posts
 

Audiolover718, do you live in the Portland, Oregon area by chance? I've owned the Studio 140 mkII and Response D28 in the past, and now using D38. I have a VERY similar room size and is a bonus room above the garage, but has 8ft straight ceiling. My room has issues with treble reflection, but seem to absorb bass; rarely if ever too much bass. Are you using a sub, and if so, have you tried turning it off? Seems like you have a strong wall and/or floor interaction. Your speakers are almost equidistant from the back and side walls; try moving them further from one of these walls so they're not equal distances. Is your room carpeted? Loose spikes not coupling the speakers to the subfloor? Try without spikes? I don't have experience with putting speakers (with spikes) on a separate plinth, but maybe someone else could tell us what impact this has on bass (more or less?). Try moving them closer to the walls; could be firmer bass if closer to wall? My D38's aren't that far from the walls and they image extremely well; they are 9ft apart due to projector screen and wide audio cabinet between them. Do NOT use the factory jumpers, especially if they're still using the solid metal rod. My D38's are toed in quite a bit, can barely see down the inside wall of speakers, to minimize wall reflections. This does impart more bass, but works well in my room. Maybe no or minimal toe-in for you; and move speakers farther apart? Is anything about the rest of your system geared towards more bass, for the maggies, possibly causing too much bass now? What speaker cables are you using? Can you borrow a different amp or integrated amp from your dealer to rule this out? If you live in the greater Portland area, you're welcome to listen to my system, and we could also try my integrated amp on your system. Your speakers are very nice and I don't think the size of your room is the issue, nor is break-in a factor for this particular problem.

soundsrealaudio's avatar
soundsrealaudio
756 posts
 
audiolover718

There is an expression in England, I think that is where your new speakers are made, and that is " stuff the bung hole " .

They take anything like a cloth rag and stuff it in the port. Should give you a more controlled bass with less resonance in your room. 

I remember when I was younger I had a new girl friend coming over to my apartment, presumable for dinner, and I used my old girl friends panties to " stuff the bung hole ", on my speakers. Not sure how much  the sound improved but I avoided any potential problems, at least for that evening. 

PS. hope that is not too much information..........

sfall
346 posts
 
" Have you even experienced the Proac D 48 R with Ribbon Tweets"

Do they use the same ribbon as the Futures? I thought ProAc did an extremely good job getting seamless integration between the ribbon and the other drivers.
audiolover718 OP
132 posts
 
I think I may have found the most ideal placement in my less than ideal room. I went with a diagnal placement and the soundstage exploded. As well, the response is much smoother. Not perfect, but much better. It is so much better than the short or long wall configurations that’s it’s not even a contest in my room. I’m able to get a finely tuned and focused center image with much better timbre and overall tonality this way. While I still am not getting 100% out of them, I can finally hear what led me to take the plunge on them in the first place.

Now instead of feeling disheartened, I can now focus on racking some hours on them. I’m a little over 200 hours of non stop playing. I listened to Charles Mingus and was delighted. I can’t wait till I hear them at beyond 500 hours and months down the road once they have "matured". They have a certain delicacy, and refinement that even a Maggie fan should hear. They are more expensive than Maggie’s, but they sound it too. There is a certain magic of Maggie’s, but these proacs show that there are other wizards out there designing speakers. Maggie’s are a gateway for a lot of us into high quality sound, many of us start off with them, because of their incredible value, i get it. But you owe it to yourself tombe opened minded and to understand that they are not the be all and all, just because they were your first love.
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