Home demo. ProAc D48R and Spendor D9


I am in the process of a home demo. of the ProAc D48R and Spendor D9 from different dealers.
The ProAc guy says it is well run in and the Spendor guy says only about 90 hours on them.

First off, love the D48R so far, midrange to die for & the bass, lots of bass, perhaps a tad too much. Not sure yet, vocals , treble from that ribbon is exceptional.
The Spendor in comparison is not bad at all, I think a bit better definition in the bass, not as full as D48R , seems just as deep, but more tuneful to me. The midrange is OK , it seems to lag behind the ProAc only just. The upper midrange/treble to me is a bit of a let down. For example acoustic guitar seems slightly less crisp, less involving compared to the ProAc.

Question for any D9 owners out there, how long did they take to fully run in ? I assume I am not hearing now what their final run in sound will be like. Will the midrange/ treble open up more, like D48R more, or is the ProAc ribbon tweeter that much better ?
seadog77
Proac ribbon twitter is one of the best I ever heard I think is better than the D9. Proac innovative pulp & mica driver deliver excellent mid but the bass of the D48 can be too powerful and a little bit out of control especially on mid/small size rooms this is why I given up the D48 and bought the D30 instead which its bass is more tuneful and controlled(IMO the driver of the D30 is better than the drivers of the D48 and Proac will probably implement it on the successor of the D48 in the future). I think 90 hours of running in of the D9 can give you reliable definition of their performance ,on mid/small size room their bass can be overhang and out of control however on the right size room their bass should be fine. Can’t say that one is better than another they are both excellent speakers it’s really a matter of personal taste and right synergy with your system and listening space.
Thank you for that. Did not think about the D30, perhaps I should have. I can only give any speaker about 16-19 inches behind the speaker and a solid brick wall.

Perhas this is why the D48 is a bit out of control bass wise and the bass definition is suffering because of it.
Put on Pink Floyd on the Proacs Comfortably Numb
 Listen to the guitar riffs
 I think you will hear why they are so loved.
 Best JohnnyR
 Proac dealer
@seadog77,You are doing the right thing. I recollect that you were struggling with this in Dec last year. Great move to audition the speakers in your home. I envy you :-)The problem with opinions is they could bias your thoughts. So I had listened to Spendor 7 and ProAc D30RS. They had their own strong points. But in the end the ProAcs won me over with their midrange and vocal clarity. I say, pick a genre of music that you most frequently listen to. Depending on the medium, pick a well recorded CD/LP and play it on the loudspeakers and see what YOU prefer. In my case I value the vocals a lot and a person standing in front of me is very important. You should decide what is important to you.One more thing I note is that you cannot give more than 16-19 behind the speakers. Alright. But do you plan to do plenty of bass trapping? If not, then reconsider your decision regarding the D48R and D9. It is not that the bass is out of control for these speakers, but you have put a lion inside a dog kennel. I am able to give 72 inches behind them and almost 42 inches on the sides. With this placement the bass sounds nice and tight. Hence I know.Also there is a gentleman on this forum who had the D9s and sold them because he was not happy with how they sounded in his 12X13 room. Same goes for D48. Look at the D30RS or Spendor D7.Hope this helps. I say take your own sweet time to decide. Good luck in making your final decision.