Home demo. ProAc D48R and Spendor D9

Seadog: Coming in at the end of this and maybe you have already made your choice but from the perspective of somebody just picking up the thread and reading from the top it seems clear to me that neither of these speakers are really the whole package for you. I wonder whether you will find yourself back on the merry-go-round in a year or so when the things you did not like about the speaker you settled for have you looking elsewhere. Can I ask: Why are you limiting yourself to just these two models? Both come from well regarded families but neither may be right for you. What else have you heard besides these two models? You are doing something that everyone would love to do--listening to them IN YOUR ROOM. If they are not doing it for you there you might want to continue the search. Most people are forced to make a decision in the dealer showroom and then get them home and find out that things sound very different--usually not in a good way. Anyway, I'm hearing a little voice inside your head that is telling you that you should continue the search. Just my two cents.

Excellent post dodgealum!

Oz

I’ll try and close this thread up with a few comments.

I have never heard a speaker change in the space of 130 or so hours as the D9.

The hot midrange / treble has gone, bass deep, tuneful but with real impact as required.
What was disjointed bass/midrange/treble is now a full , coherent soundstage.
One of the other posts here had similar findings with the D7.

Sure, the treble may not be as crisp as the D48R , I am sure no done tweeter ever will be. Ribbon tweeters are special in this regard.

But the D9 did everything as good and in most of the things that matter to me - better than the ProAc in my room with my gear.

Why I chose these 2 as a final speaker bake off is.

1. Budget, they are the only ones in my budget range that I could get to demo. in my house. 

2. I am in an area with limited speaker brand choice. For example I would love to hear Kudos, Joseph, Magico and a few other brands, just not possible though.
 
3. Tried the ATC SCM 40, good, very good but not excellent in my room. And need far more watts than the 90 Naim watts I could give them. Active was an option, but not worth the mess around as naim
and the ATC are not very compatible with cables etc. Just too hard.
Anyway, no bad choice , I just prefer the D9.

The ATC SCM 40 is not in the same league with the D9 and the D48 this  2 options are much better and you are correct the ATC are power hungry speakers, the other two are more efficient , anyway they are both excellent choices and I am sure you'll enjoy your new D9 speakers for many years.

Between the Spendor D7 / D9 and Proac D30RS / D48R, which one does piano timbre better?  I'm allergic to hearing a piano reproduction that (given a good quality recording) does not easily, clearly and immediately tells me, even if I'm not paying much attention, that this is a real, mechanical piano, not a "digital" piano. There is a very... percussive, let's say, quality especially to the upper range notes of a piano that makes the listener very much aware that there are some very tight strings that are being hit, and some systems don't reproduce this quality too well. Take, for example, George Winston's album "December", the 12th track called "Peace". How do the Spendors and the Proacs fare in this regard?