Home demo. ProAc D48R and Spendor D9

Thank you very much guys for answering so quickly!

I can say that the larger speakers get the sound "closer" to the original. But one thing to remember is - for a piano recording to sound "like a real piano" on a large loudspeaker, you need to provide them with enough room to breath. The smaller D30 and D7 also do piano very well, but the "scale" is different compared to the larger loudspeakers.

Understood. Unfortunately, the space I have is not very large - about 23 square meters with a height of about 2.3 meters. I can get about 0.5-0.6 meters between the back of the speakers and the (long) wall behind them with the speakers spaced about 2 meters apart (inner edge to inner edge) and about 3 meters between me and the front baffle of each speaker. I know most would point out that the smaller speakers are more appropriate for this room, but... I’m not listening loud, on the contrary sometimes, and I would like to have good bass down to 30 Hz with the better mids the larger speakers are supposed to offer.

To further confuse things, I’ve read somebody prefered the mids of the D30RS to those of the D48R, stating that the midbass driver is better in the D30RS. Difficult choices, given that I’ll definitely not be able to audition in my room before purchasing...
Other speakers I’m considering are from the Spendor’s Classic line, especially because I heard the SP2/3R2 and loved them. Musical diet based on jazz, classical (especially piano) and old rock. Budget is not very clear, but the D9 and the Classic 100 are stretching it a lot, possibly even too far. Classic 1/2, maybe?

I can state that the Spendor D7 (just below the D9) have the best piano sound I have ever heard in a speaker

Have you heard anything from the current or the older Spendor Classic line?

Understood. Unfortunately, the space I have is not very large - about 23 square meters with a height of about 2.3 meters. I can get about 0.5-0.6 meters between the back of the speakers and the (long) wall behind them with the speakers spaced about 2 meters apart (inner edge to inner edge) and about 3 meters between me and the front baffle of each speaker.

I think the mistake you are making is you are considering the ProAc D30 and Spendor D7 as small. And it is a big mistake. When I auditioned these 2 loudspeakers I was amazed by how much "larger" they sound compared to their size. Both these speakers produced low range frequencies with amazing speed and definition.The bass did not sound like "column of air" being thrown out to "sound like bass", but real low bass. With the way you mention about the positioning of loudspeaker in your room, these can go down to 30Hz without much struggle. With your configuration the D48R and D9 will overload your room and you will regret the purchase even though you may be able to afford them.

To further confuse things, I’ve read somebody prefered the mids of the D30RS to those of the D48R, stating that the midbass driver is better in the D30RS.

Like I said, the D48R needs breathing room. If they don't get it, yes, the midrange can become muddy. In this case one should not blame the speakers, but rather blame their choice of speaker knowing their room limitation.
Based on your "music diet", I suggest that you listen to some Harbeths and Sterling? (not sure, looked like a box like Harbeth, but many screws on the front when you remove the baffle; heard at AXPONA 2017).Looks like you are based somewhere in Europe, where ProAc, Spendor, Harbeth are much cheaper than the US.

I did listen to Harbeth 30.2, but it was with an amplifier I believe was not up to the task, a Sugden A21SE that seemed underpowered to me and an accompanying friend. I want something more dynamic and with much better low frequency extension. I liked the Spendor SP2/3R2 much more (but with a much stronger and expensive Densen amplifier, to be fair).
Would the big bass of the bigger speakers also muddy the midrange at moderate to low volume levels?

ThaNks again for your assistance!

Would the big bass of the bigger speakers also muddy the midrange at moderate to low volume levels?

In a small room there is a potential that bass would muddy the midrange at moderate volume.The thing is, the ProAc D48R is very easy to drive. I posted my experience from this weekend where I brought the $89/pair Pioneer SP-BS22-LR speakers into my main listening room to see how they fair with good ancillaries. While they punched too much above their price range, on similar CDs, I had to raise the volume to 11'o clock position for them, compared to somewhere between 9-10 o'clock position for the ProAcs. I believe, the D9s are also similarly sensitive.But if your room has an "open" layout, the bigger speakers might be alright. This means, you don't have a closed room, but your audio room opens to a kitchen or living room or some other room. We have one gentleman on this site who owns a D40R and has been very happy with them as he has an open layout.

I’m afraid it’s a closed room. Not sure what is the significance in this context of the fact that the D48R is easy to drive.

Isn’t it a matter of too much bass extension, exciting some room modes (say, below 30 Hz) that other less extended speakers wouldn’t touch? Because if this is all the problem and, let’s say, D30RS extends to 30 Hz and D48R extends to 20 Hz, then the problem would only be apparent with recordings with significant content between 20 and 30 Hz - and there’s not a lot of it in the music I’m listening except for the symphonic (occasionally) and organ music. I have a feeling that I’m on thin ice here...

Also, can this "too big a speaker for the room" problem be addressed with some room treatment? All this guesswork is worrying me as this is not the kind of expense I’m likely to be able to repeat in the foreseeable future. Some people recommend mini monitors like Dynaudio Special 40 for a space like mine, others are cramming Harbeth 40.2 and the like and declare themselves very satisfied...

Finally, to return to my original question, between D30RS and D7 what would you choose for piano reproduction and why? I care a lot about timbre and especially that tactile, percussive quality of the upper range of the piano I tried to described above.