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Can I build a Proac Response 3

15 years ago or so, all the audiophile mags were raving about the Proac Response 3; a fairly ordinary-looking tower speaker with two 6-1/2" mid-bass drivers & a soft-dome tweeter. More important than the press reports to me, several of my friends heard them and said they really are SPECIAL. Well, I traded for a pedestrian (but absolutely mint) pair of Aperion Intimus 633t towers in natural cherry. Aperion is one of those direct-market only audio companies that designs its components here but has them built in China. The cabinets house, you guessed it, two 6-1/2" mid-bass drivers & a 1" soft dome tweeter. They sound nice, but nothing like the ambrosia attributed to the Proacs. I'm sure the Aperion drivers are of average make, and I'd guess the same is true of the crossovers.

Interestingly though, the cabinets are magnificant!! Truly the best I've seen on anything under $3,500. The cherry veneer is absolutely beautiful, and the cabinets are extensively braced. The cabinets are formed out of 1" thick MDF on all sides, and each cabinet weighs about 75lbs. The size is smaller than the Response 3; I'd say the Aperion are about 42" H x 7" W x 14" deep, but I'm wondering if I can't fashion something that will sound close. I am somewhat familiar with venders such as PartsXpress, etc., but I'm wondering if there are some DIY speaker builders out there who can tell me how to duplicate the crossover components, drivers, etc. These cabinets are just crying out for excellence!! Thanks.
klipschking
s7horton
1,077 posts
 
The answer to your question is that you can buy and install parts in the existing cabinets to (more than likely) get better sound than what you have now. To duplicate the sound of the Proac is probably not realistic. Unless you have them for comparison side by side. There are a number of sources online where folks who have practiced the art of speaker design for a long time share their designs for free to people looking to DIY stuff.

Everything linked below can be purchased from http://www.madisound.com

Troels Gravesen's CNO-25 uses very nice components (I can vouch for that, my speakers currently use the same drivers)

http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/CNO-2.5.htm

Zaph Audio's ZRT 2.5 way (scroll to the bottom of this page) has drivers that a lot of people feel are some of the best around. The air circ tweeter and the scan speak 8531 midbass drivers. I built this speaker for a friend of mine, he is thrilled with it.

http://zaphaudio.com/ZRT.html

This one may not meet your criteria because of the smaller woofers. Very, very nice drivers. Not sure on the crossover implementation as I have not heard this design:

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/2.5-way-speaker-kits/seas-delling-excel-kit-pair/

There are lots of options. I've only touched on a few. It would take a little research to compare your enclosure size to ones needed for the builds I listed above. Just some food for thought.
blkadr
739 posts
 
The MTM configuration and driver spacing is almost certainly critical to the design of the proacs.
s7horton
1,077 posts
 
The crossover in the Proac certainly is designed for the MTM configuration, but I wouldn't say that a well exectued TMM couldn't compete simply because it's TMM design.
timlub
2,040 posts
 
Hi Klipschking,
I know nothing of how Proac built Response 3's. I'd be willing to help if you can get a crossover schematic.I've been in Speaker Building for over 30 years. I do have 1 MTM that I believe is better than the Proac. Problem is 4 ohm and 86db. The are tube tolerant, but obviously, you'd need some juice to run them. If you are interested send me a private email and I will give you more scoop,
Tim
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