I’ll be purchasing the Spendor D9.
It is just a better speaker in my room, with my system and my music taste.
The ProAc is still clearly a very fine speaker, however I just preferred the D9 for my needs. |
There is no perfect speakers ,there are some strengths points for D48 that are better than the D9 and there are some strengths for the D9 that are better than the D48 , There's always compromise when choosing the right speakers for you.
From what you are describing I think the D9 integrated better than the D48 in your listening space. |
Hi Milpai, the reason is my room is open plan shared lounge room, dinning room area.
My hi fi system is set up on the left half of this room. Speakers are set up on the long wall, so very restricted in regards how much space behind them. Unfortunately this is the only area I have to work with.
I am starting to realise perhaps the well designed 3 way Spendor is going to work out a bit better for me. The flow port design of this is pure genius, no boom whatsoever. Only the very deep bass is coming through, and it is so very tight and tuneful like a sealed box design.
The ProAc has to be moved out from the wall way too much to stop the excessive bass. I am seeing that in comparison it struggles a bit in comparison with deep bass vs tunefully bass. Not so with the D9.
And I am starting to feel like the Spendor is still in the running in phase, given them another 20 hours or so since I get them. The treble is now starting to open up and rival the D48R in detail. Perhaps not as fast though, midrange , vocals seem to be a tie on both now, Although the soundstage is better on the D48R. But the deep bass is not as bloated and is more tuneful on the D9.
Whichever way I decide, neither will be a bad option and I am surprised how great both are with my system, taste and the build quality is superb on both. |
I have the D9s in a ~ 13x17 well-damped room with 26" behind them and ~ 20" to the sides. I get great bass from them; it is deep and musical but not overpowering. I went to the D9s from sealed Magicos so I definitely would have been aware and annoyed of a boomy sound after making the speaker switch. I was concerned after hearing the D9s at the dealer's slightly larger room that their bass would overpower my room and was going to try the D7s, but in the end I feel the D9s work fine in my room. |
@seagod77,I am slightly perplexed - you have a bigger room size than me. Is there a limitation as to why you cannot pull the speakers more than the distance you specified? While true that overall room size is bigger, the distance to back and side matters for imaging and depth of sound stage. If you don't allow the speakers to "breath", then you will have lot of smearing in the imaging area and depth will be shallow and you will end up blaming the speakers for being "in your face". One thing that will favor the D48 overt the D9 is that they are downward ported instead of being back ported.
As far as ribbons are concerned, yes they are sensitive and placement is important. But ProAc's approach to ribbons is pretty good and even when I sway my head a few inches in any direction, the change is not drastic as some other designs I have heard. When you take the time to properly position the speakers, the imaging, midrange and vocals are breathtaking.
@jetter,While the ribbon is delicate, it is protected by a grill. If you check my system, I have a close up pic of the D48's ribbon tweeter. That should give you an idea about the ProAc's ribbon.
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For my own I always prefer soft dome on hybrid Proac (and I have ribbon tweeter at that time in my Analysis Audio) because of better coherence between dynamic medium and ribbon tweeter. Even if ribbon tweeter is better.
But that’s only me. |
You are right ribbon twitters are much more sensitive than dome ones but they are much better , the differences are substantial : more details every small naunce is comming to life ,voices are liflike natural . ribbons are suppirier at every aspect.
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An honest question from someone who has never owned a speaker with a ribbon tweeter, but has never had a problem with soft dome tweeter. Is there a concern that a ribbon tweeter is so fragile that one should consider purchasing the D48 with the soft dome tweeter instead?
Is the difference in sound that pronounced?
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total room area of 26’ x 13’ x 14’ can accommodate the D9 and D48 just fine, bass trapping solutions can tune the bass of the D48 but if you’re filling the bass of D48 is too much for your taste try the D30 .you should take into consideration that by choosing the D30 you are getting more controlled bass but loosing some of the great dynamics and huge soundstage of the D48 .
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download the free Vandersteen setup manuals and use a math based approach to laying out distances from wall. You might get those woofers to sing.
me? I like the ProAc between the two, but as others have astutely said, how wonderful you have them both at home to make a studied choice.
Have fun and enjoy the music...
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Thank you for your thoughts Milpai. The thing is I can only have them 16-19 “ from a back wall and from speaker to my listening chair is 8’. However my total room area is 26’ x 13’ x 14’. Hence my initial demo. of the larger speakers. I guess I should have thought don’t worry too much about total room size, go off distance to back wall and listening distance to speakers as more important factors than room size.
The D30RS won’t sound “small” in my room ? |
@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.
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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
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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.
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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. |
