depends totally one how and in what kind of room you will use them in... but not MUCH better
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you need to provide more information to me to be of help to you what are your current speakers what music do you listen to, how loud what is rest of your system what are you trying to improve in terms of the sound currently what is the nature of the room here is an example of someone asking the question in a way that lets others help them in a useful way... https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/speaker-upgrade-18 |
Thank you ver much for your advice. I realized that I wasn't clear enough. My current speakers are the ProAc DT8. My PS Audio system is the following: PerfectWave DS DAC, Stellar 1200 amplifiers, Direct Stream Power Plant 12, AudioArt interconnects and speaker cables, Triode Labs and Essence Reference II (Essential Sound Products) power cables. My system is located in my master room (crazy location-just moved to a small apartment). I mostly listen to jazz (trios quartets), acoustic music (piano and guitar) and vocals. My speakers sound great (they are close to the rear wall-14"). Will like to improve the mids, soundstage and deeper tighter bass. Thank you. |
When I purchased my D-30R's I had a chance to listen to the D-20R. Given how similar they look, they do sound quite a bit different. The D-20R is slightly darker speaker with a full rich sound. They imaging was top notch and the sound was very seductive. Bass was a bit soft and maybe not as precise but overall it was impressive. The D-30R is more like its big brother the D-48R. More neutral and detailed with better dynamics. All things being equal and depending on your budget the D-30R might be the better choice. |
i think your room size and the fact you have the dt8’s too tight against the front wall is creating midbass overload and thus you feel you want more imaging, clarity in the midrange and deep bass impact the dt8 are a d’appolito design so 2 midbass drivers one each side of the single dome tweeter, and while i have heard them myself i understand in the proac line they are voiced more towards warmth than the higher speakers in the response line going to a d20r will likely be a step up as the bass dispersion will be better controlled with the single bass driver and the ribbon tweeter has a more sophisticated sound than the soft dome in the dt8 another option is to go with a standmount like a d2r or tablette model and a rel sub... that may be the best solution for your room, and will provide the best imaging and least midbass bloat before changing speakers i would suggest you try to move the speakers another 6 inches closer into the room, away from boundaries... it should have an impact on the tonal balance and imaging good luck |
I have had almost all Proac speakers over the years - seriously! I still have pairs of 2.5 d38 d 3.8 d80 and d100. If you like the Proac "sound" the differences between speakers are there (obviously as otherwise there would be no point) but improvements are progressive as you move up the price chain (as you would expect), apart from the 2.5 which is a stand out "go for" quality wise and price wise. So my own conclusion that works for me is that you spend as much as you can and work at that model at your price point. You should be happy regardless |
First of all, why are your existing speakers 14" from the wall? Is that where they perform optimally or is this position for aesthetic reasons such as room furnishings, WAF, etc.? If you cannot place the speakers where they sound best, it will do no good to purchase better ones in the ProAc line. Instead you should be considering speakers which work well in a room your size and near the wall. I would suggest that before you spend any money, experiment with speaker placement first, it can make a huge difference in the areas you are looking to improve upon and costs nothing at all unless there are matrimonial restrictions involved. |
I have owned a lot of different ProAc speakers and currently own the D-40r. I think there are two significant improvements in some of the older models. The ribbon tweeters IMO are much better than the previous dome tweeters. The bottom porting has made the speakers easier and more flexible in placement. |
i agree w statements about... 1) if the placement position cannot be altered, it somewhat diminishes the value of upgrading speakers ... but that does not mean improvement cannot be had... i would reiterate going with a single bass driver proac models (and with bottom ports) to lessen the bass boom, and the standmount/sub suggestion is even more on target 2) ribbon tweeter models offer more refinement than prior cloth dome models, and a bit less treble amplitude ... that being said, the dome tweeter models can be more aggressive with the wrong source and amplification, but equipment matching can solve (specifically tube amps -- one must realize that all historic response models with the scan speak drivers were voiced by stuart tyler on audio research tube gear, specifically the classic 30, v70 and vt100 series...) - but driving response speakers with solid state gear will give somewhat more ’transparency’ and upper register aggressiveness than intended i do not agree to... the notion of blindly spend more on the best pro ac model that one can afford... larger cabinet multi driver proacs are made for larger rooms, more absolutely output level, more power handling -- this may not be suitable for many home environments with normal sized listening rooms ... as is always the case, room / speaker interface is absolutely KEY |
@erastof,I own the ProAc D48R and love them. But I have to agree with @aewarren about the placement. If you do not have much space behind and to the side of speakers then the bass boom and muddiness in the midrange will remain. They way to mitigate them are to have bass absorbers on the corners and monster panels on the wall behind where you sit. You will have to experiment with that. I think the D20R will have less bass than the DT8. But with the ribbon tweeters, it should have better clarity. |
I just looked online at the DT8 and the DT20R. How could so few drivers produce good sound to begin with? How can one speaker share so many frequencies and image sound better than a speaker with a tweeter, a mid range speaker and one to two woofers? You have to be kidding me. Maybe we should be listening to a speaker with just one woofer to get all the frequencies. This this has to be smoke and mirrors. Hope this stirs up some conversation because this just doesn't make sense to me. There are a lot of experts in the group and I hope some of you can explain this. If this is the case, why are other speaker manufacturers wasting their time and money one manufacturing their speakers with multiple drivers. You lost me on this one! |
I just looked online at the DT8 and the DT20R. How could so few drivers produce good sound to begin with? How can one speaker share so many frequencies and image sound better than a speaker with a tweeter, a mid range speaker and one to two woofers? You have to be kidding me. hahaha i’m tired you can start here -- https://omegaloudspeakers.com/pages/single-drivers https://www.gearpatrol.com/tech/a558737/omega-single-driver-loudspeakers/ can someone else help our pal larry out? |