Proac One SC versus De Capo i. Opinions please?

Hello Wrightstuff. Two very good speaker choices... you have good ears sir! Your Sugden amp should drive the proac's easily. The response series of the proac line present a rather benign 8 ohm load for the amplifier and respond well to even low powered set tube amps. I had a pair of the reponse 2 speakers and drove them with an 18 watt set tube amp. That match up, made for nothing but beautiful music. I sold them to a good friend that is using them with a 22 watts [845 based] set amp and it has to be considered top shelf by anyone's standards. I also used the decappo for about a month after selling the proacs. It is a terrific speaker to be sure,personally... I preferred the voice of the proac response 2. That said: I have never heard the resonse 1's in my own rig,however... like all the response proacs, they are relatively easy to drive and posses a beautiful voice. To be candid here.... Either choice of speaker would be a great one for you. The proac 2 had the more extended bass reponse between the two in my room however, I would hazard to guess that the decappo shoud have the better extension between the response 1 and the 3a. The bass reponse of the decappo is truly amazing in it's ability to resolve imformation, it's fast, coherent and tuneful. String and percussive bass sound rythmic and coherent with the midband and never leave you thinking that something is missing. The tweeter of the the proac is a little sweeter and more spacious than that of the 3a's and I personally prefer the proac house sound because of it. I should also qualify that I based my observations on both speakers here with tubed amplification and vinyl as my preferred source. Your room,your ears and with your rig...your mileage may vary. My 2 cents worth. Cheers and best of luck!

Hi,

I don't know if I can add much to TIC's comments, but I owned a pair of de Capos (original version) for about a year. I sold to go to a more expensive speaker, which I ultimately found disappointing compared w/ the de Capos. I'm counting my pennys until I can afford to get another pair (after spending too much $$$ on equipment the past few years). I've also heard the Proacs a couple times in a shop and in someone's home. The Proacs were very nice, but my personal preference would be for the de Capos. I think that despite the specs, in real world conditions they play deeper and fuller, are more dynamic and more natural sounding. Also, as TIC points out, they are easier to drive. Each time I heard the Proacs, it was w/ a push pull tube amp of at least 50-60 watts (ARC & Mesa). I drove my de Capos w/ my VAC Avatar in triode (27 watts) with ease, and heard it w/ Antique Sound amps w/ as little as 15 W in triode, and it sounds wonderful w/ either. Also heard it in the shop w/ a Sugden integrated (not sure about power rating), but no problem driving the de Capos. The Proacs may seem to have a little more "air" on the top end, at least compared w/ the original de Capos, but I'm not sure if that is because they are more extended or because they over-emphasize HF response. Good luck picking a speaker,

TLH

reubent is right

Wright,

I don't hace in home experience with both, but I have heard the Proacs in a shop and I own the DeCapo (non-i). I have owned the DeCapos for longer than any other speaker in my somewhat recent Audiophile life.

I don't think the Proac is going to be happy with 16 watts. I can only base this on the types of amps I've seem pushing the Proacs in shops, but I've never heard it mentioned that the Proac was particularly efficient.

I can tell you that the DeCapos work well with as little as 2-3 watts per channel and will easily play very loud with 16 watts/channel. The DeCapo is a fine speaker IMHO. It is slightly laid-back vs. some of the tizzy, tipped-up stuff that I've heard in recent years and that works well for my taste. The DeCapo plays music without calling much attention to itself. It has excellent bass response for a monitor and the bass is fairly deep and is very well defined. It is so good that I have a quality subwoofer, but I don't ever feel compelled to use it.

That's my $.02 worth.......

Enjoy,

TIC