Proac Respnse 1SC vs 1.5 vs B&W 805N

I was comparing these two speakers not long ago and went with the ProAcs. I found the 1sc to have beautiful clear midrange and a smooth treble. The B&W's treble in comparison sounded a bit too foward and harsh for my taste. I prefered the bass on the proac, faster and more articulate. However, to really rock both these speakers will have to be paired with a sub, and even then both speakers may still be a bit laid back. Soundstaging and imaging with the proacs is fantastic, but i've found that I have to pull the speakers really far from the back wall too achieve this.
i enjoyed listening to both these speakers and the ultimate deciding factor was associated gear. I use tubes so the proac was a far better match.

If you can swing it, definitely the ProAc 1.5. The ProAcs IMO sound much more alive and real than the B&W's, which I've always felt to sound too sterile and sanitized.

I completely agree with Macatron and Karls above(I'm kind of surprised you've heard both the ProAcs and B&Ws and loved them both). In addition, B&Ws are notoriously picky about amplification, so if you're not willing to ditch your McCormack this may be a consideration as well. My experience is that ProAcs will perform well with a wider variety of amps.

I'm using a McCormack DNA-0.5 Rev. A with Soliloquy 5.3s and am getting fantastic results. I like ProAcs too, but Soliloquy offers similar characteristics/performance and is much cheaper. Just a thought. Best of luck.

Tim

Soix,

I thought the B&W midrange was amazing. And I heard it driven with a dna 0.5. It doesn't have the extension of the Proacs, and I think the proacs are very natural and involving. Have you had a chance to compare the dna 0.5 rev A to the standard dna 0.5?

Thanks,

Robert

Robert,

No I haven't heard the base 0.5 model. Sorry I can't be of any more help, but glad to hear the McCormack seems to work well with the 805s. What other speakers have you heard besides the ProAcs and B&Ws?

Since you're concerned about having enough bass I'd encourage you to give the Soliloquy 5.3 floorstanders a listen if you haven't already--they're about the same price as the 805s and are much more full range, and they mate very well with the 0.5(and they're pretty small for floorstanders). Their 5.0 monitors are half the price of the 805s and have considerably more weight in the bottom octaves(I've done extensive comparisons with both). I'm not pushing Soliloquy, it just seems like you're not getting what you need with the 805s unless you spring for a subwoofer, and the ProAcs are going to cost you a lot more when something like the 5.0s may do it for you. Sorry if I've belabored the point, but I don't know what else you've heard or if you're willing to try other brands--there's a lot of incredible stuff out there at your price point(i.e. Triangle, Coincident Tech., Silverline, Tyler Acoustics, Audio Physic, Joseph Audio, etc.). My experience is that you'll know it right away when you've truly found the right speaker. Again, best of luck.

Tim