Proac Response D 48/Tannoy Kensington

I recently listened to the Proac D48 and the Vandersteen Quatro in the same room with the same electronics (Audio Research Ref 150 amp and Ref preamp with ARC CD) The Quatro's were setup first.  My impressions:  A very balanced and cohesive sound.  Detailed yet smooth....natural.  Nothing really called attention to itself.  Yes, the detail, midrange, highs, and lows were all there but nothing made you think "wow, listen to that".  Very engaging.  The powered subwoofers had just the right amount of visceral impact and were only heard when it was their turn to play.  Also, great looking speakers.

Next the Proac D48:  The dealer removed the Quartos and replaced them with the D48s,  After a few minutes of meticulous setup which involved tape measures and levels he invited me back into the listening room.  We went through the same music in the same order we had with the Quatro. The first thing I noticed was the bass was missing but soon discovered in the process of switching out the speakers the dealer had forgotten to remove the high-pass filter between the pre and power amp.  As soon as this was corrected we started over with the music and the speakers bloomed with deeper and fairly substantial bass.  I will compare the bass between the D48 and Quatro first since one of the first musical pieces, "Hotel California" from the Eagles "Hell Freezes Over" cd contains that deep bass drum in the intro.  Both speakers went low but the Quatro did so with a more visceral impact whereas with the D48 the bass bloomed.  No doubt the built in sub on the Quatro was IMO better able to recreate the impact and the depth of those low drum beats.
Having said that, the Proac had plenty of low bass.  In fact there were few if any other instances during the listening session I that noticed any difference in the bass between the two speakers.

The D48 was maybe just a bit more in your face with the midrange.  A liveliness and immediacy that I have always enjoyed with every Proac I have listened to.  Overall it was difficult to find fault with either speaker.  To my ears the Quatro had a more natural sound, slightly smoother and less etched with all the details there but just not calling too much attention to itself.

The required high pass filters for the Quatro will add nearly a thousand dollars to the price (for balance connection; single ended are slightly less expensive).

Overall I preferred the Quatro.  To my ears it just a slightly more of a natural sound and more cohesive presentation.  Also, I like the ability to tune the bass to your particular room.   

I hope you will share your impressions after you listen to the Quatro. Also, I hope the poster "aka_ca" is still following this thread and I hope he is familiar with the Quatro...and I really hope he can share his impressions of the two speakers as he did comparing the Tannoy to the D48.  

"TANNOY .... bespoke refined, ethereal, XO Cognac snifter
PROAC .......forward striding, bold, Quatro-Cinco tequila shooters..."

The cables are attached at either end of the filter so you don't have to supply additional cables.  The filters are matched to the impedance of your power amp via some dip switches in the filter housing.  What equipment will you be using with your new speakers?

Sorry my post comparing the Quatro to the D48 was not relevant to you itzhak.  I was hoping it might be relevant to the poster who had heard the D48 and was planning to listen to the Quatro.  It just so happened that I had compared two of the speakers he was interested in exactly two days before I read his post.  I just thought I would offer my impressions.  I assume he has a better understanding of his needs and preferences than I do...I was just sharing MY impressions.  BTW I don't necessarily agree with your interpretation of what each speaker's "purpose" is.  I think either could work well (and did) in the same environment with the same amplification.

k clone...my observation regarding the midrange of the Proac:  It did seem to be a little more forward but not necessarily in an objectionable way...but it did draw attention to itself.  A slightly different presentation than the Quatro...not necessarily better.  In the context of the afternoon listening to these two speakers my comments of "in your face" or "etched" probably misrepresent the nuanced and subtle differences between the speakers.  Clearly the D48 is a wonderful sounding speaker.  I wonder how differently my impressions might be if I had heard the D48 before the Quatro.  I have owned the Proac 1sc monitor in the past and have always loved the Proac sound.  Keep in mind also, even though I spent nearly 4 hours listening to these two speakers, my impressions are still initial observations with a limited selection of music.  Long term listening and a deeper exploration of my music collection might reveal different preferences.