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Spendor S9e or ProAc Response D28

I've been eyeing the Spendor S9e and ProAc D28 and while this is your typical "how does this compare to that thread", I wanted to give some background about where I'm coming from.

I currently own a pair of B&W 703's and my gripe with them is that my ears get tired of listening to them when playing music after 20mins or so. To be a bit more specific, at low volumes 60-70dB, these speakers are very listenable but low volumes don't do rock music justice. At higher volumes (80-85db) my ears get tired within a couple of songs.

In fact, at louder volumes even if I'm in the other room doing stuff on the computer and listening to music playing from my living room I get annoyed.

Not all is bad with these speakers, they shine when it comes to movies. I only have two of them but even so they generate an excellent phantom center (note: I haven't felt the need to add a dedicated center because they are that good). They also disappear into the background. Weird thing is I listen to movie louder than I do music, yet under this activity I don't find them fatiguing.

I've been thinking of upgrading my pre but the question I keep asking myself is that maybe I've outgrown this brand of speaker (I used to have 603's).

A bit more about me and my setup:
- Ratio of music-to-movie duty: 50/50
- Listening preferences: rock+hard rock (90%), everything else literally (10%).
- Source: Squeezbox v3 (my library has been converted flac)
- Preamp/Poweramp: NAD T742 / NAD C272
g_georgi
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shadorne
7,467 posts
 
This a reviewers comments on Guns & Roses MFSL

No, even Mobile Fidelity's GAIN system doesn't turn Appetite for Destruction into a precise audiophile disc. But their mastering makes quite an appreciable improvement on this album, turning a barely listenable mess into a rather well recorded album for this genre. While this isn't in the very top tier of MoFi improvements, it's certainly well above average as remastering differences go. I don't know how many Guns N' Roses fans there are that will appreciate the improved quality of this disc, but anyone who likes this music would be much better served buying Mobile Fidelity's release instead of that poseur release Geffen sells. It's a much more enjoyable CD to listen to.

Improved from a barely listenable mess does not (to me anyway) equate to audiophile sound....need I say more.
gerardff
78 posts
 
I have had both in my system and chose the Proac's. I use Naim gear and tried the s8e's and the D28's. I loved the top end of the Spendors. My room acentuates HF to make your ears bleed, (at least my ears) and the Spendors were really smooth and non fatiguing on top. But the bass was where I had problems. Deep but slow, a tad wooly. I tried altering the port and moving them around but the bass was always too much and it made everything sound like it was a beat behind. I knew it wasn't the amp.
Then I tried the D28's and while they don't roll off the HF as much the bass is really tuneful and tight. They are smooth as well but a tad less polite, more truthful. I bought them and never looked back. This is after using Sequerra's for 12 yrs. or more.
I'd worry that the s9e's would be a handful for your amp. That big woofer needs a lot of control. But if you need to smooth out your sound they are probably a better choice. But don't say you weren't warned about the bass.
tomryan
796 posts
 
Since much of hard/metal/heavy rock tends to depress the mind, maybe you are just now becoming aware of this and are thinking it's fatigue. 20 years ago a friend saw two therapists because of depression. Both recommended he change types of music since he mostly listened to metal and hard rock. My friend was told this type of music causes central nervous system irritation. One also told him to have his work desk moved near a window so florescent lighting was reduced. Claimed flor. lighting also causes irritation. I turned him on to Hendrix and Coltrane and he stopped digesting AC/DC, Def Lepard et al on a daily basis (and going to rock bars and concerts). He got better pretty quickly but I have no idea if he got his desk moved.

Certainly not a scientific study, just a single incident.
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drubin
3,267 posts
 
I have to wonder if your source components might not be the problem here. You play your movies from disks, I take it, but all of your music comes through the Squeezebox. Its a good piece, but not great. An external DAC could make a big difference. Just a thought.

Here's another. To test the hypothesis, play some CDs on your DVD player and see how they sound compared to the Squeezebox.
cdc
1,692 posts
 
Foreigner, Journey, Air Supply definitely caused me central nervous system irritation. So does most of that 50's rock crap.
Come to think of it, so does Jane Fonda, Carol Burnett, and AT&T.
Some things just need to go away and never come back.

Thanks for reading, I feel better now.
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