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Proac D2/D18 vs Totem Mani 2

Hello good people of the 'gon-shire

I have the opportunity to purchase a pair of Totem Mani 2 in good shape or try and audition a pair of new ProAc D2 and D18 at a local store. I have heard the Mani 2 driven by a Macintosh amp and I have a reasonable idea of what they sound like. The Mani 2 is available on the store here and I will likely have to give the buyer my answer soon on whether I intend to purchase. The ProAc I will likely not have a chance to audition for another week at least. My room is roughly 13' x 13' and my current amplification is a 40w/ch tube integrated (which I plan to upgrade to either the Ayre V-5xe or Hegel h-20).

Can someone here give me a quick rundown on what I can expect from the ProAc speakers as compared to the Mani? Where are their relative strengths and weaknesses in terms of sound?
badri
yakman18
1 posts
 
I'm using the ProAc D2s in a bedroom setup with a Boulder 1012 preamp and a Boulder 860 Amp (150wpc) . They're lovely speakers. They image well and present a well defined soundstage. And they have the ProAc sound I like so much, perfect for strings and brass. And while I'm using solid state in front of mine, most ProAcs love tubes. I think your amp will be just fine and I'd recommend sticking with it for a little while at least. Just be sure to get a set of very solid and heavy stands to get the most out of your D2s...stands you can fill with shot or sand are the best.
badri OP
69 posts
 
@mattmiller Thanks, Matt! I hear a lot of people saying that the ProAcs sound great with tubes - but what they usually mean is a things like ARC vsi60 - which is in a whole other league compared to my amp, I think. :)

That said, I do plan to try out the Ayre V5xe and the Hegel H20 (and maybe even a Plinius) to really bring out the best in them. Right now, my source is lossless RedBook audio from an Aurelic Aries fed into a Ayre Codex. So the source part of my system is finally good enough for the most part. The speakers and the amp need some work - but I am going about it piecemeal.

Have you heard both these speakers?
badri OP
69 posts
 
@yakman18 Thanks for that. I did think that the amp should work with the Proacs at least for a little bit while I save for a better amplifier. Have you heard the Mani-2s? Do you have any opinions on the differences in sound quality between these two speakers?
akg_ca's avatar
akg_ca
2,178 posts
 
  • These Totems -like many of the TOTEM higher end lines - are power hogs, so unless you have the amp with the sufficient grunt (amps and watts) to drive them properly, look elsewhere . I would be very wary of using a tube amp with them. I had the FORESTS and borrowed a buddy's top-end CARY amp just to experiment, with really crappy results .
  • First the FORESTS  would not perform to their max with tubes until you cranked the volume past 2pm, Listening fatigue hit home very quickly.
  • At lower "normal" listening levels with tubes, they disappointed mightily .  I normally ran them with a pair of high-end high-current 100wpc solid state units bi-amped.
  • The MANI-2s are even more inefficient then the FORESTS  - the MANI-2s are  only a very inefficient 85db. I would DEFINITELY personally audition them at home with your existing gear before I even remotely considered using with your current gear. (Footnote: I sold the Forests with no regrets) 
Good luck....
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