After nearly 20 years, I left Magnepan and went ProAc


Listened to proac d48r's a few weeks ago and fell in love at first listen. After a couple of days I got my wife to sign my "permission slip" and took the plunge and they now reside where my 1.6 once stood.  You see, I've never heard a speaker literally mesmerize me and engage me like this before.  Sure the Maggie's have a huge image and soundstage and transparency, but these Proacs simply sound more like a real event, with dynamics and palpability, with a more refined and true sound.  The images are much more dense.   

I only have 48 hours on them so they are nowhere near their final voice, but they are breaking in nicely.  The manual says they require a lengthy break in.  I pulled out my old marantz cd-5000 to do the break in honors and will run these straight for a week or two and then taper off with normal listening.   

One thing I dont care for are the spikes. They have these little slits that aid in tightening, but no tool to go around them, so I can't get a good tightening with just my fingers.......so the spikes jiggle.  When I check  I can hear the spike and lock but chatter, and   this is not helping my  stability or sound.  Any sugesstions to tighten them right would be helpful. Thanks.  Cheers to a new chapter!   Wanted to share my excitement with you.  So grateful and never thought I would have speakers like This.  It feels like a dream!

audiolover718
@audiolover718 

Thanks for the compliment. I did some measuring and here are the results. The speakers are located on the short wall in the front of the room. The floor is engineered wood over concrete, and the walls are drywall on studs, or over masonry.

The back of the speakers are 36 inches from the front wall of the room and the outside of the speakers are 20 inches from the side walls. They are toed in about one inch. The inside of the speaker cabinets are about 72 inches apart. My ears are approximately 8 - 9 feet from the front of the speaker cabinet and the distance from my head to the back wall is about 3 - 4 feet.

I am sure your setup will vary from this, but hopefully this will help. Your speakers will need to break in so be patient. I bought demo speakers so they were already broken in for the most part.

I don't know where you are located, but feel free to look me up if you are in the Phoenix, AZ area.

Let me know if I can be of any further assistance.

Best Regards,

Jim Perry 
Agree with Dill on the Herbies Audio Labs Gliders. A friend had big Proacs (can't remember the model), didn't like the spikes and asked me for help. I was surprised at the improvement in sound with the Gliders. My friend is happy.

Also, based on lots of personal experience, I would highly recommend any Herron Audio product.
To the Op, you want at least 4ft from the back of the speaker to the wall behind. Not from the face of the speaker 4ft from the back side. Start with 7ft between the speakers, inside edge to edge. Then move closer. ProAc's are awesome in a near field setup and it helps remove some of the room from the equation. And lastly tow them in so you can just see a sliver of the inside edge. And don't get to worked up they really do need many hours to break in. 
Oh and loose the spikes until they are very well broken in. Someone mentioned the Herbies gliders, they work a treat and they're cheap, and make it way easier to move them around