That’s interesting Robert. You were not put off by the offset tweeters then? Or by the old skool mounting lug holes for the grilles?
I’m trying not to let the looks influence me too much, but they stand there prominent in the room and yet silent for more hours than making music. The UK brands have the advantage of offering a nice bland oak or cherry veneer instead of the dark, glowering walnut or black ash.
We have even started considering white finishes. The Fyne Audio 501SP looked lovely in gloss white, but the Sonettos sounded much nicer, unfortunately.
Sweet sounding and nice looking. That’s what I want. First world problems indeed.
Someone posted a pic on Systempics of their white speakers (not ATC) which first gave me the idea that I fancied white. They look good against any wall imo.
Hi, no that doesn’t bother me. It’s done deliberately, and apparently the tweeters should be on the inside so there’s a definite L and R speaker. I agree the grilles could be discretely mounted magnetically like Spendor for example, but at least they’re in the box and not an optional extra for £200. I don’t mind the visible mounting holes but might keep them adorned with the grilles in place.
I’ve chosen walnut (the proacs in the photo above are walnut) though the rosewood finish (below) is very smart.
Most importantly they sounded the best, I think it might be the ribbon tweeter.
I listened to 7 speakers in all, and could have tried Audiovector by casting my “distance from home” net wider to include Guildford, but I’d mentally selected the proacs by then, and confirmed it with a follow up demo.
If we chose Audiovector they would be in white I think. You are right, white speakers always look good in the System Pics thread.
Our first ‘proper hifi’ speakers were Castle Severn 2s in oak. They had offset tweeters too, but with the tweeters mounted below the woofers. With young children we always kept the grilles on. This is fine for standmounts where the grille covers all of the fronts but with floor standers there is inevitably a tide mark left by UV exposure if you later take them off.
I’ll be very interested in how the D20Rs sound. Like the Audiovector they have a wide frequency range which might allow me to dispense with a subwoofer.
What’s wrong with offset tweeters? Is simple left-right symmetry essential for every item? There is symmetry with a pair of speakers having oppositely offset tweeters (or other drivers, … Offset drivers, particularly tweeters and midrange, have been used for decades as a means of tailoring spacial sound distribution by left and right speakers respectively, often with sonic benefits in a room.
Nothing wrong as such. A preference for bilateral symmetry is deeply embedded in us, or so I understand? So the likes of most Ophidian speakers just seem to jar with me. If ProAc have sound technical reasons to make some of their speakers like that then fine. I readily concede it’s not that important in the grand scheme of things.
Meanwhile Music Matters have got back to me to advise that despite having become Spendor dealers recently they can’t get hold of any demo stock until May, will have to get a Majistra shipped to them direct from Neat for me to hear, and although they have been Dynaudio dealers for years they have no Evoke 20 or 30 in stock at either of their local branches. So aesthetic considerations pale into insignificance when set against supply chain realities.
My second demo with the proacs was against the neat Ekstra, as I’d listened to the Ekstra first for the first demo and felt they needed a second try. After listening to the proacs again, the ekstras were wired up. They lasted about 5 mins before being rejected. I don’t know why they didn’t perform per expectation they just sounded awful. I threw more female vocals at them in case something changed but it didn’t.
That’s not to say you wouldn’t like them, and I own neats now so my assumption was I’d like the more pricey models. Orkestra is a bigger Ekstra in principle. Ministra is the top of an Ekstra, majistra is top of an orkestra.
Oh I definitely have not ruled them out Christopher. For one thing their adherents and many reviewers seem to be suitably fanatical and positive about them. Add to that the fact that I’m not about to let some sales person tell me that my 250DR will not power them unless it is demonstrated to be the case to my certain satisfaction. Lastly there is something admirable about the way they plough their own furrow, making no concession to fashion and style.
Against my expectation my wife likes the look of them, even the metal grilles.
Remains to be heard whether their tweeter is sweet enough to meet my need.
@robert_h thanks again for that helpful further contribution.
I suggested the Ekstras as candidates for my earlier audition but was put off by an assertion that they were of doubtful build quality. Whether this was based on them being thought to be too tall for their base area and thus prone to toppling I don’t know.
I’m certainly intrigued to hear the Majistra’s ribbon tweeter and how deep they go in the bass, given Neat do not quote a frequency range for them.
They sit on 3 spikes, and the spikes are wider than the column size so should be ok. I thought the build quality was fine, at least with the one pair I’ve seen.
Clearly some more than others! And as I suggested, from the listening position you have bilateral symmetry as long as the speakers are mirror immages (which almost invariably they are). Interestingly, in the interests of sound quality the entire listening room should have bilateral symmetry, but a quick look at members’ systems photos shows that is not commonly a priority, and the rest of many rooms makes bilateral symmetry of individual items rather irrelevant, at least to my eyes! Does everything in your room have bilaterral symmetry? (Many hfi electronic products don’t, including Naim.)
I have a 272 (with 555), a 250.2 and ProAc D20R and it is a great combo. Listening position is about 2.5 metres, and spacing between speaker centres a little less than that.
I bought mine at the Audio T Preston closing down sale for a good price; the guy who sold them to me said they were his favourite speakers in the shop, and they were mine too (didn’t try the ATC’s though).
I keep the grills on mine, whereas I would take them off if I had ATCs as they look like fish net stockings.
I recently auditioned speakers. The surprise winner was the Spendor D7.2. This was against the SCM40 and the Dyna Contour. All brilliant speakers but the Dyna was too laid back, the SCM 40 while brilliant were overpowering in the bass even in the stores larger room.
The Spendor’s were surprisingly fast and dynamic. The bass while not quite up to the 40’s was more balanced and the timing was surprising accurate for a ported speaker. The D series uses a totally different port than the other Spendors. So it’s easy to place near the wall.
To me it has a sweeter midrange than the ATC so might be a good fit for you. The ATC is dryer and more tuned to studio accuracy.
They are easy on the eyes as well. They replaced the SCM 11’s and I am a huge ATC fan.
Actually this was my reservation about ATC, but it remains to be seen if this will be borne out.
I briefly heard the Spendor A7 and it sounded rather too bright but the D7.2 seems to be widely admired. It would lie at the extreme upper end of affordability for me, needing a good deal to be struck on a trade in to bring it home. Then there is the issue that Spendor can’t supply before May.
And as I suggested, from the listening position you have bilateral symmetry as long as the speakers are mirror immages (which almost invariably they are). Interestingly, in the interests of sound quality the entire listening room should have bilateral symmetry, but a quick look at members’ systems photos shows that is not commonly a priority, and the rest of many rooms makes bilateral symmetry of individual items rather irrelevant, at least to my eyes! Does everything in your room have bilaterral symmetry? (Many hfi electronic products don’t, including Naim.)