Migrating to Proac D28

[roberto]

Received my Proac Response D28 straight from the manufacturer - UK yesterday. Installed today after standing the speakers overnite at 16 Degress as recommended by the manufacturer. But jokes apart - there is a Day and Night difference between Summit. I do not know how these speakers can produce this kind of big sound with the small foot print straight out of the box. These speakers requies 1-2 months for burn in. I also instanly compared with my Summit. Proacs are more musical with the entire bandwidth extended no boom, much faster. Magic sound with my Tube gear.In fact, I pulled out all the acoustic treatment stuff and is sounding amazing w/o them. Summit is with me for less than 2 years and have found a good home. It is sold for a very attractive price. Last day of Summit is tomorrow. Anyways, guys thanx for sharing knowledge but will surely be in touch and share my future experinced.

hola...how can a dynamic speaker be faster than a Summits diaphragm that weights less than the air that it moves?...put your ears near the Proac tweeter and midrange and listen their distortion, do the same with your Summits, you will find that there are no distortion at all...if you have too much bass energy from the Summits, perhaps you might have a problem and them, they might be not working properly...just my thoughts, happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[abhijit]

With due respect, theoretically ML's myler diaphram may be lighter than hair, but all sudden done, D28 is sounding much more musical and the bass really goes very low without any boom. I am really tired with the critical placement issue with ML speakers and the humidity and dust factors. Top of it D28 is Tube friendly amp- one can really drive them with 15 Watts SET amps.Summit has a terrible bass boom atleast in my listening room. All these factors prompt me to migrate to a conventional speaker

 

[roberto]

With due respect, theoretically ML's myler diaphram may be lighter than hair, but all sudden done, D28 is sounding much more musical and the bass really goes very low without any boom. I am really tired with the critical placement issue with ML speakers and the humidity and dust factors. Top of it D28 is Tube friendly amp- one can really drive them with 15 Watts SET amps.Summit has a terrible bass boom atleast in my listening room. All these factors prompt me to migrate to a conventional speaker

Just to understand you better, with all respect too, do you play any musical instrument? This is because I might understand you better with the issue at the bass...the Summits have two controls, one at 25Hz and the other at 50Hz, +- 10dBs each knob for bass adjustment...so you can "tuned" all the stationary sound waves of your room. Use the knobs at their back to bring down all this booming bass. -10dBs is a lot! Bring both knobs at their minus, in other words, counter-clockwise, and listen again. These bass adjustments are a true audiophile dream!!! If you still have too much bass energy in your room, then you have bad stat panels for sure, or something is faulty in your Summits...please excuse my dare!...it is just that what I do listen through them, it is so nice and musical, that I feel very soory for you, thinking that you are not enjoying their fantastic sound!...My last dynamic speakers were Dunlavy SC-IV...and they did very well, of course, as you are telling us, Proacs are doing better (your liking) than the Summits...but again, with all respect, I think they are not working right. I wish you a very happy listening,
Roberto

 

[abhijit]

Just to understand you better, with all respect too, do you play any musical instrument? This is because I might understand you better with the issue at the bass...the Summits have two controls, one at 25Hz and the other at 50Hz, +- 10dBs each knob for bass adjustment...so you can "tuned" all the stationary sound waves of your room. Use the knobs at their back to bring down all this booming bass. -10dBs is a lot! Bring both knobs at their minus, in other words, counter-clockwise, and listen again. These bass adjustments are a true audiophile dream!!! If you still have too much bass energy in your room, then you have bad stat panels for sure, or something is faulty in your Summits...please excuse my dare!...it is just that what I do listen through them, it is so nice and musical, that I feel very soory for you, thinking that you are not enjoying their fantastic sound!...My last dynamic speakers were Dunlavy SC-IV...and they did very well, of course, as you are telling us, Proacs are doing better (your liking) than the Summits...but again, with all respect, I think they are not working right. I wish you a very happy listening,
Roberto

I am an electronics engineer by profession. Honestly, I do have so much time experimenting. With due respect, I do not agree with you that true audiophile will experiment with the tone controls settings and if you notice that there are hardly any controls in "top end pre-amps" except Volume control and Input selector. I used to play piano for many years.I am totally a jazz lover now. Some point in time, I have designed many amplifiers and speaker systems. Was a chief designer for process based controls also. I have tried various settings for my summit - designed various acoustic panels but could not able to to get rid of Bass booms . I am sure you can imagine my frustration and top of it I did not get enough support from my dealer here. Advised me to change my apartment. Couple of my very good friends who are music lover as well as audiophile could understand my frustration and suggested to try Proac with conviction and it really worked wonders. I know a few audiophile who migrated to Proac from ML.I am so happy with these speakers that I cannot explain to you in words - the system now sings !! . Do you know that Denis Had uses Proac speakers for his tube amplifier design? Denis Had is the chief designer for Cary Audio. I had one of the best SS amp - Plinius SA-102 (sold it recenly). Replaced with AES Six packs Monoblock. Did lots of tube rolling - Finally settled with Winged "C" EL34 - no comparison with KT 88. Anyways thanx for your advise. BTW, one of my stat panels went bad after a month of buying although the replacement was done for both the speakers.

 

[gmartan]

ProAcs are great speakers, but somewhat warm tonally compared to your Summits. If you have a Wilson dealer, Id suggest the Sophia 2's. Somewhat similar to the Summits tonally and VERY dynamic! Plus also very efficient like your Summits so they will work very well with your tube amps...

Good luck with the search.

I thought the Sophias were accurate but rather analytical as opposed to musical in comparison...but maybe it was the Levinson.

 

[roberto]

I am an electronics engineer by profession. Honestly, I do have so much time experimenting. With due respect, I do not agree with you that true audiophile will experiment with the tone controls settings and if you notice that there are hardly any controls in "top end pre-amps" except Volume control and Input selector. I used to play piano for many years.I am totally a jazz lover now. Some point in time, I have designed many amplifiers and speaker systems. Was a chief designer for process based controls also. I have tried various settings for my summit - designed various acoustic panels but could not able to to get rid of Bass booms . I am sure you can imagine my frustration and top of it I did not get enough support from my dealer here. Advised me to change my apartment. Couple of my very good friends who are music lover as well as audiophile could understand my frustration and suggested to try Proac with conviction and it really worked wonders. I know a few audiophile who migrated to Proac from ML.I am so happy with these speakers that I cannot explain to you in words - the system now sings !! . Do you know that Denis Had uses Proac speakers for his tube amplifier design? Denis Had is the chief designer for Cary Audio. I had one of the best SS amp - Plinius SA-102 (sold it recenly). Replaced with AES Six packs Monoblock. Did lots of tube rolling - Finally settled with Winged "C" EL34 - no comparison with KT 88. Anyways thanx for your advise. BTW, one of my stat panels went bad after a month of buying although the replacement was done for both the speakers.

Hola and I am also an Electronig Eng. I understand perfectly your frustration now. So you are telling us that with both knobs at -10dBs 50Hz and 25Hz, you still have a boom?...did you try find the specific boom frequency? Usually you do know that there are some peaks, and all instruments resonates a certain bass frequency, usually F# and A# resonates more in string instruments. Again, with all respect, tell us more regarding your bass issue. Sometimes my English is not too good, but perhaps as Eng. we could talk easy. We could design some good trap for an specific frequency, and not too expensive. We know the meaning of dBs, and Sabin, and no one speaks regarding the Sabin. But of what I am reading from you, it looks that Proac is doing great in your room...I do not understand why the Summits do not sing there...and you as a musician, listening how easy is to understand the soul of the player...here in Costa Rica, I have a customer with a pair of Summits, he has 23 different piano players with one song in common...the trick here is to know who is the player playing in less than 30 seconds...he can pick up the player almost in less than 10 sec. He is not a piano player, but a true music lover. I wish I could be near you to find the problem of your Summits and also to have a direct talk with ML. Sorry to see you leaving us!...happy listening,
Roberto.

 

[abhijit]

Proac D28 Vs Summit

I am now with my ProAc Response D28 for about 3 weeks. Mind you - no acoustic treatment in the room which I used to use with my Summit. I cannot express my pleasure with my new speakers. They just sings. I don't think I have any regrets. It has spectacular imaging, the mid range, the highs and the lo bass. No way, Summit can be compared wuth ProAc. Also added the PS Audio's PPP and what a diff it made. Now I realize what a tube amp can do. The interconnects and power cables made so much of difference. Cleo - thanx for recommending Harmonis cables. I am yet to find a fast cables like this. BTW, I also sold my Summits at a very good price. I lost about 15% for the price I paid exactly 2 years back. Guys - u must audition Proac speakers with the Tube gear and the right cables.
Thanx everybody for your support.

 

[FOUNTAIN]

I am sure you can imagine my frustration and top of it I did not get enough support from my dealer here. Advised me to change my apartment.

:ROFL::ROFL: Not meaning to laugh at your situation, but I busted out laughing when I read that. Anyway, I'm glad that you are happy and all is well.

Glen

 

[DrJRapp]

This is what happens when you don't read far enough in the thread.....I should have posted it before you made your speaker change, not after, but I'll leave it here for those who can benifit.....

Another thing to examine before you run out and purchase another speaker is your method of vacuuming The Summits. Once or twice a month seems very frequent, and perhaps you arn't getting everything each time.

I vacuum once every two months as follows:

A. Turn off amp, unplug power and speaker cords from the speakers.

B. Using a 5/64" allen key remove the top two screws at the top of the rear backplate...this frees up the topplate which can be then removed exposing a white connector block just behind the stat panel.

C. Using a short piece of insulated wire stripped on both ends ..discharge the stat panel by touching the ends of the wire to the red and blue terminals.

D. Reinstall top plate and screws OBTW...while you have the top panels off, there are three screws (1/8 allen) on the bracket just ahead of the terminal block...the center one has a wire attached. Tighen all three screws as they tend to vibrate loose over time.

F. Thoroughly vacuum stat panels...... they will now get as clean as possible.

G. Rewire and restart.

This method was taught to me by a tech who was sent to replace parts in my Summits and supposidly is ML approved.

It sounds involved but takes less that 5 mins to do both speakers.

 

[tonepub]

The ProAc is a very musical speaker and it sounds like you have just hit upon a great combination with your room and gear..

So much of it is about the speaker/room interface! I've heard the Summits sound great and I've heard them sound terrible in the wrong room.

Enjoy!

 

[amey01]

Nothing wrong with ProAcs - enjoy them and stay part of our community. Just out of interest - did you listen to Audio Physic? That would be my choice if I couldn't have stats for any reason......