Here's the latest on my goings around with my ProAc Response 2 speakers.
I delivered the speakers to a local dealer and he promised to usher them along in the diagnostic and repair process.
A week later I had heard nothing.
I called his store - no answer and no answering machine or voice mail (!).
I looked up the number of a related business that he is involved in and they told me that his audio store had *gone out of business*. I probed a bit and found out where my speakers were. Drove there the next day and retrieved them.
Sheesh!!!
On the way home, I stopped at Soundworks - the only other ProAc dealer in the area. It was Saturday and the shop was bustling with listeners in every sound room. A room freed up and I asked to listen to a pair of ProAc Tablette 2000's and a pair of Response 1 SCs that were handy.
And...it turns out Soundworks is now a Naim dealer (!!!). So I got to hear the ProAcs via a CD5/112/FC2/150 setup. This is sortof the current version of the 72/hicap/140 setup that I used to have with the addition of a ½-cap onto the CD5.
Well...
Now I am not so sure that my speakers are buggered at al 
I heard the the same nasal vocals I hear at home. The Tablette 2000s sounded dreadful. Rolled off on top and boomy in a ported-for-an-AV-system kindof way.
The Response 1s were better - this immediatly reminded me of why I skipped past the ProAc Studio series and the standard Tablette the first time 'round. Just too much of a veiled sound for me.
Overall, the sound and musical performance was not acceptable with either pair of speakers - I just really didn't want to stay and listen. Granted, this was not a single-speaker dem or anything.
So my next step is to make an appointment to bring my speakers to Soundworks and compare to the Response 1 speakers. The Response 1's are the closest thing they have to my speakers (same tweeter, smaller cabinet).
If my speakers are not buggered, I will likely try to sell them off as they are not my cup of tea. They may sound wonderful on the end of tube electronics or such, but I don't want to go that route either.
Also turns out there isn't a Neat dealer within a gazzillion miles. So no Mystiques, Elites, or Petites for me. Probably end up with a pair of Katans.
- GregB
Insert Witty Signature Line Here
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Greg Beatty
...it was not the Sig's. These retail for $1,100 USD.
I remember demoing the Tab Sigs against the 1SC a few years ago. I would have chosen the Tab Sigs - same extended hi freqs, same lovely midrange, more efficient, and several hundred $US cheaper. Wouldn't play quite as loud, but so what 
The 1SC really demanded a beefy amp to get going.
- GregB
Insert Witty Signature Line Here
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Greg Beatty
...probably.
Thinking Linn at the moment or stay with what I have if the Linn stuff does not improve on it significantly.
A Nait 2 would be nice, but no remote. My new place is pretty big so it would be a hike to change the volume etc and my Other Half may not be keen on this either.
When I do the Soundworks dem, I'm not sure if I will use Naim electronics. Soundworks does not carry Linn so that is not an option. The goal, really, is to figure out if my speakers are knackered so the electronics matter less (I think).
Still making "just bought a house" improvements, which is eating a bit at the budget for now. The new hi-fi may have to wait a bit.
But I did squeeze out a few dollars to buy THIS NEW AMP:
Fender AmpCan
My wife and I will use it with a wireless mic for performances.
- GregB
Insert Witty Signature Line Here
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Greg Beatty
quote:
...the same as Tab 50 Sigs but with a little more scale.
This is a good description of what the Response 2's are. Play bigger, play louder, and have gobs more low end.
The Neats sound neat (!) but with no dealer in my or any adjoining state, hearing them is going to be difficult. I spoke with the distributor and he said he was working with Neat to arrange for sturdy reusable packaging that they would use to ship demo speakers to and from customers. Not sure I want to bother, but it is a neat (!) idea. I have a local long-time Linn dealer and like wall-hugger speakers (not sure the Neats qualify).
- GregB
Insert Witty Signature Line Here
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Justin
I've owned both the 1sc and the tab 2000 sigs, and the 2000 sigs were better in my opinion, despite being less money. It's possible that the 1sc had the slightly better midrange, but the 2000 sigs moved quite a bit better. I also preferred the 2000 sigs to the 1.5's (at half the price of the 1.5's). Again, the 1.5 sounded quite nice (a 1sc with a lot more bass), but the 1.5 suffered from bass boom, which made it sound slow. The tab 2000 sigs seemed to me to be the snappiest in the line.
I'm waiting with baited breath to hear what Ross thinks of the 2000 sigs.
Judd
Posted on: 07 February 2002 by Mike Sae
Greg,
I don't recall reading about your Linn 'revelation'. What level of Linn were you thinking of?
I heard the Classik/Katan system and while I didn't think it was that great (straight up prejudice, I admit), I can see how someone would.
One things for certain, you won't have to dicker with the things like your old 72/H/140.
What other ProAc replacements are you thinking of? It's a bloody shame that Neat is unavailable; I think a Neat monitor would fit your bill given your description of the Tablette 2000.
Have you heard the new Epos line? I prefered the M12 to the Katan, and it's half the cost, to boot!
That Ampcan looks neat. Someone should make a home version for MP3 players and discmen. They'd make a killing.
Anyways, have fun playing house for now. Let us know when you're back in the hifi market...
[This message was edited by Mike Sae on FRIDAY 08 February 2002 at 03:56.]
Posted on: 08 February 2002 by Greg Beatty
This is kinda long to respond to all of the above.
Terry wrote:
quote:
I agree completely with you re the Tab 50 Sigs - I've had them for some years now and haven't had any of the problems described by Greg.
We are in agreement. The speakers I heard were the Tablette 2000's, which are not Sig's by a long shot. Different drivers, cabinet, etc. The Tab Sigs of old have much more in common with the current Response 1 SC.
Justin wrote:
quote:
It's possible that the 1sc had the slightly better midrange, but the 2000 sigs moved quite a bit better.
Checking ProAc's homepage, I see that there is currently not a 2000 Sig in the product line. The *only* remaining Tablette is the 2000 about which ProAc writes:
quote:
The advent of home theatre has stimulated the need for greater bass response and power handling and these requirements are decisively satisfied by the new Tablette 2000. This exciting new model, using magnetically shielded drive units, is perfect for home theatre use, but also retains the high quality characteristics demanded by the discerning audiophile.
And they sounded bass-hyped to me. Sorry if I offend anyone who has these - just reporting what I heard.
Mike wrote:
quote:
I don't recall reading about your Linn 'revelation'. What level of Linn were you thinking of?I heard the Classik/Katan system and while I didn't think it was that great (straight up prejudice, I admit), I can see how someone would.
What other ProAc replacements are you thinking of?
Well, not really a Linn revelation. I've not heard the new Linn stuff yet and don't want to bother my dealer until I am ready to part with the dosh (see New House stuff in earlier post).
I owned Linn before Naim - I had a Majik and a Mimik. This was before I knew there was a local Naim dealer. The Linn stuff had bandwidth and timed very well - I could follow multiple lines at once. I recall one evening when each hand and each foot was tapping out a different rhythm in the music and it all fit together (!). I jumped ship having been swept away by the Naim mania of a long-time friend and fellow LP12 owner. I didn't have too many great music days with the Naim stuff.
So I'm not sure if the new Linn stuff is for me either, but I was not impressed by the Naim/Response 1SC combo that I heard last weekend. It was good mind you, but I'm looking for something different.
Question: How do Katans do voices? How do they compare to the LS3/5a and Quads in this regard?
I'm asking because - oddly enough - the new speakers will be part of an AV system. We have the cable and DVD player hooked up so TV and movie viewing/listening takes up a good bit of the hi-fi's time. That said, I am *not* looking for a traditional AV Boom-Tizz speaker. I think they have got it all wrong. Almost all of the listening to Hollywood media involves voices - people are talking all the time. I would like a speaker that does this very well. If I really want *Boom*, I'll add a sub later. So I'm looking for voice-true and musical speakers.
Is the Katan the answer?
ProAcs are out for me. The inability of the local dealer and distributor to properly diagnose and repair my $3,000+ ProAcs is a joke and one that I am not willing to repeat.
- GregB
Insert Witty Signature Line Here
