ProAc Response 2.5 Vs. Spendor SP1

I used to own Spendor 9/1 and I liked the Proac 2.5 better. They are pretty inefficient, so they work well with a fairly powerful amplifier which has some grip.

I thought the sound stage was better and the bass response much better.

I should say that I am using a 60w per side AronovTube power amp an Audio Research SP6b tube preamp. And a REL sub.

Those are two different birds. The Spendor more relaxed, and the Proac faster and more holographic. If you hear them, you'll know pretty quickly.

Thanks,guys I will listen to them. From what I read 60w per side of tube power should be enough for them, Yes?

The Aronov will get the job done. I ran mine with an Aronov integrated for a while.

When Dennis Had was still at Cary, he used ProAc speakers to voice his amps.  On his recommendation and that of my dealer (Arnie, the founder of the original Audiogon), I got a Cary CAD301SE amp, a glorious 11 watts per side, that drove them to perfection.  I still have them in my second system, with Ayre 60W.  They are a very fine speaker, the main driver unit is superlative, and they go deeper than you'd imagine.

Take a look at the review in Stereophile if you have not already.

https://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/196proac/index.html

Thanks JPerry ,I did.

For $4500 a pair in 96', I would certainly hope the ProAcs are better.

Wow,I heard them and they are really different than my Spendors! The guy was driving them with a Conrad Johnson pre and 2 El 34 Monoblocks putting out 40w a side. Plenty of volume for sure and plenty of bass,but much brighter than my Spendors. They sounded great,but do you guys think that my Aronov and ARC pre will have a warmer sound than his rig?

How were they set up? How much toe in?

Hmmm.  I'm pretty sensitive to bright speakers, and I never thought of them as bright.  You can certainly experiment with toe-in.

No Toe in small room.

Can anyone recommend a good US dealer for ProAc?  

@jalmusic 

Interesting. I have never thought the ProAc speakers were bright either, and I have owned many ProAc speakers as well as some Spendor and Harbeth speakers. I thought the toe in might have aimed the tweeters right at you which is not IME a good alignment.

Interested to see what you decide.

I would check with the distributor

https://soundorg.com/proac/

And see if there is a dealer near you. 

I think they are carried by Audio Connection in Verona, NJ (great dealer)

@jperry  Thanks.  I did actually look at the distributor's site as suggested before posting and wasn't able to navigate to any portion of the site that listed dealers.  Perhaps it's my user error.  Certainly not easy to find.

I appreciate the Audio Connection reference.

Overly bright could be the room or poor synergy for sure as proac's are not overly bright id say more the other way. Also if the CJ had tubes on the way out they could sound bright and lean. they should sound

@three_easy_payments,

I did not see dealers listed on the website either, but maybe you could call or e-mail the distributor. I dealt with them before and they were very helpful.

@glennewdick  Yes,bright and lean compaired to my Spendors. I think my electronics are much better and my room is awesome,possibly my best asset. I am going to give it a try.

@jalmusic,

Please let us know after you try them at home. You may not need your subs or at least a very low crossover point with the ProAc 2.5. Great speaker. I would not have changed mine out except for a very good deal on a ProAc high up their line.

Best Regards,

Jim Perry

Thanks Jim,will do.

Audio Connection, knows his ProAcs.

@jperry 
BTW, I called the US ProAc distributor, The Sound Organisation...and they were extremely helpful and pleasant.  They pointed out that there is a Store Locator at the bottom left of their main page https://soundorg.com/

Being that I'm in the Midwest he strongly recommended contacting the folks at Pro Musica in Chicago as a great ProAc dealer.  Never worked with them in the past but I will check them out next time I'm in Chicago.

I spoke with John Rutan at Audio Connections. I had met him through other audio friends and he is a great guy and very knowledgeable.

@jperry and all who were kind enough to respond to my post:
Thanks for all your help regarding my Proac purchase.
So they have been here for a few days and they are marvelous! Not too bright at all and not thin as they sounded in the former owner system. As I had hoped, my electronics shown a good light on them. And yes the imaging is awesome!
As far as the differences between them and the Spendors, I would make a wine analogy if that is OK! Someone suggested apples and oranges in a response here,but I would say the Spendors are like a great Port,rich and sweet, and the Proacs are like an excellent Shiraz,light and fresh.
Yesterday the writer Ken Micallef came over to do an interview with me for his series on Musicians as Audiophiles and it was great to have such knowledgeable ears listen with me to the differences between the two speakers.
First I set up the Spendors with the REL sub as I had been using them,and we listened to Duke Ellington’s"Peer Gynt Suite" (Columbia 1958),Then a recent Maria Joao and then EOS Orchestra’s Copland’s "Music for the Theater" . The Spendors sounded marvelous and Ken really dug it. We played the same sequence on the Proac’s and they provided better high extension ,bigger sound stage, more bass (and I did not use the sub). Ken was quite familiar with the 2.5’s as he had owned a pair himself in the 90’s it turned out. He prefered the Proac’s,but was pretty surprised how well the Spendors did in comparison. There is a really great synergy with the Aronov power /ARC SP 6b with both speakers and I will probably keep both and go back and forth. Enough can not be said about the Schiit Audio Yggy Dac as well. In the epic struggle of Digiital vs. Analog that has gone on in my listening room ,believe it or not Digital is now winning! The rich warmth of the Spendors and the soundstage magic and extension of the Proac’s will keep my ears happy for along time!
PS anyone holding a set of Aronov mono blocks? the Proacs are doing well the 60watt(tube power a side ,but probably would be sick with monoblocks......