I thought that for this month’s blog, it would be nice to feature a brand of loudspeakers that have been very dear to us here at Audio T in Brighton - ProAc loudspeakers.

From a dealer’s point of view, we are proud to have been chosen to represent the ProAc brand on the south coast. Both as audio enthusiasts and as a professional retailer, we have been won over by their sweet signature sound, synergy, style and substance. Let’s get into it!

A potted history of Proac loudspeakers...

The brainchild of its founder, Stewart Tyler, ProAc loudspeakers started under the name Celef Audio in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire. The brand’s name being an amalgamation of the Celestion and KEF drive units incorporated into its early models.

stewart tyler working on his early celef speaker designs

Stewart spent a number of years in the 1970’s refining his bass port designs, using lots of small tubes, giving improved extension and power handling, without some of the bass port problems that plagued other speaker manufacturers.

After demoing some of his designs to a local hi-fi shop, he sold three pairs in a single day! Celef Audio was born and with the help of his parents in manufacturing and quality control, the family business went from strength to strength.

Celef speakers went on to be renowned for high quality, accuracy and spacious sound stage, being popular with hi-fi reviewers and members of the public alike.

ProAc was officially launched in 1979, after Stewart incorporated higher quality drive units manufactured by ATC in his speaker designs.

Stewart continued to experiment and refine his designs, from which spawned the well known Tablette, Response and K-Series of today.

In spite of the sad loss of its founder, Stewart Tyler in 2021, ProAc continues to flourish as a tightly-knit family-run operation, keeping his legacy alive and producing loudspeakers which will be revered by hi-fi enthusiasts, sound engineers, music producers and music lovers worldwide, for many years to come.

A selection of the ProAc speaker range...

Proac loudspeakers currently on dem in our brighton audio t store

Like an arrangement of cutlery, we’ll start from the inside out. Bonus points goes to anyone who spots the deliberate mistake in the positioning of one of speaker pairs.

Proac Tablette 10 Signature

For the purposes of this article, I will be referring to the Proac Tablette 10 Signature, as this is the model available for demonstration at our Brighton Audio T store.

The Proac Tablette 10 Signatures (pictured above) are the tenth edition of this world-renowned loudspeaker.

The Proac Tablette 10’s and Tablette 10 Signatures are an evolution away from earlier iterations of the speaker, in that they are now a sealed box, infinite baffle design, without a bass port. One of the advantages of designs of this type, is that they can be placed nearer to wall boundaries with fewer of the problems of bass boom associated with ported designs. This makes them very room friendly and a true bookshelf design.

Click Here for ProAc Tablette 10 Signatures specifications

Easy to drive in theory, these little marvels really respond to the quality of electronics and source placed upstream in the sound chain. In our opinion, the ProAc Tablette 10 Signatures have great synergy with Naim or Rega amplifiers.

These speakers image like crazy and will fill a small to medium sized room comfortably with a sweet, fast, textured and transparent sound that belies their diminutive size.

The ProAc Tablette 10 Signature’s top end and mid range are particular highlights, although bass response depth isn’t their strongest point, it is fast, clean and tuneful. What’s important with hi-fi design is not to throw the baby out with the bath water and ask a speaker to defy the laws of physics, messing up other areas of the frequency spectrum that they already do really well.

On that basis, I’d recommend pairing with a good quality subwoofer, like the REL T5x, REL T7x or REL T9x, which will be able to keep up with the fleet-footed bass performance of the Proac Tablette 10 Signatures.

You can read my previous article on setting up an REL T7x and Proac Tablette 10 Signatures Here.

ProAc Response DB1

Next up, the ProAc Response DB1s, shown here in a lovely walnut finish, accompanied here by a Naim Uniti Star.

The ProAc Response DB1s are an upgraded version of the slightly cheaper ProAc Response DB3s.

These speakers exude quality and are a significant step up from the lower spec speakers in the range, with a ported design and much enhanced bass response. They certainly look and feel the part when you lift them up, giving a feeling of substance and class before you even plug them in.

The ProAc Response DB1s remind me of an earlier generation of speakers from the brand, namely the ProAc Response 1SC, which were highly regarded in their day and still command respect today.

Paired with suitable electronics, the Proac Response DB1s really show their mettle, with a significantly larger, fuller sound than their smaller brothers. The sense of space and air is quite remarkable and adding in that extra bass depth, if you came in to the shop with a blindfold on, I’m sure you’d be shocked by how small their dimensions are upon removal.

Click Here for ProAc Response DB1 specifications

ProAc Response D20R

The ProAc Response D20R floor standing loudspeakers are 2nd up in the range of floorstanders from ProAc. These are the ribbon tweeter version in a beautiful oak finish.

Click Here for Proac Response D20R specifications

At this level of performance, ProAc offer a choice between a soft dome tweeter in their D20 version or a ribbon tweeter in their D20R version. An information page in their brochure is available to explain which flavour you may prefer, but essentially, dispersion characteristics are one of the main differences, affecting how wide an area the “sweet spot” for listening is.

ProAc’s brochure can explain if you’d like to find out more and read their take on the differences.

As is often the case with larger floor standing speakers, the sensitivity is a little higher with the ProAc Response D20Rs, giving the impression of an easier amplifier load. However, this may lull you into a false sense of security and the prodigious bass response of these speakers, down to 28Hz, certainly requires an amplifier with grip in the bass to keep things from those sideways firing bass ports getting too unruly. We’d recommend a minimum of a Naim Supernait 3 or Rega Aethos to go with the Proacs. Each of these has the drive, grip and finesse to do the ProAc Response D20Rs justice and this is certainly borne out upon listening.

Playing music through a Naim ND5XS2 streamer and Naim Supernait 3 80W/per channel integrated amplifier, allows bass control and the see-through clarity of the ribbon tweeter on the ProAc Response D20Rs to really shine through.

Proac Response D30RS

proac d30rs with rega saturn mk3 and Rega aethos

Moving up to our most illustrious ProAc speaker in Brighton, we present the Proac Response D30RS in a lovely walnut finish.

You can get a feel for the dimensions and specs from the two pictures below, where it can be compared to the ProAc Response D20R model.

Click Here for Proac Response D30RS specifications

The ProAc Response D30RS is a considerably larger speaker, as can be clearly seen. The speaker has an 89dB/1W sensitivity and a bass response that goes down as low as 20Hz. Subwoofers aren’t exactly a requirement with the Proac Response D30RS.

proac response d30rs with rega saturn mk3 cd player and rega aethos integrated amplifier

Listening to these with a Rega Saturn Mk3 CD player and a 125W/per channel Rega Aethos certainly helps convey the sonic qualities, dynamics, finesse and extension of these speakers. The sheer gravitas and see-through transparency is ear-opening, to say the least. Even so, I would suggest something even higher up the “food chain” to get the most out of these big-boys! A pre/power combination along the lines of a Naim NAC282 preamp , Naim HiCapDR and Naim NAP250DR power amp would get these fellas in the zone!

Proac Response DT8

Last in our collection of ProAc loudspeakers, but certainly not least, comes the ProAc Response DT8, pictured here in a lovely real wood cherry finish.

Although this may appear to be a 3-way design, ProAc designed this speaker as a 2.5-way design. Utilising 2 x 6.5 inch drivers, the pulp mica cone unit delivers exceptional bass performance in a ported cabinet with the bass loaded via side vents and the polypropylene unit gives a smooth, detailed and uncoloured midrange. Both drivers work in tandem resulting in a well extended low frequency response and ProAc's signature natural sounding midrange quality and pinpoint imagery. Treble is provided by a SEAS tweeter, manufactured to ProAc’s specification.

Click Here for Proac Response DT8 specifications

At the price point, the ProAc Response DT8 provide remarkable bass extension down to 28Hz and a fine midrange clarity. Treble is the usual spacious, 3D sound that ProAc speakers are so well known for.

Driven by an amplifier with good control and dynamics, such as the Naim Nait XS3, or better still, a Naim Supernait 3 or Rega Aethos, this speaker produces a wholesome and musical sound that delights. The ProAc Response DT8s will fill a medium to large room easily and with a sensitivity of 90dB/1W, can go pretty loud when called to.

Quality wooden finishes galore...

Amongst all the hi-fi and music talk, we shouldn’t forget that loudspeakers are considered “furniture” by many. Fortunately, ProAc offer one of the widest range of sumptuous wooden finishes on the loudspeaker market, coming in two different price brackets, standard and premium.

When the rubber meets the road...

Here at Audio T in Brighton, you have probably gathered that we rather like the current range of ProAc loudspeakers. Sweet sounding, holographically spacious and extended, the ProAc range of speakers really has something for everyone.

A while ago there was a well known Apple ad that said, “Once you go Mac, you’ll never go back!”. From an audio perspective, I’d like to bring that up to date and say, “Once you go ProAc, you’ll never go back!”

If you are interested in auditioning any of the products mentioned in this blog or from our extensive range of quality gear, please get in touch.

Thanks for reading.

Ade, John and Paul - Audio T Brighton

If you have any questions about any of the equipment featured in this article, or any other Hi-Fi or home cinema enquiries, be sure to Contact Us.

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Click Here If you’d like to read a more detailed history of the development of ProAc.

ProAc can be found at the following Audio-T stores

Rega can be found at the following Audio T stores

Naim can be found at the following Audio-T stores

REL can be found at the following Audio T stores

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