The British firm Proac has been especially popular for over two decades within the international communities of music lovers, having won the hearts of many audiophiles all over the world and having turned most of them into great fans of its sound.

Nowadays, Proac maestro Stewart Tyler, traditionally dedicated to further evolving the firm's designs, is gradually renewing the whole range of the very successful high end Response series. Emphasising small details, without haste and without going over the top as many manufacturers do (with dubious results), the firm has presented its new D18 two-way speaker.

The dimensions of the Response D18 are the same as its predecessor, the D15. It is a floor-standing speaker measuring 93 cm in height without its base and feet, 26.5 cm in width and 19 cm in length while each of the speakers weighs 25 kg.

Easy to position due to its bass reflex design with the port firing towards the floor and then towards the side through vents in its base, it can easily be placed even 30 cm from a room’s back wall. The MDF cabinet follows the firm’s classic aesthetics, without shiny varnishes, with a simple matte finish and a laminated, waxed wooden texture. However, workmanship and wood quality can only be commented on positively. The cabinet is exceptionally insulated internally with quality custom materials. From a large range, we chose rosewood for our speaker.

Finally, they are friendly with many amplifiers (and also push-pull tube amplifiers) with a nominal impedance of 8 Ohm, while despite the 88 db of sensitivity (1 watt at 1 m) they work well even with 20 watt amplifiers such as the Luxman L-550ii Class A or the Sugden A21.

Article was published on: 2009-06-22

In Depth >>

The tweeters are 3/4 inch soft dome units with honeycomb wound voice coil and ferro fluid-cooled coil assembly, positioned off-center. When positioning the speakers, they should face slightly towards each other in order to create the correct image, according to the designer. The mid/low range driver is a 6 1/2 inch unit featuring a glass fibre weave cone, a huge Excel magnet and a specially designed acrylic phase plug which looks and is shaped like a glass bullet, which is quite interesting.

At the rear of the speakers we find four top-quality binding posts at a sensible distance between them that did not make connecting difficult as they can receive spades of any width.

As far as the crossover is concerned, the manufacturer is famous for the whole setup and a very good selection of quality materials. More will be said concerning Proac’s crossovers in our following tests as they are exceptionally interesting. The speakers’ internal circuitry is multi-strand copper cable, also of excellent quality.

Article was published on: 2009-06-22

Listening >>

Being familiar with the Response D15, the speaker which passed the baton to today's D18, we expected an evolved vibrant character, naturally bright, where the imagery would be presented charged with energy and movement throughout their range, except for the very low frequencies, and with an outstanding scenic description. At the same time, we again expected to meet a critical, reactionary stance against cold, thin sounding or rather bright companions before we found its suitable mate - valves in a push-pull configuration, or a really good solid-state amp - and were charmed as usual by their friendly, concise and excellent, in flow and scenic accuracy, sound.

The D18 moves along the familiar D15 lines, travelling further along the same road and aiming at further advancing its course, rather than suddenly changing direction. Thankfully, the British have given special attention to the continuity of the sound of each Response individually, leaving those who choose the new models with a larger but familiar smile of having made the correct choice. To make ourselves clearer, the D18 sounds like a more mature and talented successor to the D15, while the D28 is similarly recognised as a later graduate of the D25 school, and so on. In a nutshell, we know approximately what we're going to find, but we do not know the extent of the improvements on the existing model.

The Response D18 were left out of their boxes for 24 hours in order to acclimatise to the ambient temperature before the listening sessions began. This has been recommended for years by the Proac representative in Greece as a first step following the purchase. The pair of speakers we were about to test had never been used. The following week, despite our desire for long listening sessions, they were left to play recent rock productions at acceptable volumes for over 12 hours a day. These particular speakers need hundreds of hours of operation, as during the first hours the D18 sounds slightly harsh and thin as the bass is lacking initially, as is usual in the first stages, in confidence and clarity. The desired golden balance comes after a reasonable amount of time and can deservedly be called golden.

After the initial 100 hours of operation, the first voice to reach our ears was the sweet, clear and charming voice of Diana Krall, singing Let's Face the Music, from the CD When I Look in Your Eyes. The capabilities of this two-way floor-standing speaker quickly made themselves apparent in such a way that even those ignorant of such matters could be aware of and appreciate. The clarity and complete lack of harshness, also due of course to the rest of the system which accompanied the speakers, brought to the surface minute details and movements throughout the frequency range, which with other various and often more expensive speakers and setups remain obscure. Many speakers attempt to impress with their openness mainly in the high frequencies, some indeed use two tweeters, both ribbon and dome, so as to make it apparent after the first few minutes. Proac does not use such "show-off" techniques which often lead to frequency inconsistency and which force their owner into dozens of equipment changes and tests trying to find the right way on the wrong map. The D18 strips away many layers of fog from the mid-/low range and above, up to where normal human hearing usually reaches.

Continuing with the classics White album by the Beatles and Morrison hotel by the Doors, the voices on I'm So Tired and Indian Summer caused a small shock. The sweetness and clarity of the speaker transmitted to our ears the musical aesthetics of each sound engineer, the details of movement and phrases of each musician clearly and in harmony with the whole. The naturalness of the performers and the earthy manner in which they literally appear in the room is an enchanting gift. However, the most significant asset considering the financial aspect came prematurely: the micro-dynamic fluctuations in the performer’s feeling came through the microphone without a hint of mid-range over-exposure. Consequently, the high speed of the transients is confirmed. We were in for a shock when listening to classic recordings that we thought we knew. Audiophiles everywhere on a limited budget will greatly appreciate the sound. With full range one-way speakers without crossovers in the same room, I dare to say that where damping speed, analysis and image stability are concerned, the particular Proac rose above its opponents’ strong points, something which is exceptionally rare and hard to believe.

In a better mood we continued with classical, pre-classical and jazz music. It was time for the Nicola Paganini’s 24 caprices for violin performed by James Ehnes in an outstanding production and recording by Telarc, Beethoven's symphonies from the CD box set conducted by Simon Rattle (2003-EMI), as well as the amazing Jupiter - The Music of Jean-Baptiste Forqueray (1699-1782) on Sigma Records and the Charivari Agriable & Jazz Hat (a true musical storm and excellently recorded production) by Reference Recordings. As far as the violin solos and the preclassical works were concerned, the Response D18 preferred the valve expressions of the Jadis & Conrad-Johnson pre-amp, excellently reproducing the sound and texture and accurately reflecting the sound of each period instrument, carefully and devoutly following the movements of each performer and producing an organic, realistic sound without a trace of harshness. Period string instruments are hard to record and even harder to be reproduced in order for their imposing presence and their delicate, active character to pass unchanged into the listening area. Here, the expression through the Proac speakers makes you wonder whether you really know the capabilities of your amplifiers and the quality of the recordings that you probably dismissed. The information and frequency coherence exceeded our expectations. These CDs are challenging to speakers which cost over €15,000 and are accompanied by systems of a similar cost. The British values have been confirmed. The reconstruction of the stage with a real feel for the air surrounding the instruments and a description of its dimensions is present. It is a stage which far exceeds the natural dimensions of the speakers, possessing depth, height and range, challenging us to explore their true limits by matching them with the best we have to offer, definitely superior to the price category which they are in.

In the symphonies, the dynamic peaks did not excite to the degree of other rather more expensive systems, or more sensitive speakers, but nevertheless were displayed correctly without the unnatural movement of the whole of the stage backwards and forwards and definitely did not leave us indifferent, even at 20 watts. However, they would prefer a few more in order to embrace the listeners during the crescendos.

As far as positioning is concerned, the speakers are easy to set up. A slight convergence is preferable during placement, as well as setting fixed listening positions for two people at the most, in order for the D18 to bring the three-dimensional images of the musicians into the absolute centre. Under these conditions we were able to fully appreciate its inborn talent: the recreation of a wide stage horizon without apparent curves around the edges.

In Jazz and reference recordings, it is obvious that the neutrality, but also whatever personality the speaker may have, preferred to let the source and the amplifier act undisturbed and go wherever they wish. Reproduction of closely-knit low frequencies is not a problem as long as there is sufficient power and guidance capability, however, we do not suggest combining the speaker with single ended systems even in excess of 25 watts. As a rule, faithful jazz fans will primarily prefer the best in solid-state amplifiers and as a second choice 60 W and above push-pull valve amplifiers in order to enjoy the bassists as much as the other members of each band.

At the end, but also during the listening sessions nothing is gained by trying to bi-wire the speaker. The desired accuracy and coherence was achieved by bridging the tweeters with the Nirvana S-X or the JPS Labs aluminata jumper cables.

Article was published on: 2009-06-22

Conclusion >>

Give it time to fully develop its low range. Match it with a quality source and amplifier - if possible more expensive than the speakers. Use quality copper cables without limitations in reconstructing low frequencies (as for example the Acoustic Zen Satori speaker cables which accompanied part of the test) and you will have a healthy and very appealing sound. Its breath, the flow and openness of a, by definition, excellently expressed and positioned middle range outline a further hidden snobbish side to it, which sets the bar high when it comes to selecting its partners. Choose them carefully and they will do you proud. You'll find it hard to part with them. We kept the speakers of the test as a permanent associate to be used in future sessions.

Dimokritos Dravopoulos

dd@abouthifi.com

Article was published on: 2009-06-22