Anyone had experience with the ProAc Studio 1 MkII?

[RochaCullen]

If you want natural mid-band, I would recommend Harbeth. Something they do better than most.

Hi Dave,

Harbeth are a little bit out of my league at the moment price-wise. I'll have to wait a little while before investing that kind of money.

Nathan

[hifi_dave]

It was just a thought.

[RochaCullen]

It was just a thought.

And it was a good thought. I'd love a set of Harbeth SHL5 speakers.

[walpurgis]

Yes, and a miss-spent youth trying a dice-life. (with limits!). It was many years ago that I started using a forum name in it has just kinda stuck.

Ah, another one who tried the dice-life! I also tried it and also within limits, with interesting results. That was also during a miss-spent youth, which I'm now trying to relive, having retired early.

[ListeningEar]

ProAc supposedly had a driver made to their own spec based on the ScanSpeak - whether this is true or whether the difference in spec was just the paper sticker on it and "ProAc" printed dust cap, I don't know!

Would be much cheaper for someone to get the foams replaced rather than a whole new driver..

Yes that's a myth. I buy Scan-Speak trade and official word from Scan-speak on this web myth goes along the lines of...
...ProAc never asked us to redesign the 18W/8542-00 drivers, for one thing the cost of doing this would have been far too prohibitive at the price point of the speakers ProAc were selling.

The only difference is merely the stenciled ProAc name on the dust cover.

I think ProAc asks approx. £190 each for the 18W/8542-00 driver but you can source them for less from Scan-Speak authorized re-sellers. Falcon Acoustics in the UK are very helpful for not only ProAc but many speaker lines if you are trying to refurbish them (I am not affiliated with ProAc, Scan-Speak or Falcon btw).

Hope that helps

[Reffc]

Hi Nathan

if its good mid band you want and you don't want to spend a fortune then don't worry, you don't have to!

A used set of Spendors or better still, Snell J's would tick the boxes for you. Snells can be picked up very cheaply used, and they're very good indeed. The Snell J/K models are similar in voicing to the Audionote J/k's but far cheaper and more affordable. Certainly cheaper than Harbeths.

All speakers are coloured so don't believe anyone who says they're not; it's just finding a set which do it for you. The Snell J's are not a very large box, but their bass is pretty good, their mid range is very natural and they don't have the steely treble that so many new speakers do.

I've owned a fair few sets of proacs, and the "Response" series aside, they were pretty horrible things. Tuned for an aggressive bass hump at between 40 to 60Hz (tunelass and thumpy) with a treble that would make your ears bleed. The response series are where it's at really so if you can get a set of response 1.5's or 2.5's used for reasonable money, they'd be ok.

There's also speakers like Castle which have a great mid range. The Castle Severn isn't much money used and is a fabulous speaker, as is the Howard S3 if you have the room.

Others to consider are a good used pair of Celestion Dittons, and of course vintage Tannoys do the mid range thing really well, and you can buy into them for reasonable money of you choose carefully (cheviots, chatsworths, mansfields, Devons).

You don't need to spend a fortune and you'll certainly pick up a superb pair of speakers that do mid range really well for well under £1000 used.

[RochaCullen]

Hi Nathan

if its good mid band you want and you don't want to spend a fortune then don't worry, you don't have to!

A used set of Spendors or better still, Snell J's would tick the boxes for you. Snells can be picked up very cheaply used, and they're very good indeed. The Snell J/K models are similar in voicing to the Audionote J/k's but far cheaper and more affordable. Certainly cheaper than Harbeths.

All speakers are coloured so don't believe anyone who says they're not; it's just finding a set which do it for you. The Snell J's are not a very large box, but their bass is pretty good, their mid range is very natural and they don't have the steely treble that so many new speakers do.

I've owned a fair few sets of proacs, and the "Response" series aside, they were pretty horrible things. Tuned for an aggressive bass hump at between 40 to 60Hz (tunelass and thumpy) with a treble that would make your ears bleed. The response series are where it's at really so if you can get a set of response 1.5's or 2.5's used for reasonable money, they'd be ok.

There's also speakers like Castle which have a great mid range. The Castle Severn isn't much money used and is a fabulous speaker, as is the Howard S3 if you have the room.

Others to consider are a good used pair of Celestion Dittons, and of course vintage Tannoys do the mid range thing really well, and you can buy into them for reasonable money of you choose carefully (cheviots, chatsworths, mansfields, Devons).

You don't need to spend a fortune and you'll certainly pick up a superb pair of speakers that do mid range really well for well under £1000 used.

Hey Paul,

Thanks for the advice. Since my asking this question I have picked up a set of Celestion Ditton 44s from a forum member. And they are doing the business currently as I type. Great sound.

Nathan

[Canetoad]

Just listening to mine too Nathan.

[Hydie]

Hi All,

Just wondering if anyone had any opinions of the ProAc Studio 1 MkII. I've been thinking of changing. I wanted to get my hands on a nice set of three way speakers, but getting a nice second hand set in Ireland is proving difficult. I've always heard good things about ProAcs, and I was wondering if anyone had any definite opinions on these 2-way speakers, as there is not too much info about them on the web.

Regards,

Nathan

They were good enough to be used in a 5.1 set-up at "The Farm"