Sam's System

[Axel]

Updated picture of my setup.

I moved some things around and added an AudioQuest Niagara 1000 Low-Z Power | Noise-Dissipation System to replace a cheap powerbar.

AudioQuest Niagara 1000:
http://www.audioquest.com/niagara-1000

Hi Sam,

Lovely system! I notice you have your speakers toed in slightly. I too have ProAc and they recommend having the speakers pointing at the listener.  How far away are you when listening? I tried aiming the speakers at the listening position, but preferred the soundstage with the speakers toed in like yours. Have you ever tried swapping the speakers over so that the ribbons are on the outside? If so, what did you hear? I've never tried so wouldn't know, but the manual could be wrong twice and I might do it one day.....

Thanks Axel.

Right now, I have the ribbon tweeters on the inside and I did try with the tweeters on the outside but in my room, that produced a slightly "brighter" sound which I did not like.  So I went back to having the tweeters on the inside.

I tried various amounts of toe-in but the slight toe-in you see in the pic, provided the best results for me (in my room).  I sit roughly 8ft-9ft (2.4m-2.7m) away from the speakers and the speakers are roughly 7ft (2.1m) apart.  My room is 12ft x 14ft (3.6m x 4.2m) in size.

BTW, I've been auditioning several different speakers over the past few months but every time I got back to my ProAc Response D30R, I realize just how great these speakers are.  I've compared them to speakers like: Sonus Faber Olympica III and Olympica II, Focal Sopra 2, B&W 804d3, Magico S1, Sonus Faber Venere S, Ryan R620, Harbeth Super HL5+, Bryston Middle T, Spendor D7 and Wilson Audio Sabrina.  The only model that made me wish I had the extra money to upgrade my ProAc speakers were the Sabrina since in my room, the Sabrina speakers provided the biggest (significant) upgrade to my ProAc speakers where all the other speakers seemed to provide more of a lateral (sideways) move and not necessarily an upgrade (didn't justify the extra cash outlay).  Also, the Focal Sopra 2 and Olympica III proved just too big for my room.

My room is almost the same size and I sit roughly where you do.  The room has heavy padded leather and cloth furniture, carpet, heavy curtains (drapes) and a cloth wall hanging above the listening position, so the room is quite well damped.
I sometimes feel that I need 1.5dB treble lift and use the tone control, so maybe my speakers would be better with the tweeters outside, but I will definitely give this a try now, come to think of it I might give the D30Rs a listen!
Thanks for the information regarding the speakers you have auditioned, some if which were also on my list. You have certainly listened to a few. Which ones did you audition at home? I understand that the Sabrina is quite small, but also has a rear firing port, which I've tried to avoid. The only rear ported speaker I've used were my Acoustic Energy AE1 Mk3 SE which I sold to fund the ProAcs. I was using them with over 700 Watts of Musical Fedelity power and they loved ️it! They had a ring radiator tweeter good for 40kHz which is what I think I miss.

I've read previously that you weren't impressed with the Magice S1, did you try the S3? Although these might be too strong in the bass, as they probably would be in my room.