The Alternative fix for the Proac Studio 200/250s
This may be of interest to anybody with an old pair of Proac Studio 200s or the later 250s - actually scrub that - an old pair of Proacs that utilize the Scanspeak 18W8542 foam surround paper cone.
I own a pair of Studio 200s in my office set-up and the foam edges have died again (they were replaced 6yrs ago)
For years I have always thought - what if they used another driver. I had spoken to Proac and Scanspeak about using an alternative driver with similar specs and both of them said the speaker would not be the same and don't do it...
S finally after 8 years ... I did. '
'
(for fun of course) as I couldn't stand another nerve racking foam change.
I chose the 18W8545 as a replacement and purchased 4 over a period of time via ebay.
here is a series of photo's showing the transformation.
http://homepage.mac.com/stu.dio/proacstudio200/index.html
They sound just as lovely a little more bass has come into the picture, but it's early days in the testing/listening placement setup etc. Very very happy with the mod.
This may be of interest to anybody with an old pair of Proac Studio 200s or the later 250s - actually scrub that - an old pair of Proacs that utilize the Scanspeak 18W8542 foam surround paper cone.
I own a pair of Studio 200s in my office set-up and the foam edges have died again (they were replaced 6yrs ago)
For years I have always thought - what if they used another driver. I had spoken to Proac and Scanspeak about using an alternative driver with similar specs and both of them said the speaker would not be the same and don't do it...
S finally after 8 years ... I did. '
'(for fun of course) as I couldn't stand another nerve racking foam change.
I chose the 18W8545 as a replacement and purchased 4 over a period of time via ebay.
here is a series of photo's showing the transformation.
http://homepage.mac.com/stu.dio/proacstudio200/index.html
They sound just as lovely a little more bass has come into the picture, but it's early days in the testing/listening placement setup etc. Very very happy with the mod.
FYI - Since changing the drivers to 8545s and now the tweeters to scan speak 9500s I have gone the whole hog and changed the crossovers to the madisound premium Soloist xo - the speaker is absolutely stunning as a result - albeit no longer a proac 200. Internal wiring is vdh SCS 12 - xo for bass/mid encapsulated in resin to inner base of enclosure - tweeter section to inner top.