Any Proac 2.5 owners out there?

[tiroth]

I think high SPL also exacerbates issues in the crossover region caused by the asymmetric crossover used in the 2.5.

[tktran]

I must say I'm very surprised.

Every large speaker I've ever owned or had in our house or audition sounded best when kept clear of ALL walls. The further the better! 6 feet was always better than 4 which is better than 2 and certainly better than 6-12".

I first came across this realization after we moved house and the piano went from from a small room (against a wall) into a larger room, but was put into a corner. It sounded far worse!

Currently, the back of my clone cabinets are 85cm (almost 3') from the front wall. About 3 metres apart and 1.8 metres from side walls. Actually I had them further out, but them moved back towards the wall- it looked very odd having speakers free standing in the middle of the room.

I sit about 3 metres away, with speaker toed in to point just lateral to my shoulders.

Imaging is exceptional. Bass not as deep, taut or loud as large 3 way speakers, but I'll forgive the 6.5" driver.

IMO 12" from the front wall boosts bass too much. Great for reliving the nightclubbing experience but not for acoustic music.

The best reading I've ever had on loudspeaker positioning was from Richard Hardesty's Audio Perfectionist Journal (volume 2)

[AJ Bertelson]

How would you guys compare them to the D'Appolito MTM's(comparable price MTM)?

[tktran]

This MTM is physically larger- taller and deeper than the 2.5 clone. In all respects it's over-engineered construction makes a potentially excellent speaker- very solid and heavy cabinetry (33mm MDF, 3 different layers of internal damping) with thick multistranded air core inductors for low DCR)

No problems playing loud and has more kick to the bass than the 2.5 (vented, dual Audax Aerogel HM170Z18). Sounded very good but due to size definitely needs a medium to large room. I also questioned the use of 1st order crossovers but they sounded very smooth and have a flat response.

If my requirements was for a larger and louder MTM I wouldn't hesitate to buy these or build something similar (dual Audax HM170Z18 = price of single SS 18W/8535). Certainly the careful attention to enclosure/construction leaves little room for improvement.

But I prefer modest sized two ways. If size isn't an issue I'd rather 3 way...

Back to the issue of MTMs vs the 2.5 clone- I still haven't figured out why the 2.5 is more "musical" and more enjoyable. Not just to my ears- during the 1 week comparison everyone else agreed.

I still don't know how "musicality" translates into technical terms or measurement parameters...

Is it due to the Scan-Speak drivers? Or is there something more to it than that? Higher 2nd order harmonic distortion? The infamous SS 800-900Hz bump? Or the recessed midrange/subtle U-shaped FR curve?