Musical coherence, revealing yet musical, soundstage

No low bass, of course...probably not the best choice for large rooms

These speakers will stay with me forever. I have upgraded everything else in my system, and the Proacs let me hear each change. They did take a long while to break in, about 3 months of regular use, but from the start they hinted at greatness. I prefer the sound of the 1SCs to every other standmount I have listened to (admittedly, I haven't heard all of them). Coupled to Osiris stands and driven by a Jeff Rowland Concentra, these little guys put me in a very happy place. The soundstage is wide and deep, the highs defined and crystal clear, but not harsh, and the midrange is just beautiful. Bass is good, but metalheads and rap afficionados should look elswhere or invest in a sub.

Similar Products Used:

JM Reynaud Twins MKII, Sonus Faber Signums, B&W 805

I agree with the previous reviews posted in general. I used to have a pair of 1SCs, and here's my observations about them.
1. My pair of ProAc never sounds as open as the demo pair in my local dealer. Before I sold them, they had been used for at least 300 hours. I did the test by carrying them to the local dealer and did the A/B switch listening with the demo pair. So either they need very very long period of time to burn in or my pair had QA problems.

2. The 1SCs tend to be forward sounding to my ears. They are too revealing and not very forgiving. My pair and dealer's pair both has the same character for this respect.

3. I packed/unpacked them several times, even I did very carefully using the original packing material. The edge of the speakers started to show some wear off. The cabinet build quality is not as good as Thiels or even Signets.

These comments might not be very positive, however, since they have many other excellent virtues as described in previous reviews and my problems with them are minor or unit specific. I still give them 4.5 stars.

The ProAcs has been with me for almost 8 months now and I can assure anyone interested in standmounts not to look any further. The openness and detail coming out of them are unmatched; to add to that, there is none of that boxiness etc that you might expect from a floorstander. Overall, a truly first class performer. The only hitch will be for a heavy rocker looking for bone-crunching bass. Not that the 1SC is poor on that but it is limited by its size. However, easily rectified by matching amps or a quality subwoofer.
Definitely a firm choice among speakers and a must for standmount hunters.

I purchased the Response 1 S over 2 years ago and loved the detail, the fast bass, the neutrality, and the detailed ability to hear every change in my system. This allowed several improvements to properly match the the system to my room, mainly with cabling. Two months ago, I upgraded to the 1SC version. If you own a pair of 1S's, upgrade now. Everything Wes Phillips recently reported in Stereophile is true. The "touched by magic" statement is a testimate to the incrediable openess of these speakers. Air, ambience, bloom, detail, however you want to describe a sweet detailed open naturalness, these speakers have it, and the charastic is readily aparant (not subtle). The original 1S's were best in class. I would call them very good, detailed, neutral Hi Fi. They were at least a head, and sometimes head and shoulders above the other speakers I auditioned. The 1SC's propell your system to the very penticle of the High End (with one superior, which I will get to in a minute). The open naturalnes is like hearing single ended triodes for the fist time, or the detailed clarity of the Audio Research Reference 1 Pre Amp. The 1S's had industry leading low distortion, but the 1SC's are noticeably lower in distortion. There is also an inprovement in the lower trebel that renders horns with a little more weight and substence. Shrill instruments, like voilens, some horns, etc are rendered womderfully realistic. And suprise, electric guitar is now an enjoyable, tunefull, blending of tones that can be drunk in and enjoyed, not the distorted chaos I find on lesser systems. I find myself listening much louder without fatigue, which is saying something since I like to listen at low volume. These speakers are wonderful off axis, listening from 1 or even 2 rooms away is sweet and natural. The Bass is 15 Hz lower than the earlier version, which is a nice bonus. As is the greater sensitivity and the power handling
The only speaker that out performs the Response 1SC in the air and space department, in my experience, is the Pro Ac Tablet 50 Signature. Yes, believe that this smaller version is even more open, but noticeably more lacking in the Bass. With the Tablet sig, I would want a subwolfer. With the 1SC I am quite happy without one.

The ProAc Response - 1SC's are truly a world class speaker! The soundstage is wide and deep, extending well beyond the speakers. They truly disappear, all you hear is a razor sharp 3-D image floating in front of you. The sounds of the instruments and the voices of the performers come from exactly the place they would be if you were at a live performance! These speakers are very, very detailed. The Response- 1SC's are so detailed they will expose the weak link in some systems. It has never been so easy to hear the diffrences between diffrent cd players, amps, preamps, and speaker wire! Other than missing some low bass these speakers are in my opnion unbeatable! I have tried just about all of the better monitors and a lot of full size floor standing models in the less than $3000.00 price range and these ProAc's really outperform about 95% of them. If you really are used to more bass or cant live without it the ProAc Response 2 might be a good choice, though I feel they do not have a large and as accurate a soundstage. The Response - 1SC's only weak point is they require very good stands either from Target or Alantis. For $2100 for the speakers and about $400 for a pair of Alantis stands you have a KILLER speaker, small but mighty, just think of David and Golith! You might get a bit more low end from a full size floor standing model but you will not get that other 98% of superior soundstaging, imaging, detail, accuracy, and just plain "Am I at the concert" feeling! If you don't believe me go and listen to a pair, and rember to bring a blindfold! These speakers get a very high 5!

The ProAc Response - 1SC's are truly a world class speaker! The soundstage is wide and deep, extending well beyond the speakers. They truly disappear, all you hear is a razor sharp 3-D image floating in front of you. The sounds of the instruments and the voices of the performers come from exactly the place they would be if you were at a live performance! These speakers are very, very detailed. The Response- 1SC's are so detailed they will expose the weak link in some systems. It has never been so easy to hear the diffrences between diffrent cd players, amps, preamps, and speaker wire! Other than missing some low bass these speakers are in my opnion unbeatable! I have tried just about all of the better monitors and a lot of full size floor standing models in the less than $3000.00 price range and these ProAc's really outperform about 95% of them. If you really are used to more bass or cant live without it the ProAc Response 2 might be a good choice, though I feel they do not have a large and as accurate a soundstage. The Response - 1SC's only weak point is they require very good stands either from Target or Alantis. For $2100 for the speakers and about $400 for a pair of Alantis stands you have a KILLER speaker, small but mighty, just think of David and Golith! You might get a bit more low end from a full size floor standing model but you will not get that other 98% of superior soundstaging, imaging, detail, accuracy, and just plain "Am I at the concert" feeling! If you don't believe me go and listen to a pair, and rember to bring a blindfold! These speakers get a very high 5!

The Proac One Sc's are very revealing but also ver Musical and exciting if you use good tube amps with them. Cabling is important also, anthing neutral will work well. Audioquest is good, Discovery and Tara Labs seem to work magic with the Proacs. I tend to agree that they can get forward in the upper mids, but that more a of an attribute to the equip that feeding them. Build quality of all Proac's I have owned has been the best I seen. The woodwork is incredible and attention to detail is excellent. Jay mention Thiel and Signet as being better? Thiel's seem okay but Signet? Signet and Proac are for two different shoppers of speakers, I'm pretty sure Signet is vinyl covered. Anyway, the Ones Sc's are among the best you can get for what they are, small monitors touched by magic.

I heard these briefly while looking for a new amp. I was highly impressed, they're at least as good if not better than my Totem Ones

I have to agree with Yee Fung's assessment on the mids and highs on the One SC's but disagree about the bass. The lower mids down to the bass is full for such a small woofer. Using sand-filled Atlantis Reference stands, Audioquest Midnight Plus speaker cable (excellent bass) 40 watt tube amp, and a 20 watt 300B amp the One SC's is magical in the mids and super clean extended highs. Cymbals are gorgeous, soundstage is the best I've heard. The bass? I have no complaints, neither is it too bloated or super tight. Sounds just right to me.

This speaker has truly excellent mids and highs. However Proac made a mistake in allowing the woofer attempt to produce too much of the bass. Low bass is slow, lacking in detail, almost ponderous. When compared to the outstanding mids and highs, the poor low range really stands out. Overall though this is still an very good speaker.