ProAc's the have silky smooth mids, and nice high treble. The just sound as the music was played. You need a big room.

I'd like start by saying I only buy hifi occastionally. I'll take an age auditioning stuff, buy what I want and then keep it for years - around 10+ years on average. However I broke this practice when I moved house a few years ago. I was using very sweet and fast System Audio SA1850s, but were way too bass light for the bigger room they ended up in.

So after perhaps two years of use, I started out looking for replacements. To cut a long story short, the Proac 2.5 was the closest to the sound I wanted, but still a little bass shy. After wasting months waiting for a trade in pair of 3.5s to audition, I ended up blindly importing a pair of 3.8s instead. Having never heard them, I was going against everything I normally do in picking gear! However, I was confident of the ProAc sound.

Other than being bigger than expected, initial impressions were a little underwhelming. For such expensive speakers I expected them to jump down my throat - and this may account for some people thinking that they are not dynamic. It's only after a few days of listening did it really sink in that the quality of these speakers is that they emphasise nothing. (That said, they have two rear reflex ports, so are critical in terms of positioning to get the bass right - and the bass could easily overwhelm a small room). Like a good interconnect, they snoothen the sound so that prominances diminish.

Careful listening revealed that there was very little to criticise. Some may misinterpret a lack or top end zing for attack or speed, but its all there, but not shouting for attention. The midrange may not be as melodius as some other speakers, but I certainly noticed a significant jump in the intelligibility of speech and improved instrument seperation.

These speakers also go down below 30Hz (@-3db), but you need a biggish room for these wavelenghts going properly. I've also previously mentioned careful room placements to get the best bass, but the speakers themselves are fast and very powerful. I expected the bass to be slower than the 13cm drivers of the System Audio's, but I had no issues given the autrhoity the 3.8s can command.

Integration across the three driver's crossovers is superb. Soundstaging is good once toe in relative to the lsitening position is done carefully. The tweeters are offset from the centre line, to the inward side - and this seems to help. In some other speakers I tried, the vertical soundstage seemed unnatural, with some sounds coming from very high up - however the 3.8 once again keep this in check, with better front to rear staging instead.

So, in conclusion, the ProAc Response 3.8s are a finely crafted design. There are no whizz bang pyrotechnics here, just a polished, professsional and balanced sound. Some say that the best hifi does nothing at all, and I'd argue that the 3.8s go a long way to doing that.

It's Broken after just a few years and they will charge you at very high price, unreasonable price. Don't use ProAc product. I'm sorry I bought it and will never consider ProAc ever again.

This product is not reliable, don't use ProAc

Musicality. Build quality & finish(mine's yew)

a bit pricy but worth every penny once you listen.

I do not regard myself as an audiophile but I am a true music lover who listen to all kinds of music having more than 3000 LPs and CDs.
I had spent more than 10 years to find THE SPEAKER to listen my music properly. I kept purchased & sold until 2002 including Nautilus, Wilson, Virgo, JBL 4xxx, Dynaudio, KEF, JM labs, Harbeth, Rogers....
These do not have such a great speed & dynamics of Wilson's nor huge soundstage of Virgo,... nothiing stand out. But these were the speakers produced all the music emotionally ... with great musicality,too.

The review below... I believe some people just left the review without posession. Try to build 3.8 and compare your poor craftmanship. It will be wasting time & your energy. All the proac users know how beautiful these speakers are. truly the work of art. There's no reason these speakers receiving less than 4 stars. It could be 4 for some but there's something on Proacs for the fellow like me .

I won't say these are the best. It's subjective thing.

If you can find these on the used market like ebay or audiogon , do yourself a favor and finish searching the best. ( And if you can, find premium Yew or Ebony)

Happy listening.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Wilson, Dynaudio, Harbeh, Audio Physic, JBL, Martin Logan, Proac 2.5, ref 8..... etc.

SWEET sound, cache among the audiophile elite''

8x markup price.

The mids are Scan-Speak 8545''s - you can buy your own at Meniscus, Madisound, Solen, or others. I built a pair of these "ProAc" speakers for under $1000 (Plus tons of time in the shop); they sound SWEET.

Similar Products Used:

rOLL Your OWN!!!!!

Open and spacious.

Not the most dynamic speaker out there.

This is as little follow up for my last posting in this speaker. Still it is the best speaker that I have ever tried at home, but I have a few more comments. exept all the positive things I have said about this speaker I have a couple of negatives. In fact, only two. It is not the most dynamic and fast speaker out there, and I would like a little more attack in treble.

Similar Products Used:

See my last posting.

This is the best speaker that I have ever own ( or tried at home ). Open and spacious with serious bass response. Not as dynamic as the B&W 802.3 and with a more naked midrange, but all the element's are playing together, not one by one.
Could also need a little more attack at the top, but else it is superb. It is maybe a little diffecult to find the right amp? Electrocompaniet AW 250DMB don't work so well, BAT VK 200 is okay, but I have a homemade 50W transistor amp that is absolutely superb. Still, I could used a little more juice. Yew finish is very nice.

Similar Products Used:

Proac 2.5 , Proac 3.5 , Proac 3 , Proac 3signature , Thiel 3.6 , Swan Cygnus , Von Schweicert VR 4 , Merlin VSM , Merlin TSM , Zingali Overtoure 3 , B & W 802.3

overall range, clear mids

price is up there

Since getting the ProAcs time has passed allowing for the speakers to break in and also listen to more amp combos with this speaker. Based on the suggestions of many, I paired these speakers with tubes (specifically the ARC MK 100) and there is definately a dramatic synergy between this speaker and it's mated equipment. I thought that was the case with my previously owned (and loved) NHT's, but the ProAcs took on different lives with different amps. I like the ARC combo, but there are some types of music that sounded a bit--I don't the right word for it--just off. This may that bleached sound I hear some describe, but I never heard what the hell bleach sounds like, so I couldn't tell you. Anyway, I decided to go with a hybrid, moreso based on the belief and the research I did on Llano. The new Trinity series hybrid is a solid amp (I would be very interested to hear this with NHT 3.3'2--I might have gone with the 3.3's over the ProAcs)---anyway, the ProAcs do like this combo, more so then the ARC (IMO)...There is not that "tube mids and ss bass" that I hear about, but there is surely a distinct advantage over all the other amps I have listed above. The speakers sound rich and full when I play cd's like Cassandra Wilson and the Cowboy Junkies, and they are clear as glass when I listen to Oscar Peterson, and have plenty of clean thump when I listen to Lauryn Hill and Seal. I listen to too many things to list--but overall these speakers are nicer then other ProAcs I've heard, and they are surely worth a listen with the complimentary equipment. The one thing I would add as a weekness for these speakers, in addition to their price, is their lack of left to right soundstage---it's there but not overwhelming.

Similar Products Used:

BAT VK 500, ARC MK 100, Pass Aleph 3,

Clean, transparent, great mid-good bass

The nicer finishes available are a big jump up in price

Well, the joys of this hobby exist not only when you have a product in your home, but (to me at least) also lie in the search--the countless hours
of looking, demoing, comparing and finally deciding. I seem to have the ability to shop for audio equipment even when I'm not "in the market".
So about 2 weeks ago I decided that it was time to begin SERIOUSLY considering finding new soldiers to stand at the gate of my audio
kingdom. Fortunately, since I spend tons of time in and out of audio shops (again, even when I'm not in the market) I had some ideas of what I
wanted to consider and what I did not. One of the speakers that were in the "did not" category were the ProAc Response 3.8. Not because I
heard them before and did not like them, but because I had the 3.5 on my radar and could get them for $1300 less-- After many, many
speakers started on the list, I had it narrowed down to 4........... the same 4 I mentioned in my review of the Dynaudio Contour 3.0's---- the 4
being the Dyna's, the Wilson Watt Puppies 3/2, the ProAc Response 3.5 and the NHT 3.3). Yesterday, having been armed and to some extent,
dangerous, I went to listen to the ProAc 3.5's again to see if they were "in or out". They are nice, but they are out. The 3.8's are in. Clarity, and
an overall presence that are very---VERY pleasing. They even had the bottom end extension that I'm afraid to lose if I go away from NHT. But
the nicest part of these speakers is that they add that element of air (or openess, or analog-ness--whatever you want to call it) that really has a
sweeping sense about it without being colored, rounded out or soft. This time I went in with a barrage of different music from the Cowboy
Junkies (sounded absolutely fantastic) to good ole Erykah (to push the rumbling bottom end). But what had really impressed me were the sound
of some of the cd's that usually sound a bit empty in my system at home---Fleetwood Mac's "Greatest Hits", Incognito "Jazz Funk" and George
Benson "The Instrumentals". I hate to sound like I'm gushing about any product because there is nothing out there that is perfect (and these
speakers are not perfect).....but these speakers sounded fantastic with most all the software we threw at it. Now, a large piece of the equation
was the amp (BAT 500). I'm not here to review amps but I've got to tell you, I want this amp. I like it over the new Krells and Levinsons (which
have been the amps used for most all other speaker demo's). The BAT is a real piece of work that is, unfortunately, out of my price range.

So back to the ProAcs--I love them. They have full mids that hit you in the face without being brash or forward, and best of all they do not result
in you losing the hi's or the lows. There is a true balance in the seperation throughout the sound that makes me love these towers.

They are a bit more then I was looking to pay, but the dealer is willing to come down to $5,000. I'm tempted because they sound fantastic all the
way around and throughout. Today after work I am going to put them head to head against the NHT 3.3's, so I'm sure to narrow the field down
to 3--I'm going to be surprised if the ProAcs fall---but that's half the fun of this. All said and done, these speakers show that they can run with
anything else in and above this price range, and right now they are on the top of my list.

Similar Products Used:

ProAc Response 3.5, NHT 3.3

smooth mid, tight bass and sweet sound

a little slow and lack of dynamic compare to others

This is a very good speaker sound. it easy to listen, magical midrange powerful bass and sweet high compare to kef new model. kef were clearer with super smooth detail sound, better dynamic, open sound. a little bigger sound and sound stage. but less mid bass. I found that proac need a powerful amp to spead up and control the sound.

Similar Products Used:

Dunavy iv and kef model 4.2