Stand Loudspeaker Reviews

At the urging of various audiophiles, I recently purchased a pair of 24" Sanus NF24B Natural Foundations wooden speaker stands as an alternative to my 24" nonfilled Atacama metal stands, which I lugged home from England in the mid-1990s. I used both stands with the ProAcs. The Sanus stands created better tone and more generous low-end warmth yet lacked the extreme image specificity and occasionally forward treble brought by the Atacama stands.

Listening
After two weeks of break-in, during which I streamed music from Tidal at a low level on my Asus laptop, the D2R impressed me immediately with its lucid, clear top end, rich-sounding midrange, and, for a cabinet of its size, well-defined and extended bass—and also its transparency: I was surprised more than once by bells, glockenspiel, and flutes that sounded real and live. The speaker delivered a detailed, tangible soundstage that often was larger than you'd expect from such small speakers.

The D2R was open and natural sounding in the treble, reproducing the tone, texture, and sizes of pianos, percussion—and cymbals (particularly drummer Philly Joe Jones's cymbals, on various recordings). I never experienced the speaker's ribbon tweeter as forward, bright, or mechanical sounding, but it was highly illustrative and seemed to have a wide dynamic range. Nary an unnatural zing was heard, even in orchestral crescendos.

My Cary amplifier and the ProAcs were a good match, the tube amp's liquidity working well with the speaker to produce music without editorializing much, beyond the speaker's consistently rich midrange. Well-balanced and coherent, the D2R let me feel as close to and engaged with the music as any speaker I've had in-house.

Listening to the 1962 production of Richard Strauss's Salome performed by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra under Georg Solti (LP, London OSA 1218), the D2Rs impressively recreated the deep, wide soundstage of this large-scale event (recorded at Sofiensaal hall, Vienna), the precise location of each vocalist and the sections and instrumental sections and soloists easily discernible. I imagined myself first-row center as Birgit Nilsson and Eberhard WÑchter moved around the stage, the D2Rs revealing the singers' distances from each other as the orchestra's notes wove around them. As rendered by the D2Rs, this was one of the clearest-sounding orchestral LPs I've heard. (Liner notes by G. Parry and J. Brown, "London Recording Engineers, Vienna," state "our laboratories have been engaged in developing a unique system of mixing, incorporating finger-tip resonance control.") The D2Rs also reproduced the dynamics in the Salome recording; there was never any lack of drama. This is obviously a great recording. The ProAcs presented this recording, obviously great to begin with, at its best.

On the other hand, the D2R's transparency also revealed the ill-defined massed orchestral instruments in the recording of Bellini's Norma with Richard Bonynge conducting the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus (LP box set, London OSA1394). Where the Strauss set was exceedingly detailed and clear, the D2Rs revealed the muddled nature of the Bellini.

Keith Jarrett and Charlie Haden's Last Dance (LP, ECM 2399 0378 2250), though a moving performance by two jazz masters, is uneven. Through the D2Rs, Haden's acoustic bass sounded big, solid, and buttery smooth. Jarrett's piano, though, was slightly veiled and lacked upper-treble sparkle—which is exactly how this album sounds (to the extent that we can ever know that). The ProAcs revealed its character, flaws and all.

The D2R presented upright acoustic and electric bass, on this recording and others, with exacting faithfulness. Recordings containing well-recorded tom and bass drum, acoustic and electric bass, and synth bass were palpable and natural sounding with good tone and definition. These speakers exposed Haden's genius as faithfully as I've heard it: the weight of his upright bass, the warmth of his sound, the realistically physical sense of touch on his instrument. It made me want to listen to more of his music.

Belgian singer Mélanie De Biasio's noirish acoustic jazz has owned me the past few months. De Biasio sings with a world-weariness belied by a voice so silky and powerful that it commands attention. On her 2007 debut, A Stomach Is Burning (LP, Igloo IGL193LP), the soundstage is dance-music flat—and so it is here, with De Biasio's smoky voice large and dead center, overlapping the drum kit and piano—again, an accurate account of what's on the record. Indeed, the D2Rs were faithful to De Biasio's vocal on "Never Gonna Make It": thick and husky, like Billie Holiday by way of Nina Simone.

For jazz of a different style and era, I placed Top Trumpets (LP, Jazzland JLP 10), by Clark Terry and Kenny Dorham, on the Kuzma R's platter. Terry and Dorham had very different styles: Terry, the velvet-toned trumpeter whose "Mumbles" became one of the most recognizable characters in jazz, and Dorham, the soulful, gifted hard-bop trumpeter whose career was cut short at 48, with 19 albums his legacy. Each musician is given a side on this rare but inexpensive Jazzland LP. Supported by Johnny Griffin, Wynton Kelly, Wilbur Ware, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones, this compilation disc (taken from Terry's Serenade to a Bus Seat and Dorham's 2 Horns / 2 Rhythm, both on Riverside) shows the state of the trumpet circa 1960.

The D2Rs excelled at resolving the individual characters of instruments in this Jazzland session, and they had a knack for delivering deep acoustic bass notes—although they also exposed a lack of spatial clarity in the recording, with piano, bass, and drums seeming blob-like. Yet, the ProAcs communicated the recording's drive and low-end wallop—a trademark of '50s/'60s mono jazz LPs—and were transparent to its wide dynamic range.

I've never cared for goth music, post-punk, or art rock, but Dead Can Dance's The Serpent's Egg (LP, 4AD CAD 808), which I recently acquired, is something altogether different. The D2Rs replicated this awesomely scaled, cathedral-sized recording with all its drama, weight, and spaciousness, emerging from the speakers with power and portent. The D2Rs cast "The Host of Seraphim" in a dense, wide, blooming soundstage, the music's modern and medieval-sounding instruments well imaged and layered. The D2Rs made this disc sound big in my smallish room. The speakers delivered the sonics of the record, but also its emotion, in all its dark, pungent, disturbing glory.

The D2R's refined imaging capabilities, good dynamics, and ability to put across realistic tonal colors were evident with Sir Neville Marriner conducting the Northern Sinfonia Orchestra on The Lighter Elgar (LP, His Master's Voice ASD 2638). The speakers presented realistically textured string instruments within a deep soundstage—it seemed that ProAc's ribbon tweeter resolved those qualities without adding harshness or grit of its own—and avoided compressing the recording's realistic dynamic gradations.

To determine how the ProAcs would sound with something more visceral, I played John Scofield's 1994 double LP, Hand Jive (LP, Blue Note B1 7243 8 27327 1 6). An unguent-drenched jazz recording of guitar, tenor saxophone, bass, and drums, this is Sco at his greasiest. I was struck by the ProAc speakers' reproduction of this record's thick tones and textures, Joe Lovano's sweet, soft tenor tone contrasting with Scofield's biting, jugular guitar. The D2R gave a fully transparent view into this record, reproducing a wide and deep soundstage with large images. Bill Stewart's cymbals were relayed with accurate air and size, and Larry Grenadier's acoustic bass was well scaled, with excellent extension and roundness of tone. The D2Rs did a fine, faithful job with this dark, forceful acoustic jazz, sounding true to both its warmth of tone and its dynamic character.

The D2Rs also reproduced the saturated tones and big low end typical of many recordings of electronic music. On Plaid's 2016 release, The Digging Remedy (LP, Warp Records WARPLP277), the sound through the D2Rs was all creamy tonalities, synthesizer flesh, and relentless musical flow, the speakers sounding bigger than they are.

ProAc meets Schiit
Playing Everything but the Girl's Walking Wounded (LP, Buzzin' Fly Records EBTG010V), the ProAc/Cary combo reproduced the clipped percussive treble, rich midrange, and powerful and extended low-end synths of the record as well as Tracey Thorn's velvety vocal. Through the Schiit Ragnarok 2 integrated amplifier, the percussive sounds became more processed sounding (which probably was the intent), and midrange and bass synths became clearer—the latter also becoming more extended and fuller sounding. Where the Cary played EBTG's music in a generally more liquid fashion, the Schiit cleaned out the room and made it tidy.

Summary
As a reviewer, I try to evaluate components with as much clarity of mind (and word) as possible, giving undue emphasis to neither plusses nor minuses. My time with these speakers was the rare occasion when I found none of the latter. The ProAc D2R demonstrated excellent transparency. Its ribbon tweeter produced an open and extended top end, with nary a grain of grit. When called for by the recording, it delivered rich, characterful midrange sounds and deep, well-defined bass notes. The D2R dependably created a large soundstage, even in my smallish room, with great image specificity. From acoustic jazz and classical to electronica and opera, the ProAc D2R allowed good recordings of great music to fulfill their potential and do what every component should do: let me forget the hardware—and life for that matter—and fall deeply into the music. Very highly recommended.