£2,000 Speaker, what’s inside the Proac Response 1SC?

[@vincentrobinette1507]

If you look closely, you will find, that that electrolytic capacitor is in series with that other "blue thing". That "blue thing is actually an inductor! The inductor is in series, with that 10Ω 'sand box' resistor. Being that you have a resistor in series with the inductor and a cheap electrolytic capacitor, the inductance of the resistor is meaningless, because it just adds a tiny amount of inductance to an inductor already in the circuit. The ESR of the capacitor adds only a tiny bit more resistance to the resistance of the inductor, and the resistor. That whole circuit is a band pass filter, used to dampen LC resonance in the high pass filter for the tweeter, and the low pass filter for the woofer. All it is, is a damper, to keep the 'hot spots" out of the crossover points of both those filters. They really don't affect the signal path too much. The large white inductors and the PolyPropylene capacitors ARE in the signal path, and are indeed premium quality components. Since the values of the damping circuit are not ultra critical, you have a lot of tolerance there. Premium quality is not necessary for those components. the band width of the band pass filter is wide enough, that it just doesn't matter.

[@ioannisloungos9996]

And if no one said (I didn't had time to see all comments) the electrolytic as this inductor paired with resistor, they do a parallel noch.

[@ioannisloungos9996]

Notch that does not make auditable marks of material. Means works but you don't hear it on acoustic result coz it's not running through the speakers. So cheap-expensive works the same

[@InsideOfMyOwnMind]

Sounds analogous to the crossover pipe between the dual exhausts of a performance car.

[@kevinroosa1315]

Yep, just part of a notch filter. Electrolytic capacitors tend to get a bad rap because of poor manufacturing during certain periods ("bad cap" era of the late 90s - early 2000s comes to mind). Yes, they do have a shorter working life than a film capacitor, but these are nowhere near their rated operating temperature, so they generally last a very long time. They are also *very* dense in terms of energy storage when compared to a film. (A 30uF film would be about ten times the volume!) I'd expect a mix of mylar metallized capacitors and electrolytic capacitors at this price point. What puzzles me is the square bobbins used to wind the air core inductors.

[@Pulverrostmannen]

Yep you pretty much nailed that explanation. That ceramic resistor is actually a wire wound resistor inside that sand cement and they are known to generate rather low noise compared to other types of resistors, they tend to change resistance depending on temperature but in the case of use here it won’t generate so much heat this becomes any issue either. the inductance is also not that much of an issue with them for this purpose either since it works along with the other inductor. The bipolar electrolytic capacitor likely serves in the midrange section of the sound as this takes more capacitance to pass the signal and the upper scale of sound they use the film caps to drive the tweeter and so on. As for the stapled mat inside the box it is likely more than just fine tuning the resonance and likely more to generally lower the frequency of the box. The Mdf has a rather high resonance and the board has a low resonance. Together they stiffen up each other and result in a less resonating material over a wider range of frequency thus giving you more pleasure

[@ZeroFidelity]

Your presumption about the additional padding material is correct. The goal is to leverage the internal resonance on every side of the cabinet. Elimination is not the name of the game so much as it is control. Most manufacturers I know will use accelerometers to identify where the bulk of the energy storage is, and then treat it accordingly. Some will build shelves. Some throw different materials at the offending areas. The solutions vary, but the goals are usually the same.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Sean, thank you. That makes perfect sense. Do you know if it changes the Fs of the cabinet of just provides dampening?

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 The cabinet Fs is determined by its volume (and the driver characteristics). The resonance(s) referred to by Zero Fidelity is the panels' resonance. There is also the internal enclosure volume resonance(s). The two are connected and interacting but not the same. In plain words, there are waves travelling in the panels (think of each panel as a rectangular volume with waves bouncing inside it) and waves travelling in the air volume enclosed. The two travel at different speeds due to the difference of mediums (materials). Waves in the air will be transferred to the panel (at a proportion) and vice versa, hence there is interaction. The resonance frequencies of the panel(s) and the enclosed air volume are different though. Basic physics will offer a certain amount of intuition (e.g. some of the resonance fundamentals) but to know the exact behaviour involves modelling in a computer and sophisticated measurements.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Stelios, sometimes all I have left to go on is basic physics 😂😂😂

[@joyojoyo8]

I am not a technical guy; but let me tell you this. The 1SC were the first speakers I listened to and opened my eyes (or ears I should say) to British mini monitors heaven. I clearly remembered these babies were on display at my local audio shop back in 1995-1996 if not mistaken. They used some KRELL amplifier to drive them, and boy.... they just put some magical spells on me!! Ever since then, I 've been into "British" sound and no turning back (ended up buying a pair of Harbeths). Great video and keep on rockin'... thanks

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences Joyo. They are very special speakers . I bet those Harbeth’s are no slouch either 😊👍

[@neilstern7108]

My goodness I may learn something here, this man invites great discussion with learned people. I'm very impressed.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Neil 😊👍

[@neilstern7108]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 thank you, and your Audiophiles. I have many questions I'll be in touch. 👍

[@brucermarino]

I think the interior damping pads are probably descendants of the old bituminous felt damping pads found on many, particularly UK, speakers. The intent, and result, was to change the physical vibrations of the box panels at resonance into heat in the low viscosity of the tar like bitumin that impregnated the felt. The energy would be released at a much lower and less objectionable frequency. The felt was there to keep the vibration "absorbing" goo from becoming mobile and collecting at the bottom of the cabinet. If memory serves they were an essential part of the LS3/5A's. I think there were also issues with them drying out as well as concerns, perhaps unfounded, about toxicity. I'm sure the newer versions have addressed all of these. As always, a wonderful presentation!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you brucemarino. Good to know 😉👍

[@brucermarino]

Glad to contribute a bit to such fine work.

[@simonbeasley989]

If you're anything like me I bet you were really pleased that terminal needed tightening as an excuse for a look inside! Excellent video as ever, thanks!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Shhh.. I was 😂 Thank you for watching Simon 😊👍

[@redrobbosworkshop]

Thanks for the video. To answer some of your questions: The electrolytic cap is required due to the capacitance value. A 30uf poly cap would be relatively huge and very expensive. The second electrolytic cap you mention is actually an iron core inductor. Air core isn't always better - many more copper windings are required compared to iron core for a given inductance and this will usually increase electrical resistance. That's generally a bad thing especially for series inductors in the bass section. A quality iron core won't saturate in normal use if properly rated. Nothing wrong with ceramic resistors in the right application. Yes they have higher self inductance but this needn't be a negative, depends on the circuit context and is generally immaterial in a loudspeaker crossover at audio frequencies. Lastly, 3/4 inch mdf is quite hefty for such small panels and does not conform to the BBC 'thin-wall' spec. This called for damped birch ply of thinner grade and heavily mastic pad damped. The moral of the story, context is everything and avoid old audiophile wives tales ;)

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Robbo, thank you. That very neatly clarifies some of the queries I had 👍

[@ford1546]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Forom Norway. Remember we are talking about a speaker for £ 2000. I have built speakers and bought crossover parts. I've used black SOLEN capacitors a lot. Here we are talking about a speaker for £ 2000 and then you do NOT use the electromyte just to save a few pounds or a coil with very thin windings! If you go down from the SOLEN capasitor which is a polypropylene capacitor and down to polyester which is cheaper but much better than the electrolyte, then it would have been much better than using CHEAP electrolyte which has a lot of weaknesses! The coil with extremely thin windings should not sit in a £ 2000 speaker! If I built the same speaker it cost me approx. £ 600 including box only for material costs!

[@ford1546]

Remember we are talking about a speaker for £ 2000. I have built speakers and bought crossover parts. I've used black SOLEN capacitors a lot. Here we are talking about a speaker for £ 2000 and then you do NOT use the electromyte just to save a few pounds or a coil with very thin windings! If you go down from the SOLEN capasitor which is a polypropylene capacitor and down to polyester which is cheaper but much better than the electrolyte, then it would have been much better than using CHEAP electrolyte which has a lot of weaknesses! The coil with extremely thin windings should not sit in a £ 2000 speaker! If I built the same speaker it cost me approx. £ 600 including box only for material costs!

[@markstewart1807]

skrotkalle skrotkalle true but I think a talented speaker designer,can work magic with mediocre cheap components due to instinct,experience and intuition.

[@entertherealmofchaos]

Built my own Transmission Line speakers a couple of years ago with a posh driver and crossover kit. Cost about £900 all in. Haven't had the urge to replace them since and I have gone through lots of brand name speakers in the past. Room treatment is more important than any hi-fi components though. Nice channel by the way.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Andy. I appreciate you watching and sharing your experiences 😉

[@robertm8518]

ESR = Equivalent Series Resistance Great review, very informative! Another major benefit of film caps over other types is a lower DA - dielectric absorption, which is a distortion characteristic where the cap builds a charge after being discharged.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Robert 😊👍

[@TheAudionauts]

The 1 SC represented the pinnacle of my hi-fi journey. I reached it while overseas many years ago and ended up selling the entire system upon returning to the US. I am now slowly building back my system with all the knowledge I've gained over the 40 years in Hi-Fi. My envisioned final system may include the 1SC or DB1 if it's the same. For a 2 way mini-monitor design these are the best I've heard. The Harbeth's are good, but as this video indicates, the ProAcs seemed to be better designed inside. Thanks BA.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That is great. Good luck putting together the system 😊👍

[@mattbonaccio3522]

That other "capacitor" looks to actually be some sort of iron-core inductor. I don't know enough about crossover design to speak with authority, but it seems to be part of a notch filter or impedance correction for the woofer. Since these parts aren't in series with the audio signal, it is frequently a place where cheaper components can be used. Also, ESR stands for "equivalent series resistance," by the way. Great video, I love seeing what's inside great-sounding gear!

[@MrTheDarku]

May be an inductor as it has really thin wires going to it.

[@rf0022]

yep it's a custom or DIY inductor with an iron core.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@chatrs1025]

I changed the Alcap 30uF capacitors (the blue one) in cross over network to Solen. The difference is day and night. I suggest to you all, the 1sc owners.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@a0r0a7]

Great video. The stapled panels look like a dynamat/ bitumen type material. Good to dampen high frequency harmonics resonating through the cabinet. Overall a well made speaker with nice quality components, case, damping and drivers. Even the internal wire looked a nice gauge. Externally they look beautiful, love the wood finish.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Andy, thank you. No wonder they sound so good 😉

[@markvedel]

The resonance frequency of a structure depends on its stiffness and weight. The stiffer the cabinet is built, the higher is its resonance frequency. Making the walls heavier will lower the frequency. Like strings on a guitar. Bass strings are heavier. The damping determines how loud the resonance will sound. They probably have thinner walls to have more volume inside the cabinet for the bass driver. They have then added the panels to increase the weight of the walls, which will lower the resonance frequency and also add some and dampening.

[@Sams911]

by far the best bang for the buck, and most amazing sounding "book shelf" speakers I've ever heard were the McIntosh XR50's... and the build quality is down right amazing to boot.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and sharing your experiences SJ 😉

[@Conservator.]

The stapled panels on the inside look like they are made of bitumen like material. They would absorb sound whereas MDF could resonate which is quite different of course. Could this be the case? (Just my guesss, I’m everything but an expert;).

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😉

[@tk9161]

Thanks. I have the older non 'C' model. So no copper phase plug. Still love these after more than 20+ years!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Danny, I am not surprised as the are great speakers even by today’s standards. Thank you for watching and commenting on the video 😊

[@janborgstrom9926]

The midbass is a Seas driver, not Peerless! it's a slightly upgraded T14RCY/P-H. Seas has been used the newer EXCEL chassis from W14CY and also adde the copper phase plug and copper plated magnet parts and the Proac driver also have a smaler voice coil (inductance) compared to T14 to compensate for the larger magnet, but this is another story... all in all it's a fairly good loudspeaker for those who like a little kinder and softer loudspeaker that aren't over revealing. But they give you a sense of being revealing because they are quite thin in the middrange and a little raised in the treble and they were overpriced just like Proac's other models, but it's not uncommon in British hifi! Except B&W in my opinion. The bitumen pads are used to dampen the panel resonance and you also lowering the resonance frequency a bit, but it's usually just a side effect

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Jan, thank you. That was very interesting and informative. 😉

[@philbarone4603]

I love my Proac Response 3’s. Thanks for your above board reviews.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Phil. Much appreciated 😊👍

[@madds6678]

Thanks Tarun really interesting. Those panels look like sound deadening panels they stick to the inside of car door outer skin panels to quieten the interior noise down. When you look at what little is inside it makes you feel short changed for the outlay. I would be interested to see how the speakers would benefit/sound if you replaced the capacitors & resistors for better grade components as the prices you quoted it wouldn’t cost that much, have you thought of doing that & if it ruined the sound just soldering back the old components. Thanks for your time spent making these informative videos as always keep up the good work 👍 Madds.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Madds66, I have thought about upgrading the components but I just love the tonal balance of these speakers and am apprehensive of changing it 🤔

[@scottmackey4182]

The frequency range and dynamics have been specifically balanced by this crossover network. If you were to change out some of the components, it would definitely change the sound quality from what the original was. And not necessarily for the better. Crossover components and drivers are designed together for a specific output. If you modify the crossover components, it may require different drivers with different frequency characteristics. This is why there are speakers designers who do their thing. They test a multitude of components and evaluate the sound characteristics and signals until they have just the wave forms they are looking for. So, it’s not a simple as switching out one capacitor for another unless you go into a great deal of detail matching up the signal wave patterns for each component changed. I can’t answer why ProAc chose to use “cheaper” components, except to say they typically are trying to hit a price point for their sales goal. It is unfortunate that they couldn’t equalize the price point by spending a few extra quid or two on those crossover components.

[@kirarittberg5088]

Tarun A British Audiophile Like you said , surprised to see the electrolytic caps in the crossover. Having many DIY builds under my belt, I have sworn by the Solen poly caps and have used them since the late 80's. Obviously not the best, but very good at their price point. Recently I took the plunge and upgraded to Solen Silver series caps and a veil was lifted. Improvements in finer detail, cymbals more real, and female voices became sweeter. They were used as high pass filters on high mids and compression drivers in a tri amped system. The caps they were compared to were less than a year old so age of caps was not a factor. I was originally skeptical that it would be worth it but it was the biggest improvement for the money that I have made in many years. Thumbs up on your video, too many reviewers don't open up the cover and show what's inside. Keep taking things apart. Cheers ! Edit: don't be concerned about the ratings on the resistors. They are reducing current to the tweeter (most likely) and a 5% difference may not be very audible. A conscientious manufacturer may have even measured them and mated them to the drivers that may also vary by plus or minus 5%. I have measured resistors and matched them for left and right so hopefully a reputable manufacturer would also do this on a mid to high price component.

[@RennieAsh]

@@kirarittberg5088 Would parallel caps do much to affect the sound? As usually you see cheaper caps pop up on woofer section first, and maybe the parallel section of mid/tweet as it is not in the direct signal path.

[@kirarittberg5088]

Rennie Ash Caps that are in the driver circuit make the most difference for sure. Caps on the woofer section are less audible as they are bypass caps. Not wanting to confuse the terminology, multiple caps can be connected in parallel to achieve an equivalent cap value (two 15 mfd caps or three 10 mfd caps will equal a 30 mfd cap) and these can make an improvement even if only one of the caps is higher quality, potentially saving some money. Check out "Humble Hifi capacitor comparisons" for a more detailed look at caps.

[@davids4795]

Always a cogent and appreciated presentation. Don’t change a thing Brother.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you David 😊👍

[@Conservator.]

About the electrolytic capacitors: they have a much higher volumetric capacitance than PP capacitors. In amplifiers they tend to fail over time and certainly the cheap Chinese ones. Their life expectancy is also highly dependent on operating temperatures. The higher the temperture the shorter their lifespan. In filters one needs non-polar or bi-polar electrolytic capacitors. These need more volume than normal polarised caps for the same capacitance. Non-polar electrolytic capacitors are also much more expensive and much less widely available than regular caps. When a high capacitance is needed it’s sometimes almost unavoidable to use electrolytic caps.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Conservator, thank you for the clarification 😉

[@HiViNywschannel]

Very well done Buddy!👋😄🙏lovely honest presentation and thank YOU for taking off the covers on your beloved beautiful speakers. I've heard the latest Tab10s....the most basic one, a sealed design. It sounds lovely with a Leben CS300XS with stock tubes. Thank you my friend. May you and your family be well and happy, safe and healthy, always💚🤗🍀🏡🍀🎶🎶🎶🍀🍀🍀

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Buddy, I hope you are well. Sorry I missed responding to this earlier. Love your channel. Any new videos planned? 🤞😊😊😊

[@HiViNywschannel]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Brother, thank you for your concern🤗 ...currently busy with clinic work with longer hours to help our national efforts to get out of the situation. As such, no new videos as yet. But I do have the gear to run more reviews😅. Keep yours coming, I'm glued.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Stay safe HiViNyws channel 👍

[@Zockopa]

The tweeter has a 3rd order high pass and the woofer a 2nd order low pass filter. The tweeter is level corrected by a resistor,the woofer is impedance equalised with a filter consisting of a lytic ,a resistor and a coil (the light blue one without markings is a fe-core coil) parallel to the chassis. The only parts which are in the signal path of the chassis are the big air coil (woofer)and both mkp caps and the resistor with the smaller value (tweeter). The woofer looks like a special version of a Seas T14RCY,so i doubt its made by Peerless. The tweeter is definitly the good old Scan Speak D2010. The actual filters are made of high quality components which guarantee long time stability,the parts used for equalising are of standart quality,which is sufficient. The internal wiring is of good quality and the placement of the coils is done with an eye on minimal interference of their fields. The mounting hole of the woofer is not camfered on the inside and additional damping pads are added to the internal surfaces of the box. This looks to me like a high quality design,although a bit old school in best british tradition.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Zockopa, thank you. That clarifies quite a lot. I appreciate you watching and taking the time to share your knowledge and experience 😉

[@krollpeter]

Less than BP 300 of parts if we buy them in end-user quantity. You can't even say there is a lot of know-how in there. All the electronics can be calculated in seconds by software, and the rest is just common knowledge of every speaker manufacturer.

[@Zockopa]

@@krollpeter Well,fact is today even a DIYer with decent know how and some experience can do it without having to invest heavily in measuring equipment and specialised cad software. That simply wasnt the case back in the first half of the nineties. Personaly i constructed and build speakers during the eighties and it was,compared to today,a rather laborious process and it took weeks to optimise a speaker.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Zockopa, are the capacitor and iron core inductor connected in parallel across the woofer to form a notch filter? If so, what is the likely reason for doing this, it is to make up for a deficiency in the driver or for some other reason (like the famous BBC dip)? I would be grateful for any light you can shed on this. Many thanks, Tarun

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you razisn 😊

[@OriginalgEd]

Nice twist on the typical hifi videos and the insides look to be about as expected. I always hankered for a pair of 1C's but instead (many yearass ago) settled on a pair of used Tablette Reference Eight Signature's which I'm extremely happy with. Always loved the Proac sound and they work well with my modest Naim setup.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi OriginalgEd, thank you for watching and sharing your experiences. Proac and Naim, widely regarded as a match made in heaven. I am not surprised that you are happy with the combo 😉

[@shimofo1]

For the high pass (tweeter) the cap has much more effect on sound quality. For the low pass, it's the inductor. So if you're going save $$$ on materials, you put the good cap(s) on the tweeter and the good inductor on the woofer. Then go cheap with the other components. The questionable "cap" I'm betting is an iron core inductor on the tweeter circuit.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Alex 😉

[@alancaulton-wd8ot]

Yes really interesting. I’d love to have a go at making my own speakers. Then adjust components and see how that modelled the sound. Great vids. Alan

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 👍

[@MichelLinschoten]

You’re correct the “panels” are a thick density foam (bituum) it’s to defeat panel resonances. The drivers are good, many here hate and rag. Mostl likely having a cheap iPhone paid for with plenty of money . Also you talk about the resistors and caps, keep in mind. You’re talking about a speaker from the 90ts. And also these guys bought It in bulk. A penny doesn’t seem much difference, on a 500 sets or so it does ! My point is , nothing is worth the msrp price in parts . Thats why it’s called a business ..

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing Michel. Sorry for the delayed response 😉

[@markusganzherrlich]

Hey, I'm about to replace my 22-year-old Proac Tablette 50 just because I suspect caps and resistors are aging, so after watching your analysis instead of another Proac, I think I'll test and probably go for the Martin Logan 35XTi. Your video is very easy to follow and not boring despite its length, and it's also very informative. Keep up the good job!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Markus. Please let me know how you get on with them 😊👍

[@markusganzherrlich]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 I haven't tested the ML as the shop that sells them here is still closed, in the meantime I've tested a pair of used Harbeth SHL5 Plus. I have to say that for the price and for the fact that they're all made in the UK and not in China like the ML, I expected more in terms of transparency. What's your take on both of these speakers?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

@@markusganzherrlich beautiful midrange performance on those speakers. Traditional British sound characteristics.

[@andrewbardwell4832]

You can service the crossover. I replaced the caps on my Studio 100s.

[@byrong1561]

I really hope your channel gains momentum and you are able to make more of these types of videos. I have no doubt that Zu Audio, Klipsch, Martin Logan, Walsh et al make great speakers, but these are American products and as such are not something we come across a great deal in the UK. For this reason, a lot of audiophile speaker videos are not that relevant for British people..... although to be fair the big hitters like Kef and B&W are always popular and there are always lots of reviews on their offerings. Nonetheless, its refreshing to see content on good old fashioned British companies like ProArc. Thanks for sharing and keep up the great work 👍🏾

[@shahidyt]

Byron G yes, I’d love to try out some Ohm Walsh 2000s, but would be very costly to ship them from the USA to UK. I managed to get hold of Magnepan LRS from a UK dealer, but we’re almost double the price compared to US$650. I was told I’m one of three owners of the speaker in the UK.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Byron, that was one of the reasons I started the channel. The Americans have so many great hifi brands and we don’t do so bad this side of the pond so could do with some representation. Of course, probably my most favourite aspect of doing this channel is that I get to interact with people from all over the world 👍

[@scottmackey4182]

You’ll also see a lot more “cheaper” components used in the “affordable” lines for KEF and B&W. I’ve taken many apart and am constantly frustrated with the cost cutting going on inside these cabinets. Especially when outsourced to China. I always look to purchase only speakers with “Made in ...” European or US manufacturers. Even then, you need to get into the higher price points to get past the cheap component factors. Unfortunately, like they always say: You get what you pay for!

[@kirarittberg5088]

Scott Mackey That is why I have been a DIY builder for years. Pick quality parts, do a good build and great results follow. I build the cab for the low end and use compression drivers for highs so results are predictable. I have happily been using mostly JBL pro drivers (but also Altec , EV and Eminence) for many years. I have also found Japanese speakers like Fostex to be very good and TAD are legendary. Selenium (now a JBL company) from Brazil makes great drivers for the price. There is PAudio as well making good pro drivers. There are a lot of good manufacturers these days, and I wish I could afford to try more of them. Cheers !

[@lurigethan]

BBC LS3 5a cabinet material is 15mm baltic birch with birch fillets. Great channel, excellent reviews.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and commenting lurigethan 😊👍

[@kenhudson379]

Great video, shame that the MDF was splitting either side of the screw holes again would have expected better at this price range.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Ken, I think it is only superficial but it is always illuminating looking inside relatively expensive equipment 🤔

[@OriginalgEd]

yep. I thought that was especially disappointing (as a proac owner). Looks like either the pilot hole was too small or (to reduce manufacturing costs), they didn't bother with a pilot hole and just used twin threaded "self-tapping" screws.

[@robiny9457]

i was going to mention this. they didn't bother to drill pilot holes. bit a annoying, that.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

I wasn't sure what you were referring to at first but now I've seen it: 3:19. Well spotted. I agree, at a 2k price point it's rather poor looking manufacturing practice.

[@vincentrobinette1507]

They overlooked a very simple practice: DRILLING PILOT HOLES BEFORE DRIVING IN SCREWS!!!! (a very "rookie" mistake, for a "high end" speaker!) MDF(medium density fiberboard) is actually a very good choice of materials for speakers, because of its acoustic properties. The caveat is, you have to know how to work with this kind of wood, often referred to as "particle board".

[@DimRoditis]

Thank you for this video (too!). I'm looking at Proacs now and this came extremely useful. Thanks again for your efforts.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and commenting DR 😊👍

[@thegroove2000]

I used to be under the audiophile spells. Spent many thousands. BEWARE LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING. I am a big advocate of blind listening tests as they shield the senses from aesthetic and brand biases.

[@harryconover289]

This is so true I conducted many types of blind tests the best was a set of three each set driven by the same type and condition this allows for exact level matching with the best source you can find I made a device that randomly picked a set and recorded the vote of eight box’s in the audience it showed many things about how strongly people are affected by advertising others opinion

[@harryconover289]

Don’t buy ANY Chinese equipment it’s all made badly by slave labor don’t support this behavior yes us bulgur stuff is about 15 percent more good deal to pay for freedom

[@thomasobscure4978]

You obviously have never been to China and have a little trouble thinking autonomously.

[@thegroove2000]

@@thomasobscure4978 Enjoy your speakers.

[@grahamf695]

Fascinating video, thanks Tarun. You spent a lot of time discussing the crossover and most comments are in that area. It makes me wonder about the benefits of going active. With a DSP approach, such as that used by Linn, you avoid the need for a crossover altogether and theoretically can tune the speakers much more precisely. Obviously, the extra electronics adds a lot to the cost, so it’s a question of where the money is best spent.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Graham. As always with this hobby, it all comes down to implementation. There are pluses and minuses to active and passive systems 😊👍

[@Quetzalcoatl0]

People think that a speaker costs because of materials. But forget that they pay for the man hours of design and tuning.The person and his years of work. You don't pay that much for the raw materials.

[@sergeysmelnik]

Yep. Then when you measure the speaker the response is all over the place and usually worse than a pair of 300 dollar studio monitors.

[@navanski]

That sounds like the same excuse Bose give for their boxes.

[@missingsock18]

Very nice rundown on all the components--thank you for sharing. I was expecting a bit more for something this expensive, but I suppose the best measure of quality is how they sound. I like the Totem Acoustic Dreamcatchers, which are tiny two-way speakers made in Canada that punch far beyond their weight. They employ variable density MDF which is then veneered on the INTERIOR of each cabinet as well as the exterior. Totem does some sort of driver/component matching that ensures a very sweet pair of speakers, indeed, with outstanding imaging and soundstage.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Missing Sock, I haven’t heard a pair of Totems in ages in a proper listening environment. Definitely, worth revisiting this Canadian brand 😉

[@andrewweis5857]

Do you think the crossover needs re-capping after 15-20 years?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Andrew, I asked Proac that exact question and they said it should be fine for 40 to 50 years. Thank you for watching and commenting 😉

[@andrewweis5857]

Surprising. Thanks Tarun.

[@thorbostad8406]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks for that clarification. I have the same speaksers (since 2001, combined with a Creek amp) and love them. Sometimes one wonders if any components need a service/upgrade. Your video and these comments indicate that I may continue to enjoy the speakers for quite some time yet :)

[@richardg3372]

I have my ProAc 1sc pair since c2006. After trying an Audionote integrated tube amp, I settled on bi-amped Exposure 2010s int+power. Nearing 20 yrs on, the speakers have faired better than the amps (noisy volume and source switches). I will be 64 this year (f..., I heard Sgt Pepper when I was 12 -my late father was then 35.... How the goalposts have shifted!) I was an audiophile back then, hacking a decent transistor radio to take feed from a Phillips portable cassette recorder. Anyway, I'm not sure my next set of speakers will need to last 20 odd years but would be nice if they did.... Thanks for a great channel. BTW, I'll be visiting London for a few days. If you feel like catching a glass of wine, you can message me.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Richard. I am sure you will still be around in 20 years 😉👍

[@brucetaylor7095]

The additional panelling is a constraint layer damper. Tap the outside of the cabinet and you will hear a dull thud. Remove it and it will “ring”.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Bruce, that makes sense to me 😉👍

[@marttiinnanen4911]

Pretty crudely implemented CLD though but apparently effective.

[@radicalaudiodesign]

Drivers are Seas T14RCY/P but with Seas Excel magnetsystem incl phaselug in copper. Also the driver has a edgecoating to remove a ringing around 1-1.3khz. The tweeters is a Scan-Speak D2010/ 8513 is a standard tweeter except logo on front.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Johan 😊

[@thebostonaudiophile]

The 30uF (I think, can't read for sure) electrolytic is a larger value than the poly caps. It would be more expensive to convert to poly. The blue plastic-wrapped "capacitor" maybe something else entirely. Perhaps it's an iron core inductor or some kind of fuse? Just guesses. Keep up the excellent vids!

[@thebostonaudiophile]

I just noticed that the mystery, blue device is in series with the electrolytic cap and a 10 Ohm resistor, so it wouldn't make sense for it to be another capacitor. Also, with the 10 Ohm series resistor, the high ESR of the electrolytic cap may be less critical.

[@KGF968]

It’s an RLC network

[@KGF968]

They want to bring some resonance of the woofer down at some frequency point. Using Electrolytic may roll off up and down that frequency a bit but it won’t be making a significant change.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😉

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😉

[@brynybach7741]

Very enjoyable video. I did notice that the back panel had been screwed onto the top, bottom and sides panels without pilots being done first causing the panels to split where the screws had gone in. This will always happen with MDF. At this price point they should drill a pilot hole to stop this happening.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Brynybach, I agree with you 100%. Thank you for watching 😉

[@madcay]

hi, how to open the back panel? i have no idea .....

[@EllasPOSEiDON]

For me it looks like an insanely overpriced speaker. For that amount of money I would expect a much more precisely built item from inside out.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Ellas, I understand where you are coming from. Unfortunately, this is pretty typical of what you get at this price point. Thank you for watching 😉

[@Zockopa]

Yeah,from a DIY perspective thats absolutly true. But it is very different from a manufacturer perspective,although the average profit margins (manufacturer,distributor) are - well,not modest to put it in a friendly term. But hey, thats capitalism at work.

[@farfthi]

@@Zockopa Members of cults, like addicts, will pay and pay and pay chasing the dragon.

[@coppice2778]

Speakers are a strange market. There are lots of players, but little of the competitive pressures you would normally expect in a crowded market. So, they end up charging many times the cost to build, and are able to sustain that. You'd think they'd at least put in a piece of foam that looks higher class than a piece of packaging material grabbed from the carton of a previous speaker.

[@farfthi]

coppice I think the barriers to entry are lower for wannabe speaker makers than for amplifiers, receivers, or just about any other hifi component.

[@yvesboutin5604]

I just discovered your video and I enjoyed it greatly! The damping material stapled to the cabinet walls is a kind of tar/rubber stuff used to absorb some resonances. At that price point, I would have placed a bracing panel to stiffened the enclosure. Also, the more a capacitor have a great value (30 uF here), the more costly it get. So you are right to be disapointed to see an electrolytic capacitor and sand box resistors in such a highly priced pair of speakers. Finally, the blue component is an inductor rolled around a ferrite core. My guess is they use it for a second order highpass filter on the tweeter or a notch filter to remove a peak in the speaker response. Thanks again for the video!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and your insightful analysis Yves 😊👍

[@ford1546]

The only reason they use super cheap electrolyte capacitor is to save money! a capacitor that sits above + and - on a speaker, sound is not affected as much by the capacitor quality! a capacitor in series with the speaker then you should have the best capacitor quality! The 50uf or 100uf polypropylene capacitor is much larger and more expensive than an electrolyte. The bright blue part looks like a coil with very thin wire similar to the ones widely used in car crossovers. The crossover filter inside the speakers looks quite ordinary and nothing specially expensive, or anything better constructed than much else I've seen. Factory made speakers you get little for money! i can show you what a crossover filter inside my homemade speaker looks like if you give me an email address To cost £ 2000 then the speakers are DISAPPOINTED! High price is not equal to high quality! No bad designed speaker but £ 2000 is way too expensive when you look what you get.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi skrotkalle, thank you for watching and commenting. You can email me on [e-mail] I would love to take a look at the crossovers you have built 😉

[@ford1546]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 I will send you some pictures during the day Norway time if I do not forget

[@ford1546]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Have now sent you one e-mail. You can delete the message so you don't get many emails

[@peterlarkin762]

Very enjoyable video, speaker teardowns are so rare! Electrolytics on crossovers are usually not having an important role in the circuitry AND they have a higher ESR & ESL ... sometimes a higher series resistance is required to prevent interaction with other components so it is quite possibly a technical requirement. Further, electrolytic capacitors in speakers do not degrade at the same rate as say a capacitor in an amplifier. It's dealing with low voltages and no ripple.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Peter 😊👍

[@milojanis7376]

If they sold there speakers for double they would sound ten times better,we all know that.

[@juststuff5216]

That's what Wilson Audio seem to do ... and look how well they're doing!! Its just that they up that price by 20 times ... and people still literally buy into it.

[@isaackikkert6960]

An excellent video accompanied by some excellent comments too. I'm pleased that I watched this. Now, I use 3-way crossovers with 3% tolerance foil-poly caps and they're 400w RMS rated. But now that I have watched this video I can line my boxes with acoustic material to boost an already good performance. I will, however, be sure that it is a step in the right direction after listening to sensible feedback on this idea.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and commenting Isaac 😉

[@rockfella27]

Bullcrap 😂😂😂. Someone wisely said : Speakers are 80 % marketing. These speakers are junk for the price.

[@kingmonkey88]

I was told the blue thing is called a Hi Z inductor, it looks like a magnet wrapped with wire. Apparently it's this that gives the sweet midrange. My version of the bass driver is made by Seas. It has a Seas logo moulded into the rubber surround. ProAc also use Volt drivers. ProAc use propriety capacitors on their current speakers with ProAc logo. The Tablette Ref 8 signatures has an interesting magnet system. It uses neodymium bar magnets arranged in a hex formation.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That is very interesting and very informative. Thank you Din 😁

[@maniac7067]

It`s all about illusion

[@thethirdman225]

Interesting video. I too am not a speaker designer but like you, was a bit surprised by the choices of components. I suspect that some of them have less of an impact on sound than we realise, while other components are more critical. There are places where you can get the crossover modified with better resistors and capacitors or they can build you a whole new crossover. You can actually do it yourself if you have the basic skills. They are not complicated and the components are very easy to determine. That said, these are ProAc and I would understand people’s reluctance to go messing around in there. One thing I would suggest - speaking as a woodworker - is that the screw holes in the MDF would benefit from some superglue to prevent further separation. I don’t think this is a major problem but MDF, while having some desirable characteristics like dimensional stability, can occasionally swell and cause other problems. I think though that they would probably be limited to some cosmetic swelling. It wouldn’t change the sound but it could potentially spoil the finish. Like you, I found that secondary damping quite intriguing.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you 😊

[@gordonmutten1750]

The stapled damping material is to reduce cabinet resonances to negligible levels even at high volumes. The cabinet will have several natural frequencies, the smallest sides having the highest frequencies and the largest panels with the most mass, like the front, having the lowest frequency. Mdf is a material with good internal damping and the black damping material will add to that and its mass will also drag the resonant frequencies down a little. I hope that helps.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Gordon. That makes sense and wonderfully explained 😊👍

[@christopherfairfowl5521]

I like what looks like cracks in the side panel where the back panel fixings are, they look like they were thrown together. I always drill pilot holes for screws in MDF this prevents cracks and splits.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I get what you are saying but the splits in the MDT are very superficial. Those aside, I don’t think the build quality is inferior to other speakers at this price point .

[@juststuff5216]

I think they call it 'Amateurish'

[@gerardoenmibarrio]

Really liked this. Very informative. Used to own a set of Bowers and Wilkins 600 series speakers which I bought in 2004. Will be watching some more of your content. Looking forward to your next video. Back when they said proudly made in in England! Like my car audio now though. Really like Gladen, Rainbow, Eton, Hertz, Audison, B2 Audio and Flux Audio.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and for taking the time to comment 😉

[@d.s.cullom5461]

Hi Tarun. I enjoy your channel. I would recommend changing out your sand-cast resistors with Mundorf MR20 Series; just match the values. You can upgrade your electrolytics, that are getting old, with Mundorf E-Caps. You need bipolar caps in the crossover (non-polarized). Due to the size of the values in those old electrolytic in the Proacs, you would need more real estate in your speaker to make them poly caps, and they would be expensive.. To get your 30 uf caps upgraded, you can connect 3 x 10 uF E-Caps together, I'm not sure of your other lytic cap value you have. Lastly change out the oxidized speaker wire in there. You can run the same wire that runs from your amp if it's not too massive.. Solder those wires (don't use clips). Mundorf poly caps can get expensive, but these Mundorfs are reasonable. Have Fun!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you DS 👍

[@d.s.cullom5461]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Thanks for your reply. I realized I spaced on cap size, and polys might just fit in the cabinet. A Sonicap 30uF is 1.45" x 2.75", and runs about 90 bucks a piece, I think your other cap is 47, but I don't know. That would require 2 caps soldered together like a 20uF and a 27uF. I really wouldn't put electrolytics in a speaker of mine, even Mundorfs, unless I just don't have room, and even then, I'd probably build an external crossover. I've noticed that Sonicaps are one of the best values in the industry, and used by Danny at GR Research among others. Would love to see a video if you ever upgrade. Cheers! David

[@d.s.cullom5461]

I went back and looked at GR-Research's KZbin video, Do Parts Matter, and Danny recommend a bypass cap on large value caps, so a .1 uF would also be a good call on that 60uF cap.

[@mgsamps]

Speakers with thinner walls (and un-braced) like these models can suffer with bad resonance around 450-480Hz (you will notice it more on certain piano notes) so the pads on the sidewalls are there to negate this to some effect. Putting an electrolytic cap in that part of the circuit (bass/mid) is fine, it is not passing a direct signal as it is intended for either shaping the mid to bass cut off slope or as part of a Zobel Impedance network, exchanging it for a more expensive MKP is throwing money down the drain. The 2 smaller of the Solen MKP caps on the right however ARE in the signal path and are critical to the sound quality emanating from the tweeter and this is why ProAc have incorporated them here. They are not bad caps considering their cheap price (A little soft sounding actually) and provide an overly smooth sound, but they can be bettered by spending a little more on something like some Clarity Cap ESA's which will give much better sparkle and transparency to the sound without changing the characteristics too much. I've never been a fan of square air core Inductors and did many experiments a few years back with different types. My findings at the time were that square coils introduced distortion whereas round coils of the same thickness and gauge did not, and the difference is very noticeable (I'm guessing ProAc used square ones to get them to fit better on the crossover board and as they are cheaper, tut tut) I'd suggest the OP change these out immediately, it will be the biggest upgrade an owner of these loudspeakers could make without spending too much cash, they don't have to be fancy ones either, just round ones of the same gauge wire and R, just doing that mod and upgrading the Solen series tweeter caps for Clarity cap ESA's and you will be gobsmacked by the improvement in clarity through the mids and treble. I have done similar upgrades to other ProAc models with superb results.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you MG Samps. Makes perfect sense and explains the decisions make by Stewart Tyler. Thank you for sharing your insights 😊👍👍

[@vaishal27]

Gotta like it before you watch it! You already know this is gonna be quality content!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Vaisal27 😉

[@RennieAsh]

It's pretty well put together, though I do wonder why only 720p which is also rather compressed. I guess it's like many audio enthusiasts though, not as concerned with some things and excel in others. At least the audio is decent, I've heard some pretty terrible recordings by certain audio enthusiasts which is kind of ironic considering they love "High fidelity" audio XD

[@miketierney452]

I have always liked Proac speakers I remember the dem room at the Bristol hifi show one year ..the setup was from what i remember A Naim CDX2, one of the Nait 5's and Proac D18's certainly the most musically rewarding dem there. The electrolytic is a special non polarised type often used in crossovers, the device with the cable tie looks like an iron core inductor. Crossovers are always a weak link, I ripped mine out and went active. I use a pair of 24 year old Linn Tukans power by an active Naim setup.The difference between bi amped passive to active was astonishing ..I could never go back to passive.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Mike, I know that Exposure do some active crossovers that they demoed at Bristol either this year or last year. I would love to have a play with them at some time in the future. Thank you for watching and sharing 😉

[@zefrog7482]

Did you upgrade any of the caps and resistors? Given how highly you rate this speaker already and clearly have a fond attachment to it I'd highly recommend upgrading, especially on tweeter section. Combined with some metal oxide resistors and it should make this great speaker even more so. You don't have to buy super expensive capacitors, I have used many Solens in DIY builds, however you can buy ultra premium capacitor of say 0.01uf and use as bypass caps on the ones already installed and still get improvement. Personally though, with a speaker I truly enjoy I'd probably go with some Mundorf, and add super quality bypass caps to really have the best possible. How much of the difference is measurable beyond the psychological effect is debatable sometimes some would argue, but that's the thing with audio, the psychological view of something being better can actually make it sound better. After seeing the internal parts, some would probably have their view of overall quality affected in listening, despite being good parts, just not the best. Never heard the Response 1 SC's, but your channel has made me think I probably should try some. I build my own usually, but thing is even then sometimes I wonder if something else is better out there, which I'm sure there is, after all I'm just a hobbyist. So far I can't find anything beyond my current creation, although most I know don't have really high end stuff. Lol, stupidly I do keep an eye out for better though, a terrible affliction.😂

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you my friend. I am a bit sentimental about keeping my 1SCs as stock but if I get another pair I will experiment 😊

[@joeygsaudiochannel3972]

You hit this one out of the Park again Tarun. While I agree with most of the comments here. As an Engineer, I know you are going to rebuild that crossover ! Your ProAc's will thank you. Cheers

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Joey, thank you for watching and your kind words of support. Very tempted to upgrade crossover parts but I love the tone and after 22 years of ownership I guess I am a bit sentimental about these particular speakers. I would love to have second pair to experiment with 😁

[@markironside430]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Go on you know you want to. It wouldn't be very expensive. Also completely reversible. Quality caps can be a cheap worthwhile upgrade. It would make an interesting follow on review for us. Go on get some Mundorf's or better. Try HIFI Collective. They stock lots of nice boutique components. No I dont have any connection to them other than a happy customer 🤓 thanks for the review I used to have the SE version of those speakers. They were always a bit soft for me. Probably not the word you would use but I'm not a reviewer;-)

[@markclancy5371]

I'd be tempted to replace full crossover with better quality!.then if he doesnt like it just put the original back in no damage to the speaker or crossover at all. then you can play around with new crossover instead of buying another set of speakers to play with then see if it improves it.

[@AALavdas]

The panels are "deadening" panels, they absorb vibrations much better than the equivalent thickness of MDF would. I have actually added such panels myself to the inside of a pair of Mission 70MkII speakers, that I use for a small desktop system in the office. These speakers look nicely made, but of course one could build something equivalent for a quarter of the price.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you A AL 😉

[@filipkrstevski5449]

can you tell me where did you buy the bitumen panels thanks in advance

[@MrDunk66]

They may have chosen the correct value from a big batch and matched the resistors for L and R channels.. The nominal tolerance might not be relevant. I always have a look in my speaker cabinets when I get a chance, more so after having built my own. I have a pair of Q Acoustics 2010s that have virtually no cabinet resonance. Knock on them and they sound very very dead. Not entirely sure how they sound in comparison to other speakers. There are 6 pairs in the house, still not sure which sound best to me (confused). Loving the show, thanks for sharing your passion and knowledge 👍🏾

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I have a pair of Q Acoustics BT3s powered speakers. I think they are great for the money. I hope you enjoy your 2010s as much. Thank you for watching and commenting. I appreciate your support of this channel 👍

[@MrDunk66]

Well, I have just about caught up with your videos - binged it!. Been very enjoyable, my knowledge has grown a little and that has enhanced the hobby by clearing some of the confusing fog that surrounds some of this tech (strictly low budget here though). Huge numbers of comments and nearly 10K subscribers - guess that says it all. Hope you can keep going.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Dunk O

[@thomaslutro5560]

The tweeter is a Scanspeak D2010 or an OEM derivative. The woofer is the classic SEAS 14 cm driver, apparently with the TPX cone as used by Vienna and I believe several others. This also seems to have the magnet and pole piece and copper phase plug from their Excel series. So, a mix of parts found in their Prestige and Excel series. Both good drivers. I'd say the woofer is clearly the higher quality of the two, though. My main worry about this speaker would be limited SPL especially given the very low port tuning.I think I see a sub which is a good idea, even more so if you use some form of active crossover to relieve the main speakers of the low frequencies. Crossover components are of the cheap and cheerful variety apart from the Solen caps. They are very good little speakers, though. I used to have a pair of Studio 150's back in the day. Upgraded the crossovers at one point, and it actually made them a lot better.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Thomas. Very illuminating 😊👍

[@bshah4831]

Thanks, really interesting. Also good high gauge wires.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you BShah 😉

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

Nice gesture presenting the insides of this speaker as I'm sure many are interested in it (as well as any other Proac speaker). 3:30 : I was perplexed about the use of bitumen sheets as well and the question posed here of why they're used, given the choice to go for a thin walled cabinet made me think about it. The only answer I came up with is that: a) the geometry of the panels determines the modes and frequencies of resonanceb) the panel material determines the tone (i.e. the relative amplitudes of the frequency components) by selecting the damping profile across the resonance frequencies. The damping is here controlled by the mass (density) of the panels and the material's viscosity. In that sense, the bitumen panels add mass and viscosity to dampen down vibrations at certain frequencies. So resonance is allowed but the amount of it is controlled. The foam eliminates/diminishes the standing waves or reflected waves which if left uncontrolled would come out through the midbass cone and mar the sound.9:15 : As another poster observed, this looks like an inductor, not an electrolytic capacitor. In fact it looks like a ferrite cored inductor so probably doesn't play a very critical role in this crossover, by which I mean it's overall quality isn't that critical. Being on the subject of quality, I wouldn't fuss over the ceramic resistor's inductance. I failed to see the resistance value but typically in a speaker crossover you'd have low value resistors (as opposed to an active system's crossover) so the inductance probably will be insignificant. You can replace it with a somewhat better resistor and you have nothing to lose by doing so given the low cost. If I was going to improve on one component, however, that would probably be the electrolytic. Again I didn't quite catch its value, it seemed to me to be a 50μF cap. If that is the case, it can be replaced with a film cap, the cost however will be considerable. The second component to improve on would be the ferrite cored inductor. Again, without knowing what the crossover circuit is, it is impossible to know if the aforementioned components' quality plays a critical role in the performance. Given the price of the speaker and the bespoke drivers used, I'd venture guessing that the crossover components' quality is good enough. A big part of the cost is attributed to the external finish. Given that most of these speaker will live at prominent positions in people's living rooms, it's understandable. I'm fairly confident, however, that if a cheaper finish option was offered (i.e. no fancy veneers), it would cost much less to produce. Finally, MDF is neither dirt cheap nor expensive. Good plywood, however, is costly and involves more labour and QC, esp. when attention to looks is paramount. Resonance design-wise though it's an entirely different choice.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Stelios, that makes perfect sense and clarifies things for me nicely. I really appreciate you watching and taking the time to share you knowledge and experience 😉

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 You're very welcome. Whatever the comments and explanations offered (by me or anyone else), they should always be taken with a grain of salt and confirmed by also checking elsewhere and considering the point of view of the person offering them. Common sense and logic are very good guides. I appreciated your honesty and openness as well as the clarity of your presentations. Most audio reviewers are not always ready to admit they lack a certain technical knowledge or other. Audio is a multi-disciplinary field and technical expertise in all of its facets is impossible to acquire. So for an audio reviewer to be open about their technical knowledge and at the same time careful and precise about their assertions/opinions it's a great quality.

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

I've now had a second look. MDF was mentioned before but looking at the interior at 4:19 it doesn't look like plain MDF to me (at least the front panel doesn't). If it is MDF or other particle board, it's certainly laminated/veneered on the inner side as well. Also, at the same instant, the bituminous sheets referred to earlier are sheets of a material I cannot determine from this picture. If I were to bet, I'd bet on them being styrofoam sheets but looks can be deceiving. With regards to components, the lower inductor in the picture seems to be in series with the iron/ferrite core inductor so it does not need to be non-inductive. The electrolytic cap, the cored inductor and the resistor seem to be in series, possibly forming a Zobel network (acts as a frequency trap). Given that the Zobel network's job could be argued to be confined to a single frequency, I'd venture claiming that its constituent components' quality need not be paramount. You could certainly upgrade the cap and the choke, the cap seems to be 30μF so certainly isn't prohibitively expensive, and risk reaping a miniscule benefit but it's your money. If I were to spend money on this crossover, I'd choose to measure the two speakers first using a cheap laptop setup with an adequate microphone and some free software. Then, instead of upgrading the components, I'd choose to try and balance the two speakers. Yes, I know this is much more involved than simply going to a shop and buying a better capacitor or two. If one just wants to experiment with the tone of different capacitors, then they can certainly do just that, i.e. go out and buy an entire set (or more) of alternative manufacture/composition/price capacitors of the same values and try them out. I reckon this will be potentially just as laborious in the end as trying to balance the two speakers but one can always get lucky and strike the sound they desire first try. Hmmm....

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Stelios. I don’t think I will mess with the crossover on the 1SCs. It is tempting but I like the way they sound and after having them for 22 years since new, I like that the are still in factory original condition. Sentimentality I guess, as I could always put back the original parts if I didn’t like the changes. On the Zobel network, my basic understanding is that it is used to flatten the impedance curve and usually compromises a resistor and capacitor in parallel with the driver. It looks like what we have here is a capacitor and inductor in parallel with the driver. Do you think this could be a notch filter? If so, is this to deal with a deficiency in the driver or is there another reason for it being there? I would be grateful for any light you could shed on it. Many thanks, Tarun

[@Stelios.Posantzis]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 Well spotted - I stand corrected. I always considered Zobel networks to be the same as notch filters. You're correct in your observations. According to Rod Elliott (sound-au.com/lr-passive.htm) the Zobel filter's job is to flatten the driver (usually a woofer or midrange) impedance - and in particular its inductance - and thus present a constant impedance to the crossover (so that the driver's impedance does not affect the crossover function). For this reason the Zobel network consists of a cap and a resistor connected in series and in turn the whole network is connected in parallel with (i.e. across) the driver. It must be considered as part of the driver. In the same page it is also mentioned that a resonance compensation circuit (usually a resistor, a capacitor and an inductor in series) is often employed across a tweeter or midrange to soften its resonance as seen by the crossover. . So a Zobel network is used to flatten inductance and a resonance compensation network is used , well, to flatten resonance. In this particular case, I guess the resistor, the electrolytic cap and the cored inductor connected in series form such a compensation circuit as this chain of components appears to be connected in parallel with the driver. Bear in mind that I only have partial views of the crossover board from the photos shown and thus I can only trace the crossover circuit partially and then fill the gaps with guesswork. The golden rule is "if it ain't broke,, don't fix it". Applies particularly well to expensive hifi gear and observing it prevents shedding needless tears. I think it's worth preserving the speaker's authentic condition, especially since you've had it for 22 years. I expect the likes of Proac to have designed the original circuit well and it appears they have chosen components of decent quality. The electrolytic cap only sees a low voltage so should still hold its spec. Electrolytics generally degrade with time so at some point in the future it might be worth having it checked by a reputable electronics professional for leakage and to ensure it still matches its marked capacitance value. I'd ask Proac first whether, in their experience, these caps hold their spec after 20-30 years before taking any action. Whether replacing it with a film cap will bring sonic benefits, I don't know, but if you do have it replaced with a plastic film-foil cap or even a metallised plastic film cap made by a reliable manufacturer (might as well be Solen as the rest) you'll have peace of mind knowing it will not degrade with time. Care needs to be taken, however, to be sure the new capacitor has not disturbed the intended circuit function and thus the replacement capacitor value must be measured to be within tolerance because you never know. A professional with the right test equipment can make the necessary measurements easily and offer guarantees on the speaker operation being within spec. The original caps must be kept in case the resulting sound is not the desired one.

[@kevinbugden7995]

What jumped out at me was the splitting of the edge of the cabinet where the back panel screwed in. They could have drilled pilot holes of the proper size to prevent this.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

I agree. I don’t think they expected that someone would be taking them apart on KZbin 22 years later 😉

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

The sheer amount of audio inside-baseball knowledge that Tarun just throws out casually-

[@WeeWeeJumbo]

It’s another clinic, every episode

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. Much appreciated 😊👍

[@Mickparrysstepdad]

Sorry if this has already been said - The electrolytic capacitor will most likely be on the shunt of the woofers, low-pass filter, so not as important as the one, or ones that are usually in series with the tweeter. A 30uf poly cap would be very big, and very expensive too. Changing the electrolytic cap for a poly 'could' make the sound worse because the ESR of a poly cap is lower, and this will change the frequency response of the low pass filter, and how it sums with the high pass filter. 18mm MDF is probably the most common material used in modern loudspeakers because it's easy to machine, and to achieve a nice finish. A small speaker like the ProAc 1SC would be unlikely to benefit from thicker material or even bracing in such a small enclosure. MDF does resonate quite badly, and all bracing would do is raise the frequency in which it resonates (as well as reducing internal volume). The black stuff stapled to the insides is as you say, to damp resonances. The problem is, you need a lot to make any difference. It's much, much better to use constrained layer damping (CLD), but obviously that would add to the complexity/cost.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

That you Matt. much appreciated. It may have been said before but i doubt as succinctly and articulately as you have put it 😊👍👍

[@evowhite777]

Hi Tarun I'll start of by saying this is one of your best videos so far. The fact that it was about speakers that DON'T interest me but the video kept me; engaged throughout with all your information & general thoughts was excellent. Just one more thing on the video itself is,if you can edit most of your videos to about the 10min mark, I think you'll keep & get more subscribers....a lot of us are too busy listening to our systems to watch 12+ mins videos on KZbin on a regular basis(lol). As for the additional panels you mentioned they look exactly like a thick "Dalmat antivibration panel" to me, as those are what I used on quite a few it my own hifi components & are used by manufacturers to dampen components but as for speakers, I've no idea I'm just a end user - not very technical minded. Cheers fella keep up the stellar work. Oh one last thing I haven't seen/noticed any videos by you on turntables or vinyl records,do own a turntable? #hifi4ever

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi ev, thank you for watching, your kind words of support and constructive criticism. I got rid of my vinyl collection about 15 years ago, I know... 😪😪😪 May look into getting a turntable at some point again in the future when funds allow.

[@evowhite777]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 thanks for your prompt response, that's decent that you're actually taking notice of people. Tarun, I wasn't criticizing I apologise if it came across like that. It's that it's great to have a new(ish) guy on KZbin talking & informing us about hifi that's aren't from North America.... so yeah,I personally want you to succeed at this. For me turntables & vinyl records are my main thing by far, I've only got the CD player as well & that's it so the fact that you still engage someone like me....I could, would never criticize you. #hifi4ever

[@evowhite777]

PS. You deserve way more subscribers but hopefully they WILL come. Cheers.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you ev. I appreciate your support and kind words of encouragement 😁

[@harrydavidson5014]

I owned a set of Proac Studio 100's and my brother owned the 1sc you are talking about. Both these speakers are outstanding and although the character of each is sonically different from each other they both sound amazing when matched to the right kind of equipment. We used Sugden and Audio Note electronics which worked well with both. Both speakers had amazing imaging capabilities and the studio 100 had beautiful mid range. I owned my studio 100's for 24 years and eventually the foam surrounds perished and I opened them up to take out the drivers and re foam them. I was really surprised to see that the cable on the inside of the speaker was from a company called Kelvin Audio and it retailed for around £2 per m. I knew the owner of Kelvin and used to deliver this cable to him. There are two points to this story... 1) Sometimes things are put together by people that really know what they are doing and the outcome is greater than the sum of its parts... 2) if speakers that cost 2k use cheap cable inside what is the point of using expensive speaker cable between the amp and speakers? I see by pausing the video at a certain point that the cable inside the 1sc is also Kelvin which I found interesting.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Archie, I really enjoyed reading you comments. I am inclined to agree with regarding the cables. Thank you for watching and commenting 😉

[@YY-nd8lz]

thanks for the review. Which room size do you suggest for the 1SC

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Small to medium sized rooms. Whatever that means. You want to be 2-3m away from the speakers, forming an equilateral triangle 😊👍

[@kelainefes]

The foam on the inside walls is there to absorb some mid high energy and to make the box acoustically bigger due to how soundwaves travel through it. It basically acts as "heavy air" and gives the box a lower tuning and a less resonant low frequency roll off.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for sharing kelainefes 👍

[@wayman10]

Very good video. I was surprised to see the electrolytic capacitor in the crossover. I think changing the electrolytic capacitor to poly cap and put in more quality resistors will improve the performance.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you. It would be cool to find out but I am a bit sentimental about keeping this pair factory spec 😊👍

[@tonyfrench2574]

Very good as always Tarun

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you so much 😀

[@noco-pf3vj]

That ALCAP electrolytic capacitor is in series with an iron core inductor (blue tape) and a 10-ohm resistor is for Impedance Correction for the woofer. That circuit function is to correct woofer impedance when it's drive by the amplifier, it's not in the signal path, just to control how the woofer reacts, maybe that's why in that circuit Proac only use cheap components (cheap resistor, electrolytic, and iron core inductor). The main problem is the 5.6-ohm resistor on the tweeter signal path, change it with MOX resistor surely will improve the sound. I am no a speaker expert, just happen to try to build a speaker myself and failed to made it sound good, still learning, hehe...

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Faisal. Makes sense 😊

[@MichaelBeeny]

The reason thinner cabinets were used is that it's resonance frequency will be higher and the bitumen panels would easily dampen these higher frequency's. Much easier than trying deal with lower frequency resonance that thicker timber would produce. Used by a number of speakers by the BBC, Spendor, Rogers etc Did reduce boxiness of some speakers.The second capacitor was not a capacitor but in fact a ferrite core inductor. The electrolytic capacitor is a special type called a reversible, made for AC and can be connected either way round.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Michael 😉

[@NeilBlanchard]

The first thing that strikes me about their construction - is the fact that you can remove the back panel at all. Secondly, it has no sealing material there, and only the 12 screws fastening the back on. Is the entire thickness of the sides just 3/4"? It looks like the core is 3/4" (the edge where the 12 screws are) and then a surface finish panel (maybe 1/4" thick?) to provide the fine wood finish surface. The black panels stapled onto the inside appear to be damping in nature; and not structural. So, along with the open cell foam, the inside volume is fairly well damped. Threaded (brass?) inserts for the driver mounting screws is a nice touch. I *think* the last crossover device you speak about is a small (hand wound?) inductor? The wire lead comes off the edge, and the blue tape looks to be a painter's masking tape, used to hold the windings around the (ferrite?) cylinder at the center. You don't mention the port tube that appears to be on the upper part of the back panel - it seems to have a horizontal strut to keep the port tube from moving side to side? The circuit traces are visible through the circuit board, and someone who knows more than me, can speak to the schematic. I'd guess 2nd order on the mid-woofer (the larger inductor and largest black capacitor), with maybe a notch filter (the electrolytic and blue tape wrapped coil(?). The tweeter looks to have a 3rd order crossover, with the smaller inductor and the two smaller black capacitors. If I had to guess, I'd say the inductors are wound in house - the masking tape around them is what makes me think this, which means they could be custom adjusting the inductance value per speaker, to achieve a close match to a reference response. This indicates a lot of care for good quality control. Snell Acoustics was known for doing this.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for provided such a thorough and detailed break down Neil. Much appreciated 😊👍

[@NeilBlanchard]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 No problem! Thanks for giving us a view inside the speaker.

[@stevebodner3729]

Always loved the SOUND of ProAc speakers. I don't care what's in them.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

They have made some great speakers 😊

[@johnstone7697]

The woofer was manufactured by SEAS, not Peerless. And the cone is not a standard polypropylene, but rather a material SEAS calls XP, which is a poly blend. The solid copper bullet and copper plated magnet plates denote SEAS' TOTL Excel motor system that uses copper rings on the pole piece. The "super oval" 14cm chassis is an old design that SEAS discontinued years ago. The driver was exclusive to Proac.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you John 👍

[@chenhnhilai6579]

Hello Tarun, aren't you interestet in upgrading the crossover? Just out of curiousity what your ProAcs may deliver. I would suggest replacing the PP caps and the 5.6ohm resistor. i think that's where you benefit most. My best guess is that the 3,3 and 5uF are in series to the tweeter, so you'd want better caps there, where as the 6,8uF is parallel to the woofer. 5uF isn't a standard value, you may add it together out of 4,7 + 0,33. In general you may mix caps to get the right value or sound but also to lower the cost especially when the values are big. I did upgrade the crossover of my DIY Speakers twice. The latest upgrade just happened two weeks ago. And i'm very happy with it. An important point is that i experienced the effect of different caps myself! I'm still using MOX resistors, but i'm planning to test "better" ones. So which Caps you should buy. Well i would take a look at the website "humblehomemadehifi", many caps reviewed by Tony Gee.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Chenh, having owned the speakers for 22 yrs, nostalgia and sentimentality will probably stop me from tampering with these ones. I will get a check 2nd hand pair of speakers and have a play though 👍

[@frankverschoof8083]

Good drivers! The cabinet is a pity, but the dimensions are ok. I would rebuild the crossover, and brace the sidewalls. check the connectors for iron, that a soundkiller.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Frank 😉👍

[@seagate9705]

Thank you Tarun for your videos , they really are very good.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching and commenting 👍

[@anthonykay5100]

Inspired by your consistent reference to your ProAc’s I’ve hunted a second hand pair down. 1st question do you use any pads between speakers and stands or just sit them directly on stands? Secondly I’ll definitely be looking to swap out all the caps, resistors and that ion core inductor. Binding posts look like they may have ferrous elements to their constitution. But will be certain to give them a good listening to in their stock build first.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Cool 😎 I use a pad between my speakers and stands 😊

[@NickP333]

Well made speaker overall, but I’d like to see non sand-cast resistors and non electrolytics at high at this price point. Solen caps are just fine, but there’s obviously much better caps available for not that much more cost, as long as the value isn’t too high. Love your channel. Your explanations of HiFi components is greatly informative and easily understood. Thank you! Keep up the great work.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Nick 😉

[@danaustin7475]

Like many people suggested, the blue electrolytic cap, the light blue inductor, and the 10 ohm resistor form some kind of relatively broad notch filter. Typically, to nullify the inductance of the woofer's interaction with the crossover, normally only a capacitor in series with a resistor is used. This network also has an inductor, which suggests that it may be applying some amount of EQ to the woofer. On another issue with this speaker, it's not clear what the resonant frequency of the port is, but it appears that a fair amount of midrange energy may be coming out the port and thus getting into the room. Play some music and put your ear up to the port and see if you can hear much midrange energy coming out of it. Try putting some fiberglass insulation in the port. It should reduce the amount of midrange getting into the room from the port, and may flatten the bass peak created by the port. This may result in smoother and even deeper bass. Too much fiberglass will cause too much bass loss. But some loss offset by some bass boost EQ might actually improve the overall bass response. You can try listening to pink noise to easily check out the effects of fiberglass in the port on the bass response.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Dan, yup there seems to be a few contenders for what the electrolytic capacitor is for, including a Zobel network to flatten the woofers impedance or a notch filter. In any case it doesn’t appear to be directly in the signal path and the benefits of upgrading it seem to be small at best. I will have to try the glass fibre in the port and see what difference it makes. Thank you for the suggestion and for watching and sharing your knowledge 👍

[@paulgoodwin1881]

Your reviews and explanation of technical details are exactly right for me to follow. I do so enjoy the channel. I also run pro ac 1sc. If you where to rebuild the crossover I for one would be very interested. My 1sc are some 15 years old, I shudder when I think of having to replace them. Would a rebuilt crossover could extend the life?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Paul, thank you for watching and your generous support of this channel. It is very much appreciated. I am a bit sentimentally attached to these particular speakers, having owned them from new for 22 years. If I get a second pair I would definitely experiment with upgrades. I spoke to Proac if any needed changing after 22 years. They advised me that the speaker should be good for a lifetime (40 to 50 years) if looked after. 😉

[@davebroad642]

I use Proac Tablette sigs from 1999, hard to find anything better. What a great brand.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

My 1SCs are hard to beat as well 😊

[@douglasdorsey8842]

I have the 1SC as well and have enjoyed it for the past 10+ years. I use a Cayin integrated tube amp. Can you tell me what amp you prefer with the 1SC? Great content by the way!!!!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Douglas. Great to learn about what you are using. Nothing has topped my Exposure XXI Pre and XVIII monoblocks in overall performance as yet 😊👍

[@an4418]

Though someone may have already mentioned it but I will write anyway. The mid-woofer is made by SEAS. It is based on the T14RCY/PH with the low distortion EXCEL motor. The crossover component mentioned after the electrolisis capacitor is an iron core inductor. It is a part of a series notch filter along with the electrolisis cap and sandcast resister. The notch fiter is uesd to suppress the output around 1kHz. Of course, soundwise it is better to use air cored inductors and PP caps everywhere, but the valuses needed here are relatively large ,so they would be too big and expensive. Also low ESR is unnecessary. The ESRs are not high enough to meet the designated value for the notch filter, so the resister is added.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi anb4118, thank you. I was under the impression that Proac used Peerless mid/bass woofers but wasn’t 100% sure. With hindsight, I wish I had pointed that out in the video. Thank you for clarifying and pointing out the use of the electrolytic and sandcast resistors 😉

[@99Noggin]

To all those folks saying the back panel mounting holes should have been pre drilled. Because of the layered nature of MDF screwing directly into the edge of MDF sheet will always cause it to split. If pilot holes are made that are sufficiently large to stop splitting completely, the screws will not be able to be usefully tightened before they strip the holes. Ideally there should be an inset frame of plywood or plain pine to screw into but probably too expensive. And the inductance of low resistance ceramic resistors is negligible at audio frequencies. And did you know crossover chokes are noisy? Take the crossover out of a loudspeaker with it still connected and play your favourite track. You’ll be surprised how much sound comes out of those coils. Really they should be vacuum impregnated to stop the coil movement but again I guess cost gets in the way.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Toolcollector 99, thank you for you informative comments 👍

[@michaelwilliams4086]

Thanks for an interesting investigation into the hidden parts of the hi-fi speaker. It would be also be interesting to see what sort of improvements you could achieve by selecting your preferred components to replace the “inferior” ones in the cross overs. It was disappointing to note the cracks emanating from the screw fixing holes on the back. MDF is prone to this, especially if pilot holes are not drilled before fitting the screws. That’s something you would not expect on a relatively expensive item and it would be nice to see the manufacturer adding the step of drilling pilot holes or changing the type of screw fixings to avoid it

[@Rick--A-F]

I was also disappointed by the lack of pilot holes for the rear panel. Once the MDF has split it makes it hard to keep using the same holes. I don't wish to be offensive to ABA, but I don't think he really knows enough about the components and their uses to competently improve the cross overs.

[@juststuff5216]

@@Rick--A-F Improving the cross over is one part. Look at the echo chamber he's in. The first thing I'd do is to get some type of acoustic treatment in their first. It'll do more for that speaker than a new crossover!

[@Anditover]

I'm not in this league at all but I think I've chosen fairly well for a mid priced, flexible set up. My amp is quite old school, Yamaha RX-V2500 (on Pure Direct it does punch above it's weight... allegedly), matched to a Yamaha CDR-HD1300 (I bought my initial set up in 2005 and it's lasted well). I Used to have a Crane Audio set of speakers (Ocean 3 with 4 surround, and a centre), but I matched them to a REL Quake (I figured I would prefer to use a specialist Sub manufacturer). It sounded pretty good, until the tall fronts toppled over whilst moving, and it turned out that although the cases may be bullet proof (unbelievably thick aluminium) the drivers were fragile and if you shook them you could hear them rattling inside... I've now picked up a pair of Audio Bronze 6s, reduced from £699 to £371!! They seem ok, not really given them a full blow out, not as loud as I expected either. I was wondering... have any quality manufacturers of speakers gone down the aluminium case route? Mine did (before they committed suicide) honestly sound pretty tight, the addition of a sub definitely helped, and if only the quality of the internal parts and anchoring had matched the exterior, I'd happily still be using them today. I'm still on the lookout for a decent turntable (I have a cheap modern thing that can connect to my computer!... it does the job), and have recently purchased 2 tape players, a Denon drr M30 and a very old (but works perfectly) Pioneer CT-X430W. The speaker set up is now 5.1, for home cinema, with the Monitor Audios connected directly by hi level cable to the REL.... although with the depth the fronts now possess, the Sub is possibly being swamped. This guy's addictive isn't he? The more you learn, the more you want to learn. Tarun, you're keeping it easy to access, not snotty, and the information provided is relevant, not so stratospheric as to be superfluous.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi John, I really enjoyed reading about your experiences. Thank you for sharing. I think you have pretty well summed up my approach. Hopefully, informative without trying to shove information down peoples’ throat, technical without trying to blind people with science. Ideally a relaxed and safe space for people to exchange knowledge and experience through the comments section. I certainly learn as much from my listeners as they do from me. Thank you once again. 👍

[@willieshaw335]

I had a pair of genuine 2.5 proacs at the time plus I bought the exact drivers although one can never be sure that the original proac is customized fir proac. I built the crossover the same. I even veneered the cabinet in matched mahogany After all that they were not up to the real thing by a long shot

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for the update Will. I suspect Stewart Tyler got SEAS and Peerless to do some mods to his design spec. I believe that was the case with the mid/woofers on my 1SCs. Stewart has always been cagey discussing his designs. You may enjoy this... www.mastersofhifi.com/stewart-tyler-proac/

[@marcelocendoya5486]

The midwoofer is not a Peetless unit. It is a custom unit based on the T14RCY-P SEAS using some parts taken from the Excel line . The tweeter is a custom unit based on Scanspeak D208513. It is a very well respected unit used by old models from Spendor and Naim. If a remenber correctly the version used by the Response 1SC does not used ferroluid.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you Marcelo 😊

[@wiebl5266]

Hi Taran, I wanted to buy the same 1SC after your "Unbiased" review. It's 2nd hand, and we could not agree on the price. So now I'm looking at ProAc Tablette Anniversary, do you have any thoughts on this speaker?

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

The Tablette is a different kind of speaker. Great in the nearfield and close to wall applications 😊

[@wiebl5266]

@@abritishaudiophile7314 would you mind giving me an idea of nearfield distance (in your definition)?

[@aussie_philosopher8079]

In 2021 were still making box shaped speaker cabinets. At least genelec had the bold ambition so think outside the box, also with wave guides too.

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Cool 😎

[@fredsanke4070]

One of the best bookshelf speakers....in the league of Sonus Faber, DynAudio...

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Thank you for watching Fred 👍

[@brandonburr4900]

I remember back in the day many folks were making their own diy versions of these classics along the proactive 2.5. Another classic. Some of these clones were very good copies of the originals. You could buy the drivers from scanspeak and build the cabinets and crossovers. You still see some copies of the 2.5 pop up from time to time. Have always wanted to try a pair of 1sc or 2.5. Someday. Some say they are better than generations that came later. Perhaps you could share your take on that. Thank you for a excellent look at a timeless classic!

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi Brandon, I haven’t heard the Proac Response 2.5’s for years but remember them fondly and they, like my response 1SC were highly regarded at the time. The 1SC was replaced by the D1 and it lost that natural midrange magic of it’s predecessor. They replaced it with the current DB1 trying to recapture the 1SC’s strengths whilst bringing it up to date. I can’t tell you if they achieved this as I haven’t heard the DB1 in a proper listening environment. I did approach Proac about getting one in for review but at present they don’t support reviews on the KZbin platform.

[@Technics68]

I was shocked with the inside of the speakers it looked cheap You could see were the screws hold the back panel on the wood was split and even yourself you were disappointed with some parts inside the speaker housing For the price point i would of expected more But on the outside they look beautiful and i bet they sound brilliant and that's what's matters Great video and thanks

[@abritishaudiophile7314]

Hi technics68, I bet where you are coming from but I suspect I would be similar with other speakers at this price point as well. Ron at New Record Day is doing some great “tear down” videos and it is really interesting to see what you get for your money 😉