A Little History

ProAc has been in the business of making handmade British loudspeakers since 1979. The lead designer and head of the company is one Stewart Tyler. A man I have never had the pleasure to speak with but would certainly love to do so.

ProAc is based in Northamptonshire England which is smack dab in what is referred to as the Midlands. This area is historically known for its manufacturing with companies like Wheetabix and Siemens having a presence there. At one point the area was renowned for making boots and shoes and even now is still the home of that famous shoe brand Dr. Martens, but I digress.

Let’s Chat About The Response 2.5

What we are here to discuss today is The ProAc Response 2.5 designed by Stewart Tyler, a loudspeaker designer who’s products are highly thought of around the world and not just by audiophiles. The 2.5 is arguably one of Mr. Tyler’s most prolific designs based on the amount of information one can find online about how to clone these speakers. And also telling are the residual values placed on these speakers after more than 20 years.

The 2.5s are beautiful speakers however they will never win anybody’s idea of sexy like say, Kef’s Blades. They are boxy and tall, clad in mahogany veneer on three sides. The back is a semi gloss black. The plinths are covered on all sides with the veneer even the bottom! One of the things that I like about these speakers is that the veneer is in a natural finish or in the nude if you prefer it and I do. In an age of ever better-performing floor standers in ever smaller boxes, I would describe the ProAcs as neither large nor small size wise. I suppose if you are keeping score at home it must mean they are just right.

The design is one of offset teeters towards the center of the stage to aid in the reduction of sidewall reflections. It is your run of the mill two way bass reflex cabinet with the speaker ported in the back roughly 2/3rds of the way up. Spikes for these speakers are of the somewhat beefy M8 variety.

The Nitty Gritty

And just what did Mr. Tyler accomplish when designing this loudspeaker? Well at least to this humble reviewer he designed one of the most full range two way speakers that I have ever heard! The dynamic range is incredibly good considering we are talking about a traditional two way design, i.e. a design that is the purview of much smaller stand mounted monitors or bookshelf speakers if you prefer. The pair that I have routinely go below 30Hz! In my living room! 30Hz and below is only found in movie soundtracks and church pipe organs. From 16 to 32Hz are felt more than heard as long as you are amplifying the signal appropriately.

And it’s not just about dynamic range either. The seemingly effortless transitions this loudspeaker makes going back and forth between the tweeter and the woofer could be construed as downright magical! This is referred to as voicing. Voicing is one of the most challenging aspects of loudspeaker design. Anyone can throw a couple of drivers into some sort of container and get sound. But where the woofer hands off to the tweeter and vise versa is where the real sorcery happens. And if we are referring to the voicing ability of the Response 2.5s then Stewart Tyler must be a Sorcerer Supreme. There are a lot of textural terms that you will hear hifi people bandy about when referring to the sounds that speakers are known for and hopefully I will not disappoint with the 2.5s. Before we get to the music (what else would you be reading this for), let’s discuss my reference kit and set up.

Set Up And Gear

The loudspeakers are roughly 7’ (2.1m) apart and and the chair is equidistant between the loudspeakers at approximately 8.5’ (2.6m) away.

My reference kit is a Parasound Halo Integrated, Oppo UDP-203 (via Audioquest 1m Water interconnects), A stock Rega P2 with a Dynavector 10×5 cartridge, Mac mini via USB (Audioquest forest) to the onboard DAC in the Parasound and Transparent Super MM2 bi-wire cables in 15’ (4.5m) lengths.

Music

Reviewers love to use textural words to describe music. I can assure you that a lot of musicians do this as well. When I talk to other guitar players I always describe my tube head as being “spongy” and that is one of the things I love about my guitar gear. The textural map that I would use with these loudspeakers are: Honeyed, lush and authoritative. Let’s discuss that in more detail.

The Response 2.5s are magical speakers to these ears indeed! The top end is not forward or laid back but just right. Enough sizzle when you want it but not so far forward that fatigue sets in after the first 1/2 hour your listening. For example, Mina Agossi’s vocals on I Don’t Want to Be Alone from the album UrbAfrika is lovely. Her voice has plenty pep and bite without trying to beat it into your ears. Even the cymbal hits have just enough sizzle to keep you right in the middle of the music.

The midrange, of course, is divine. How could it not be? This is a hand built loudspeaker made in England by the hands of men from the Midlands of Northamptonshire. Of course, the mids are bloody brilliant, as they should be. The sound is lush but not thick. Every note is full and separate; you never have to worry about the speakers throwing everything your listening to into a hot wet mess of a ball. My example for mids if you will indulge me is Children of the Grave – Black Sabbath, Master of Reality. On 180-gram reissue remastered vinyl this song gives you all the midrange you can handle from Tony Iommi’s crushing English EL-34 power tube chords to Geezer Butler’s PDQ upper mid bass lines to Bill Ward’s insanely good timbale lick on the drums. All of it lush and liquidy good (I think I may have just made new word there) and all with their space to breath in the soundstage.

Have I not mentioned the bass yet? Well, have mercy on me. I need to tell you the best part. In an age where everyone says that a subwoofer is a necessary evil at the very least, I say nay! Get thee behind me sealed box, passive, ported demon! If you want all the chunky low end that you deserve, then I can’t recommend these speakers enough. Out of a two way no less! With a 7” woofer for cryin’ out loud. Pick out your favorite bass head track, I like One of These Days – Pink Floyd/Meddle and crank it up. Now in all fairness, I am sitting in my recliner which is seated on a 50-year-old oak floor, and these ProAcs are on spikes in cups coupled to said floor. The low end is massive yet still taut and not out of control in the slightest. On my reference gear nothing loosens up until I start dipping in to the 20s, yes it’s that kind of bass. Bass that wraps itself around you like a warm blanket but doesn’t smother you, comfy you could say.

Final Thoughts

So I should say a couple more things before I wrap this review up. The imaging with these speakers is excellent but not the best I have heard. This doesn’t detract from the value of the speakers at all, but it does need mentioning. I find that the 2.5s have superb depth front to back as well as the soundstage being quite wide and fills up my living room quite readily.

I have to try to come up with some note to end on so here goes. The Response 2.5s come with an open soundstage with plenty of detail, lush midrange just dripping with British goodness and authoritative bass that will shock you with how deep and how good it is when you listen to them.

I have listed all the dimensions and specs for these speakers that I can verify and or are reasonably certain of. I cannot find what the RMS running power for these is and would love to know it. Also if anyone perhaps has an original spec sheet or manual that has survived for the last 20 some odd yearsI would love to see it. If you have any questions or comments, let me know and I hope you enjoyed the review.

Specifications