Builders' Comments

from Steve:

For what its worth, just a few Supratek style review comments on your speakers. Firstly, it's a very good speaker...probably in the top 5 that we've owned or evaluated. Coherency is right up there with the best, and you get the impression the sound is probably the best you're going to get from the driver compliment used. Imaging is excellent and better than the original Proac 2.5 which had a softer presentation. The players in the soundstage lock-in nicely in their respective positions and do not waiver. I would have to rank this image locking-in ability as 1). Quad ESL; 2). W.A.R Reference One; 3). VAF-i66 &  4). DIY Proac 2.5 . 

The whole sound is very audiophilish and you don't need to make apologies for it. Even the treble which could be characterised as 'raspy' at times, is very special. It has the right amount of attack to make the music interesting at all times, and there's a nice musical harmonic texture to the treble tones. For example, having heard the Proac Response 3.0 with its different tweeter and the Scanspeak 9500 tweeter you have used in other designs, I still feel there is something special about the 2.5 tweeter. These others don't seem to capture your imagination as well.  I also prefer the bass of the 2.5 to most other speakers I've heard. It fills (& energises) the room nicely, and has that soft low extended texture that we like. 

All in all, a truly audiophile speaker like the Reference One with its exotic Raven ribbon tweeter and ceramic Accuton mid, still beats the DIY 2.5 (but not by much!) . In the end, there's no substitute for super hi-end drivers which give you ultimate refinement and microdynamic detail. However, I'm not sure that most people have the ancilliary equipment to reveal these small differences - so they are better off (financially) going for the DIY 2.5 which will do 95% of what the expensive Reference Ones are doing. 

Having said this, the DIY Proac 2.5 makes you re-evaluate your hi-fi priorities. For $1,100AUS you get a $10,000 sound...I mean you can't even buy second-hand at the $1,100 price point to get anywhere the overall sound quality of the DIY Proac 2.5 !

from Draki 

"Yes , I just finished mine ... Crossover with ferrite coils and SCR caps ( with ansar by-pass ), box with triple bracing : and YES , they do perform as expected ! Very revealing , details (for instance , incredibly true stringed instruments ) , highs very pleasant , wide sound stage, vocals "out of the box" . The first couple of hours were "thin" , and it is probably several weeks away from full-scale bass . IMO , extremely good value - for the money and in absolute terms ! Thanks to all who helped by posting details on the system . 
P.S. driven by Tripath digital amp - a very nice match! 

Draki" 

"Posted By: Draki 
Date: 8/14/2001 05:00 

To all interested , I am glad to report that the speakers ( now with over 100 hours in them ) are just getting better ! The bass is all there , and it sounds like a genuine full-range system , of course if used in a suitable room (mine is 25M2). Now that the bass developed , it comes out so naturally that one takes it for granted. As a result , I am amazed that it is the MID-range that cleared up significantly too -they just sound natural , which is the strongest compliment one can assign to a speaker ... It simply involves you into the music." 

An excellent system - thanks again to (Al.M) for sharing it with us . 

from LeeB 

"In addition to Al.M's post on this thread, I can understand your trepidation at investing in a 'new' project such as the ProAc 2.5 clone. 

You can be sure however that this is something that has proved to be very very special! 

With the help of Al.M and other friends here on this board, I'm enjoying my music far more now than ever before with my 2.5 clones!! 

The financial outlay IMHO is far outweighed by the results you will get if you follow the design with the correct drivers and XO as detailed on the DIY 2.5 site. I guess everyone has a different taste in speakers, however after owning many many different speakers, the 2.5 clones are by far the best sounding boxes I've used. Incidentally, I have in the past owned real ProAc response 2.5's and the clone design is pretty damn close. Maybe I enjoy the clones more as I built them and they cost me a hell of a lot less than the real McCoy's. (to build they might cost you only 25% as much for near enough the same speaker!) 

Good luck and keep us posted on whatever you decide to build first!! 

Regards 

Lee B 
Gloucester UK" 

from Al.M 

"As some will know I have tried my own previous DIY clones of these speakers, and this is by far better and is the real one. The sound is very very close (95%) to the real Proac 2.5 I owned a few years ago. Take note everyone, if you have been looking for a special sounding DIY speaker in this category, this is the one to build, all the hard work has been done. You can build this with a high degree of confidence. For experienced DIY builders it is also a chance to find out what is possible in terms of getting the best results from such a 2-way driver combination in terms of coherence and musicality." 

from anonymous

FYI, This is a e-mail I recieved this afternoon from a friend who helped his cousin build a pair of the proac clones for a home recording studio. He is an avid DIY'r and has the usual stash of drivers around the house (some eton's, focals, etc). I preface this by saying I have not heard the speakers nor have I had a chance to measure them so I am in no way to offer any advice or guidance. As they used to say on Dragnet..."only the names have been changed" 

P***, 
The clone ProAcs kick-butt!!!!!!!!!!! Deep-deep bass, incredibly 
natural/smooth tonal balance and super-fine midrange detail, huge soundstage......etc. Sounds just like the real thing, meeting the description as stated in Stereophile. 

This is the best 2-way system I've ever heard and definitely does not sound like a typical project piece. The first CD we listened to was Beck-O'delay. Good-God, who needs a subwoofer with these things???? All the minute details in the mastering of the CD were there; the analog punch-in noise, instrument noise, etc. I can't wait to hear what they sound like after the break-in period. 

G*** is blown away. After the maiden voyage, I went home and listened to Beck on my Missions......They have got to go, now. Screw the Etons, for now, I've got to build some of these ProAcs."