Recently acquired a very well kept pair of original Response 1.5. What a sweet pair of speakers. Compared with the 1sc that I also have, they are more willing, with greater bass extension and not bloated upper bass. Positioning is important since the bass port is located at the back. D15 moved the port to the base and D18 made it side firing at the bottom. I didn't find the rear firing port any issue. Instead I actually find that fun because I have some control over the amount of bass I get. The only slight rant is that the reflex port is right under the speaker posts so the choice of speaker cable is important. Definitely suggest checking all the screws and make sure they are tightly fastened. The same design applies to at least the infamous Response 2.5 as well so I guess it is not a big issue.

BTW, saw a pair of D15 and D25 at a dealer. As mentioned, reflex ports are at the bottom and spikes that lift the unit off the floor have been replaced with cones. All is good except that the nut where the cones attached do not sit flush on the bottom plate but come out by about 2mm. That should be no issue if they are well looked after. However, it appears that they must have been dragged around on the floor without being lifted up. Perhaps it was on a carpeted floor. Therefore, the cones are no longer firmly attached but sways side-to-side with the slightest force. In addition, there are some obvious marks on the cabinets of these lovely speakers. Heart breaking! Take care if you have D15/D18/D25/D28, look after their spikes.

Mids and imaging.

I can use with a stronger bass.

This is a review of the newer Response D15 had it for 5 months and about 200 hrs playing time. I contructed and completed an attic studio in Sept 2003 in view of placing my guitars and planned for a decent audiophile equipments for easy and private listening. Upon completion went around an auditioned speakers and equipment which included Vandersteen 3a, 2a, Sonus fabers, Thiel and Proacs and others. I initially end up with a Proac Studio 125 which was fairly decent but within a few weeks went back to the shop and swapped for a Response D15. I wanted a simple equipment arrangement and had a Prmare I20 amp and a Primare D20 CD player to drive the speakers. It came close to my acceptance but felt something was not showing the true colors of the speakers and upgraded the int amp with the new hybrid Copland CSA 29. After sufficient break in time the D15 came to fully alive. Seperation and imaging was superb. Bass I felt was not as strong as the Proac Studio but was more accurate.High was clear and the mids was something to die for. It was not too engaging which I prefered and no forwardness detected. Everything came together nicely, no fatigue and have been enjoying music for hours since.

Similar Products Used:

Bose, Mission.

Imaging, midrange, coherant, strong tight bass, easy to drive with tubes or ss.

Expensive but worth it

Terrific small two way design. I had the 2.5 for years but needed something smaller for a medium sized room. The 1.5 gives much of the performance of the 2.5 and images a bit better. The 2.5 has better bass, and has a richer midrange, but that would depend on the size of your room. A much better buy than the 1SC with good stands. For a few hundred more you get some real bass and a deeper, richer sound.

Similar Products Used:

Proac 1SC, 2s, 2.5, Audio Physic Virgo, ML Aeon, B&W 805

all but raw bass weight

I cannot bring them to work

there is just a word for these speakers: addictive! I cannot stop listening, specially when there are vocals involved.

Similar Products Used:

A few

Imaging, Midrange,Treble,beautifully crafted

could be more sensitive, 88db at 8ohm nominal is the minimum acceptable

WOW, what a revelation compared to my Boston Acoustics VR-950s (although to be fair the boston's are 1/3 the price)! After > 1 year avg. 2 hours/day listening, I can say that listener fatigue - the audiophile problem from hell- is completely gone from my listening with these guys. I _never_ thought that would happen! Details: Imaging is magnificent, truly eerie sometimes. Often the speakers completely disappear and the soundfield is spread smoothly and evenly across a virtual-soundstage! I can often pick out individual placement of instruments and vocalists between the actual speakers, something I could never do before. Midrange - to die for as they say. Male and female vocals provide all the presence of live- and I listen to live a lot. You can hear the breathiness, lip-smacks, etc. as you would in live. Detail at lower levels is magnificent, so the expressiveness in the human voice is reproduced like no other speakers I've heard. Transients- no not homeless people- I mean the ability of these speakers to recreate the startling dynamics and speed of live music. Drum attacks snap out at you just like a live combo. Bass- to be honest I use a subwoofer and dbx subharmonic synthesizer becuase I often play loud and my tube amp only has 25 wpc. So I cannot comment on the bass, never had these powered adequately to drive the bass with the main amp. Treble- sweet,non-fatiguing but still great resolution and tingle. I swear I can count the rivits on the cymbals.

Similar Products Used:

Boston Acoustics VR-950

Excellent sound, good bass, cristal clear mid range and tweeter.Rock solid construction

A bit expensive but I assume I paid for their general very good quality of construction and components.

I am reviewing the Response D15, not the 1.5 These are extraodinary speakers, very "clean" in sound and in appearance, not too big but with a "big" a cristal sound - and they are not yet fully "broken". The bass they can produce is astonishing, bearing in mind their size and the size of the drivers - I guess mainly because the floorported bass extension - and the midrange is very accurate as is the tweeter. Their appearance is not too appealing but we can not have it all.Great little/"big" speakers

Similar Products Used:

BW's DM 580, Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home

Excellent sound, good bass, cristal clear mid range and tweeter.Rock solid construction

A bit expensive but I assume I paid for their general very good quality of construction and components.

I am reviewing the Response D15, not the 1.5 These are extraodinary speakers, very "clean" in sound and in appearance, not too big but with a "big" a cristal sound - and they are not yet fully "broken". The bass they can produce is astonishing, bearing in mind their size and the size of the drivers - I guess mainly because the floorported bass extension - and the midrange is very accurate as is the tweeter. Their appearance is not too appealing but we can not have it all.Great little/"big" speakers

Similar Products Used:

BW's DM 580, Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home

Fantastic and solid build. Great value

None

To start with the ProAc Response D15 have got to be one of the most attractive floorstanders you will come across. The build is solid and the pair I have came in Cherry wood with a gorgeous wood grain. Upgrading from Monitor 4 (Monitor Audio) these speakers far outclassed what I had even before the break-in period. With D standing for dynamic, this new model is the successor to the Response 1.5 and delivers a heightened level of dynamic performance, adding greater weight and a lively muscularity to its predecessor's open and natural midrange. There is a new 6½ inch ProAc midrange/bass unit features a radical new basket design for higher rigidity and also features a completely reworked magnet and coil assembly. Bass loading is now achieved via a port in the base of the cabinet and plinth, a system used for the first time in a Response model. Four large conical feet support each cabinet, thereby allowing the bass output to be efficiently coupled to the floor as utilised in the ProAc Future range. What's makes these so special is the incredible openess and spaciousness. The level of reproductive detail was incredible. Having listened to B&W's Nautilus 805, Elac 512, and the Response D15, what attracted me most was the sum of the offering (design, sound and value)of the ProAc Response D15. In my point of view the Nautilus was outstanding and clean in the midrange but somehow lacked the low's I was looking for. On the other hand the Elac's were very upfront and open its sea of space age silver and jet tweeters shouted out to you in more ways than one.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor 4, Nautilus 805, Elac 512

Open, detailed and musical.

Lacks lowest bass.

I love these. I owned Vandersteen 2ci''s for years and while those are excellent speakers they don''t have the same level of detail and sheer musicality. I''m rating them a 5 for overall value (assuming you can get them used) and a 4 only because the lack of truly low bass leaves them off the best of the best list. Nonetheless, if you have a moderate sized room and good matching equipment, you will not be disappointed. Sensitive to amplification and will sound bright if that''s the signature of your system. My Adcom GFA 555 was too bright for me and I settled on a Sonographe SA250 which is a very nice amp and comes highly recomended. Many people seem to prefer tubes with these and rumor has that the Proac design team uses tubes.

They are just plain musical!

Partnering equipement

Afer much thinking, I decided to buy me the "real thing" and ended up with these speakers. I used the whole autumn listening to different speakers. All the speakers I tried are good, but I eventually bought the Proac`s. The first speaker I skipped was the NHT 2.5. The sounded good , but somewhat coloured in comparison with the Proac`s. The Sonus Faber Signums were good but lacked bottom. The Audio Physic`s sounded friskier but didnt settle in that well with my amplifier. The Proacs are just right! The are wonderfully coherent and the imaging is top notch. I tried them also with a Cary amplifier set and tubes are exactly so good with Proac as they say! Magnificent! My budget didnt reach that far so I had to settle with an YBA Integre DT. That was almost as good, but just almost.....

System: YBA Integre DT amplifier. YBA Special cd player. Thorens 320 (Rega 300, Audiotechnica OC9) turntable. Wireworld Eclipse III interconnects and Wireworld Equinox III speakercable.

Similar Products Used:

Sonus Faber Signums, Audio Physics TempoII,
NHT 2,5.