Musicality, precision, size, looks

longish break-in, not sure how kid friendly (we're due in November with our first)

Each person's ears and home acoustics are different so I must say that you need to listen to broken-in demo gear in your home listening room with your home equipment. I am pleased with these speakers and do not miss the extra bass of the ProAc2.5's expecially since the 1.5's are maneuvarable and I can position them into the room for critical listening. (the 2.5's are bit too heavy for ease of movement).

Each instrument and voice can be clearly heard, and paired with the Musical Fidelity A300 integrated these sound as musical as any speaker that I auditioned. I have listened for hours without any hint of fatigue and the extra special kick is that they sound great at almost any listening volume. The imaging is deep and one can sense the physical presence of the musicians.

A musician friend was visiting and commented from another room how you could easily hear each instrument separately.

There is absolutely no buyers remorse and I can honestly say that they look great, the fit and finish are superb. My wife is very pleased with the looks and size. I also think that the combo with the Musical Fidelity A300 is a bang for the buck knockout.

To my ear, and for the kind of music I listen to, these sound almost as good as the 2.5's and are a lot less money.

Similar Products Used:

demo'd against ProAc2.5, Thiel, PSB Gold, Paradigm, B&W 804

with due respect to the other reviewers, this is a great speaker at the price point. But it does not create nearly the same “you are there” feeling as the 2.5’s (nor does it have the same bass either – agreed). On its own, it is wonderfully ProAc - easy to listen to, clean midrange, super imaging, and nice tonal accuracy – oh yea, and great cabinetry. But a 2.5 short of bass, really it is not. It does deserve five stars however, because it’s an exceptional small floorstander for an appropriate room.

Build, Musicality, Woody tone, sweet mids and top

Price and size taken into account there is none.

Congratulations to Proac,I believe this is the best speaker I have heard at its price, (AND PROBABLE A LOT MORE),for mine it is better than the Response 2.5
The build quality is what you would expect from Proac,(second to none).
Sweet top and mids, the bass is solid and tight, image well infact they disappear, but as with all Proac speakers they make great music.
Sadly though Proac speakers are not readily available in Australia, (hopefully this can be rectified). I had to purchased them on reviews and reputation, a big $6000 gamble, "yes". It was suggested that I was crazy for buying speakers I had not heard, maybe I was, but they same freind has just ordered a pair. I love them, they sound stunnig. They are worthy of 5 stars.

Similar Products Used:

Vienna Accoustics, Sonus Faber, Silverline, Audio Physic, Proac Response 1sc & 2.5

Best sound image I can find; Very musical and detailed; Georgeous finish.

Price is on the high side. Better for serious listner

I have spent last 2 months looking for a pair of floorstand that can replace my Harbeth LS 3/5A, which is 7 years old and I believe it's still one of best bookshelfs I have ever heard.
As a serious listner for mostly classic music, I have audited a few speakers that I can find thru local(sometimes even above and beyond city limit). I have to appreciate my girl friend bear with me for this relatively long search period. I has set my goal to find a pair of speakers that can get along well with tube and around $2000(plus/minus $500)
Since I am not a stereophile and never want to be one, I hereby only provide my listening experience for your info. The test CDs included:

The last recital, Nathan Milstein, TELDEC
Carl Off, Carmina Burana, Robert Shaw, TELARC
Albinoni Adagio, Herbert von Karajan, DG
Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Friedrich Gulda, Decca
Speaking with Angel, Mary Black, Curb

1. Magnepan 1.6
Initially I was under the impression Magnepan is another product that focused on home theater customers. After listening above CD, surprisingly the speakers can sing different type of music quite well. I believe its bottom is not enough for most stereophile or rock&roll/Jazz people but it's ok with me. The sound is clear and staging is open. However, it didn't pass my requirement for piano, it happens to be my favorite instrument. The piano just sounds flat and lack of life for any performance. The dealer was using Wadia CD player and Audio research to drive it. I assume both are expensive and fine items.

2. Solioquy 5.3
Obviously there are a lot of good words for it. It's beautifully built and has strong bottom. I can hardly drive it with my old Dynaco 70. The sound is normally fine sometimes muffles a little bit. I already kept it 3 feets away from the wall, so I guess the bass is harder to define. I am wondering if it's a good match for tube amp since I found my conclusion holds when I listened at dealer's place.

3. Hales revelation 3
Another one has strong bottom, which potentially makes the treble sounds extremely high. Midrange is not very impressive based on my relatively shorter listening period. The finish is acceptable for me but not for my girl firend. So no dice.

4. Ruark Prologue one R
I was also impressed with this pair of speakers that primarily are sold to home theater market. The sound is a little bit sweet and easy to drive. Bass is also will presented. The only problem is it doesn't provide as much detail as ProAc 1.5.

Actually none of speakers I audited provide as much details as ProAc 1.5. None of those has the image focus like PraAc 1.5(I guess you get greater soundstage from floorstand but lose some image focus that a bookshelf has as well). I am not sure how ProAc can do this - the image acutally is as good as my LS 3/5A and of course much better bottom. The bottom is very tight and well defined. However, I still think LS3/5A's vocal is 2nd to none.

Imaging, Natural Balance, Soundstage, Articulate bass.

Best with valve Gear.

This Speaker It´s one of the great bargains of Hi-end when is properly matched. It´s very valve friendly thanks to a fair impedance curve and suits perfectly the "sound character" of the vast majority of SET designs. I run my pair with a pair of Cary SE300-LX20 monoblocks and drives me to audiophile heaven. The sound it´s VERY transparent and sweete, with a cavernous and hyperprecise soundstage plenty of ULTRAmicroscopic detail. My speakers were tweaked with the change of the internal wiring to Nordost SPM Reference top-of-the-line speaker cable (3500$ with the SPM)...and What a diference! Waaay more detail and deeeper soundstage along with more precise and natural timbre and vocals...A purer sound at the end. My previous speaker were the ProAc Response 2.5. The 2.5 has more bass with a slightly more articulate character...but in every other way the 1.5 It´s a better speaker with my system (and my amps PERFECTLY drove the 2.5).
The 1.5 are above all natural sounding speakers

Similar Products Used:

Mainly ProAc Response 2.5 and many others models from too many brands to name.

My second review of the Proac 1.5

I feel I have to write a follow up based on what I feel after listening to the speakers for 10 months. There are nothing that changes my findings initially in this second review, it is more of a general description of the speakers as I know them by now.
We are clearly talking about high end performance. The speakers has a very even frequency response, no part of the frequency range is exaggerated or presented poorly. The midrange is very articulate and has an almost “fluid” quality. Voices are presented in a very natural fashion and comes alive. The speakers are very capable in the bass region, especially when you consider the size of the speakers. The bass is free from coloration that often weakens the midrange performance. The top is sweet without any nasty shocks.
But the best part and a quality I crave in any system is the holographic and very huge soundstage! Musicians are also pinpointed. Very few speakers does this better.
The speakers works very fine within my system:

YBA Intergre DT
YBA Special (heavily modified with a new clock an a external power supply)
Wireworld Equinox III and Eclipse III cables.

My “concerns” comes in comparison with some other speakers (most of them much more expensive).
The only speakers that are any better or as good in creating a big soundstage are Audiophysic Virgo, Sonus Faber Electa Amator and perhaps Accoustic Energy AI signature. Other speakers present more detail, especially in the treble. I can buy speakers here in Norway that uses the very best elements, such as the Scanspeak Revelator or 9800 tweeter for less money than I used on The Proacs. These designs are probably more detailed and transparent than the 1.5s but they looses out somewhat in the emotion department. (The tweeters mentioned are used in accomplished designs as the Revel Saloon and the most expensive Vandersteen models)
I have recently listened to speakers such as the Proac Future 2 and Wilson Witt (two veryyy good speakers) and I love the fact that my Proacs delivers 90 percent of the performance offered by these two models!
If (when) I upgrade my system I would probably choose bigger Proacs, the Virgo or perhaps the Electa Amator. They have all the qualities I am looking for, but for now I`m very happy with the 1.5s. You could use much more cash on other speakers without improving the performance of your system in my opinion.