Well, I got back on the trail, turned out to be an interesting experience.
I chose Criterion Audio in Cambridge as the dealer as they are not too far away from London, and have most Proac models, as well other makes that might be a suitable alternative (PMC, Spendor, Kef, Falcon).
They allowed me to take my amp,speakers and cabling to do direct comparisons.
Very friendly and knowledgeable staff, no pressure to buy, they want happy customers.
There were three different rooms of differing size and shape, this turned out to be crucial, as the same speaker could sound very different. The initial room turned out to be a bad match for mine, but the smallest one turned out to be a very good one.
Anyway, in that initial room, the speakers that impressed the most were, in this order, the Proac D30R, Spendor D7.3, PMC 25.24i, PMC 25.23i. The Proac D20R, DB3 and Falcon LS3/5a pretty much got swallowed in the room.
The Spendor had a very detailed sound, and really excellent bass, and looked good too. They allowed me to take a pair home, just to get a good flavour of how they sounded. I did like them a lot, but compared to the Proac D18s that I own, despite having a much preferable bass, there was something missing in the midrange, and the treble was sticking on the tweeters, which I found very distracting. Having said that, I could have lived with them, they are super easy to place and don’t boom.
So next, I tried the D30Rs. They looked a whole lot bigger in my room (18x15ft), and the sound was biiiig, epic even. A bit too epic! I could feel the air pressure, and the bass was rattling the furniture. They sounded glorious though, but the Mrs was not having them, based on their size and the sanity of everybody else in the house.
I was a bit deflated, but, somewhat impressed by the lively and fun sound we heard from the PMC 25.23i, and their diminutive size, tried them next.
Initially I thought these might be the ones, but the more I listed, the more I became uneasy. Very forward and detailed, and impressive lower bass, but for me lacking in body, and kind of artificial sounding, especially compared to Proac. No doubt there are combinations that could work really well with them, but at £4K a pair, did not think they represented good value.
After giving my feedback, we decided to give the Proac D2RS a shot, and have another get together to take stock.
Alas, they did not sound like a smaller D30, much darker sounding, and very strong mid bass, too much for me. They sounded good very close up, but that was not how I would place them in reality. I really wanted to like these more, but after a solid week with them, I knew they were not for me.
So back to the store, this time we decided to try the smaller room. I was thinking of trading in my Tablettes, but one of the guys set them up in that room with a Naim Atom, and put them on decent Atacama HMS stands.
I was blown away how good they sounded, and I think he knew I would be. A comparison with the DB3 (meant to be its replacement) showed them to be very different, the DB3s being much softer sounding, less resolving and oddly, weaker bass. I guess they are aimed at somebody who really wants to relax in a small room.
Then we tried the new Tablette SE, which sounded nothing like the Anniversary and even less like the DB3. More detailed, but very little bass. I kind of enjoyed them, but found them somewhat fatiguing in comparison. Could be great in a very small room.
The Falcons were smoother, warmer, but still sounding a bit lightweight. Think they need either tube amps or very high end solid state to get the best out of them, but not a direction I was heading in.
At this point I thought I had come full circle, but then it was suggested I try the forgotten about D20Rs in the smaller room. I was not too hopeful given how I got on with the D2s, but as it turned out, that was a bingo moment. They sound very different, the bass was powerful but way more in control, wider and deeper image, more lively. OK, took them for a home trial, the end result being I bought a pair, they are just what I was looking for all along. The have the extra clarity and refinement above the D18s, and the bass does not boom, the sound completely escapes the speakers, unlike Spendor/PMC, with the electronics I use (Moon).
I kept the Tablettes because they were too good to give away, there will be times when I will want to give them a spin, but I finally found speakers that I prefer to them.
Anyway, the age old lesson is - demo at home, and try as many as you can bear! There is something for everyone.