HeavyMantra
Member
SM100 paired with Yamaha A-S2100. Thoughts? I'm mostly interested in listening at very low volume and I have a poor understanding of amps, speaker sensitivity and so on.
Who's heard the new ProAc SM100's?
- Thread starter Cereal Killer
- Start date
Cereal Killer
432
Will be just fine, they don’t take much to drive them, the SM100s are also best used within a 2m listening distance
persona non grata
New Member
Hey guys,
New person here. I hope it is appropriate to share my thoughts on the SM100.
First I wanted to say thank you to everyone in this thread that contributed. Your posts helped in making a purchasing decision a lot easier.
I have a long history with two-way bookshelf/monitor speakers. I mostly spent time in the Dynaudio world with a few different models. The Special Fortys, Confidence C1 Platinum, Heritage Special, BM15, etc. Each of these speakers had their own merits but I could never vibe with them longterm. I think it was a combination of their voicing and the MSP material on the woofers which made me start looking at different brands. The cones just lacked the naturalness and detail, but made bass too spongy, bouncy pillowy like. The snap of snares just sounded too soft. So the combination of dryness (the Heritage Special were extremely dry sounding), with the lack of musicality, softness of transient attacks, absence of detail, were just dealbreakers. So I gave up on Dynaudio.
But I never gave up on soft dome tweeter type of speakers. I do not like other tweeters especially metal domes. Soft domes are superior to me in their timbre, detail, naturalness and the lack of fatigue.
After doing some research into different cone materials, I settled on trying to find a speaker that used paper cones. I purchased a pair of cheap NHT SuperOnes earlier this year to hear how a soft dome mated with a paper cone woofer would work and just fell in love with how natural they sounded in the midband. However I was looking for more resolution.
There isn't a whole lot of speakers on the market that have soft dome tweeters and paper cone woofers. You have ATC and Quested, however, in the case of ATC, you have to fork over a ton of money to get a pair of active speakers that can give you enough bass extension. The SCM20's simply do not extend low enough for me. I would only consider the SCM50 and up but that's pretty much the price of a new car. Quested I kept reading about how the Morel tweeters they use are a bit dull and dark, which was a dealbreaker as I was looking for lively treble.
Anyway so browsing on pro audio retailer websites like Sweetwater and Vintage King, I found a pair of the ProAc SM100. Here was a speaker that had all the requirements I needed but was a bit on the expensive side (when you include the amplification needed). I prefer passive speakers over active because you don't have to deal with noise, THD, any kind of phase shift issues, sending your signal through low cost electrolyitcs and other parts. Passives will reveal more.
So I purchased the speakers and got the ATC P1 amplifier. My current setup is a Dangerous Music Convert-2 DAC feeding ATC P1 amplifier and the SM100s.
Man oh man am I in love with the SM100s.
Right off the bat I immediately notice the lively forward treble. But there is so much treble detail being presented from the mix, not even the Dynaudios resolved as much information as the SM100s do.
The midrange just has this inner warmth and body to it that I've never gotten before with other two ways. Like if you listen to The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony, the way it resolves the strings just has this beautiful musicality to it, you can hear how warm those violins are on the recording itself. The timbre is spot on. I love the transients and attacks, electric guitars no longer sound like they are being suffocated by a warm soft blanket or drums aren't being pounded on pillows. It's a lot more accurate.
But tonality, is very v-shaped. I am hearing some of that "boom-tczhh" that was a criticism of the original 100s, but doesn't bother me. There is a bit of boominess in the midbass and yes the treble is forward and pronounced while the midrange is recessed. However I like this presentation as I do prefer a brighter speaker. And even though the midrange is recessed it still sounds immediate, engaging, natural and involving. I've gotten goosebumps with these speakers that I never did before.
These are also an extremely resolving set of speakers. The amount of detail is unbelievable and even cable differences are revealed (I swapped out some speaker cables and there was a noticeable difference). And they also have exceptional imaging.
tl;dr love the SM100s
+ Lively treble but still smooth to not be fatiguing on the ears
+ Natural midrange that has a tinge of inner warmth that imparts musical richness
+ Detailed, taut bass that doesn't ever become "one-note bass" that is common with a lot of small bookshelf speakers. Good extension for its size.
+ Excellent timing
+ Great dynamics and transient punch
= V-shaped tonality and treble emphasis may not be everyone's cup of tea.
- Just a bit on the boomy side in the midbass
- can get boxy at super loud volumes in a bigger room
So yeah I think I have finally found my endgame speakers.
New person here. I hope it is appropriate to share my thoughts on the SM100.
First I wanted to say thank you to everyone in this thread that contributed. Your posts helped in making a purchasing decision a lot easier.
I have a long history with two-way bookshelf/monitor speakers. I mostly spent time in the Dynaudio world with a few different models. The Special Fortys, Confidence C1 Platinum, Heritage Special, BM15, etc. Each of these speakers had their own merits but I could never vibe with them longterm. I think it was a combination of their voicing and the MSP material on the woofers which made me start looking at different brands. The cones just lacked the naturalness and detail, but made bass too spongy, bouncy pillowy like. The snap of snares just sounded too soft. So the combination of dryness (the Heritage Special were extremely dry sounding), with the lack of musicality, softness of transient attacks, absence of detail, were just dealbreakers. So I gave up on Dynaudio.
But I never gave up on soft dome tweeter type of speakers. I do not like other tweeters especially metal domes. Soft domes are superior to me in their timbre, detail, naturalness and the lack of fatigue.
After doing some research into different cone materials, I settled on trying to find a speaker that used paper cones. I purchased a pair of cheap NHT SuperOnes earlier this year to hear how a soft dome mated with a paper cone woofer would work and just fell in love with how natural they sounded in the midband. However I was looking for more resolution.
There isn't a whole lot of speakers on the market that have soft dome tweeters and paper cone woofers. You have ATC and Quested, however, in the case of ATC, you have to fork over a ton of money to get a pair of active speakers that can give you enough bass extension. The SCM20's simply do not extend low enough for me. I would only consider the SCM50 and up but that's pretty much the price of a new car. Quested I kept reading about how the Morel tweeters they use are a bit dull and dark, which was a dealbreaker as I was looking for lively treble.
Anyway so browsing on pro audio retailer websites like Sweetwater and Vintage King, I found a pair of the ProAc SM100. Here was a speaker that had all the requirements I needed but was a bit on the expensive side (when you include the amplification needed). I prefer passive speakers over active because you don't have to deal with noise, THD, any kind of phase shift issues, sending your signal through low cost electrolyitcs and other parts. Passives will reveal more.
So I purchased the speakers and got the ATC P1 amplifier. My current setup is a Dangerous Music Convert-2 DAC feeding ATC P1 amplifier and the SM100s.
Man oh man am I in love with the SM100s.
Right off the bat I immediately notice the lively forward treble. But there is so much treble detail being presented from the mix, not even the Dynaudios resolved as much information as the SM100s do.
The midrange just has this inner warmth and body to it that I've never gotten before with other two ways. Like if you listen to The Verve's Bitter Sweet Symphony, the way it resolves the strings just has this beautiful musicality to it, you can hear how warm those violins are on the recording itself. The timbre is spot on. I love the transients and attacks, electric guitars no longer sound like they are being suffocated by a warm soft blanket or drums aren't being pounded on pillows. It's a lot more accurate.
But tonality, is very v-shaped. I am hearing some of that "boom-tczhh" that was a criticism of the original 100s, but doesn't bother me. There is a bit of boominess in the midbass and yes the treble is forward and pronounced while the midrange is recessed. However I like this presentation as I do prefer a brighter speaker. And even though the midrange is recessed it still sounds immediate, engaging, natural and involving. I've gotten goosebumps with these speakers that I never did before.
These are also an extremely resolving set of speakers. The amount of detail is unbelievable and even cable differences are revealed (I swapped out some speaker cables and there was a noticeable difference). And they also have exceptional imaging.
tl;dr love the SM100s
+ Lively treble but still smooth to not be fatiguing on the ears
+ Natural midrange that has a tinge of inner warmth that imparts musical richness
+ Detailed, taut bass that doesn't ever become "one-note bass" that is common with a lot of small bookshelf speakers. Good extension for its size.
+ Excellent timing
+ Great dynamics and transient punch
= V-shaped tonality and treble emphasis may not be everyone's cup of tea.
- Just a bit on the boomy side in the midbass
- can get boxy at super loud volumes in a bigger room
So yeah I think I have finally found my endgame speakers.
Nice review of the SM-100s!
I'v had the Studio1s, Supertowers, (both with MB Quart titanium tweeters) the 'soft dome' Studio 100s and now have Dynaudio Special 25s. I too slightly prefer the natural sound of paper cone mid/woofers but I find the Dynaudio Esotar tweeter is way more revealing and smoother than the ones on the ProAcs.
The fact that ATC, ProAc and Dynaudio are found in many recording studios say something about their value.
Cereal Killer
432
I still remember my SM100's with great fondness, cracking speakers personally developed by the late great Stewart Tyler.
persona non grata
New Member
Hi I see you have Dutch & Dutch 8c's in your signature line. I think in this thread you said you sold SM100s for a DIY set of loudspeakers? What happened to those? Are you using 8c's currently or your DIY setup? Curious what kind of drivers you used for your DIY speakers.
Special 25s are fantastic speakers, probably the best bookshelves Dynaudio ever made. Really nice crossover in those too.
Cereal Killer
432
Hi i used Volt BM228.8 and ScanSpeak D2905-990000. cross-over components from Supersound and Volt. Port tuned to 38hz in a 22L cabinet.
Sold them when moving back to active speakers.
Sold them when moving back to active speakers.
persona non grata
New Member
Volt woofers are killer! How are you liking the Dutch & Dutch 8c's?
Cereal Killer
432
The 8c's are spectacular, I'm finding them considerably better (from memory) than the ATC 50s i had a some time back.
MarceloEduardo
New Member
Hello everyone,
I have been thinking on upgrade my current stereo speakers (a pair of Anthonny Gallo Reference A/V) for a bookshelfs and ProAc still reminds me an excellent choice.
I would like to know about SM100, if someone has set up in a dedicate medium size room (4,5m x 5,5m) and how it works fed by solid state amplification, as most recommend a tube amplification (I currently use a AB integrated amplifier from a local craftman which delivers 160w/8ohms and 275w/4ohms, and do not have plans to replace). I know a pair of stands is needed and I have plans to get a pair of Atacama HMS 2.1 if there is no better suggestion.
Finally, has anyone compare this one with Response D2R and can share some thoughts about dynamic, presence and neutrality characteristics between both? For any consideration, my musical preferences lies on jazz, classic pop and rock and electronic/instrumental (ie. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Jarre, etc).
Thanks in advance.
Marcelo
I have been thinking on upgrade my current stereo speakers (a pair of Anthonny Gallo Reference A/V) for a bookshelfs and ProAc still reminds me an excellent choice.
I would like to know about SM100, if someone has set up in a dedicate medium size room (4,5m x 5,5m) and how it works fed by solid state amplification, as most recommend a tube amplification (I currently use a AB integrated amplifier from a local craftman which delivers 160w/8ohms and 275w/4ohms, and do not have plans to replace). I know a pair of stands is needed and I have plans to get a pair of Atacama HMS 2.1 if there is no better suggestion.
Finally, has anyone compare this one with Response D2R and can share some thoughts about dynamic, presence and neutrality characteristics between both? For any consideration, my musical preferences lies on jazz, classic pop and rock and electronic/instrumental (ie. Tangerine Dream, Vangelis, Jarre, etc).
Thanks in advance.
Marcelo
You cannot go wrong with the SM100s. Many recording studios still use them and also the older Studio100s. It is one of the last pearls from late Stewart Tyler. 200w amplifiers are perfect for them.
MarceloEduardo
New Member
Any more comments or feedbacks ? Thanks a lot!