ProAc Studio 140 too bright (?)

'Downgrade' to the 125s. They're as far from being harsh as you can imagine. Very pleased to get mine for a great price secondhand after auditioning a ton of more modern speakers that were just too bright for my tastes. I can listen to the Proacs all day, every day.

The only issue with mine is they need space around them, or the bass gets bloated pretty quickly. Tons of bass, though, for such small drivers.

 

Hi gents,

and a happy new year to you all! Here is my story continues: from hi-fi crisis to hi-fi heaven!
Before the Xmas holiday I had enough time to further experiment with my system without any success. I was disappointed and clueless. And then I thought myself: the ProAc as a premium manufacturer of speakers can not be that bad! And the same applies for the PrimaLuna: tons of positive feedback on the web. One of the highest average score (4,95/5 !!!) on audioreview:
http://www.audioreview.com/cat/ampl...rimaluna/prologue-two/prd_324081_2717crx.aspx

Something must be wrong in my system. But I couldn't figure it out and accepted as a fact. I decided that I sell the speakers so I went listening new and second hand speakers. Everywhere I brought the PrimaLuna and my Sony cd player. At one place I was offered to use some extra power chords. I refused because I didn't see the point. I know that hifi people use extra expensive power cables but as an electronic engineer I couldn't justify the price and couldn't find an explanation (from x hundred kilometres far away from the power plant (equals x hundred kilometres of different wires and cables) what the last 1,5m cable could do? and in the hifi components there is straight a power supply unit with AC/DC conversion so what is on the AC side does not matter...). Than I plugged in the two cables (Esprit Eterna a French brand) into the PL and Sony. The difference was HUGE. NIGHT AND DAY. The flat, lifeless, dull performance became a vivid, 3d and involving listening session. I couldn't believe to my ears. Again, it wasn't a subtle difference but very very big... So ladies and gentlemen power cables do work. How? I don't know. Please somebody put a Ph.D. thesis on this topic.
I went home and asked my hifi buddy to lend me some power cables. I also took an extension cable from the main junction box into my listening room. Thick and expensive power cables into the Sony and PL: the system shines and plays music!!! Vinyl and cds were unbearably ear-piercing before now they are relaxed and balanced. Still a little bit bright but absolutely acceptable. This can be tweaked now with some tube rolling but even without that the result is very satisfying. I can do now what I ever wanted: listen music for hours one disc after another! I am re-discovering my cd and lp collection.
My conclusion: never give up! Both the PrimaLuna and ProAc a little bit forward and bright. Also the ProAc will show cruelly everything in your system: both good and bad. And they had to be served very well: with average front-end the sound of the speakers will be average.
Now there is time to hunt for some good quality power chords...

My best regards

 

Most interesting. Thanks for sharing. Hadn't even considered the power cord aspect, and can't really understand the reasons behind apparent effect it has had, but hats off to your perseverance and glad it worked out!

Would you say the cords improved the amp and CD player in equal measure, or more effect on the amp? Seems quite significant.

 

If you live in a house pull a simple extension lead from the main house junction box up to your hifi gear. Plug in the components (check the live wire!) and listen. This should bring an improvement. Costs zero if you have an extension cable long enough
If you live in an apartment try to lend some good quality power cables and see if they work in your system. This is system dependant and subjective like everything in this hobby . But worked for me very well.
Where a good power cable makes a bigger impact? I dunno. I didn't try the Sony only or the PL only with the Esprits. Maybe it is a bit more important for the source but I can't confirm that. Give them both premium mains cables and you won't regret...!

 

Would be interesting if you could try the PL standard/upgrade cord in isolation and ID the specific effect. I tried a friend's Russ Andrews power cord on an old amp and found no notable difference so it's not been an area I've felt compelled to explore further really, but I'm open-minded and it might be worth revisiting.