2017 – A new compact floorstanding loudspeaker from famed British maker ProAc offers robust sound and great looks! Response DT8 is sure to please. In many ways, the new ProAc Response DT8 is the perfect speaker. It doesn’t take up much space. Its design is such that it can be positioned easily in any room. It looks lovely and it sounds oh so good. How do they do it? Read on.
Drivers
In the first position of importance, the cones, domes, and magnets of a speaker’s drive units are where the “rubber meets the road”. ProAc has decades of experience working with some of the world’s finest driver manufacturers to create drive units that are unique to ProAc and designed for their specific application. This knowledge comes to fruition in the DT8 through its clever three driver two-way array.
Two mid-bass woofers are made from different cone materials, each optimized for a specific range of frequencies. The lower woofer cone uses mica, a crystalline silicate, and paper pulp, with a purpose designed fiber-weave dustcap, and is tuned for excellent mid and low bass response. The upper woofer cone is made from hard polypropylene with a soft polypropylene dustcap, a material well known for its remarkable midrange characteristics. The tweeter is ProAc’s 1″ soft dome tweeter, well known for its dynamics, insightful yet remarkably smooth presentation. The two woofer operate in tandem to reproduce the entire mid-band and low frequencies, before gracefully transitioning to the tweeters, with the three drivers working together for an even, natural full-band response.
Crossover
Two mid-bass woofers are made from different cone materials, each optimized for a specific range of frequencies. The lower woofer cone uses mica, a crystalline silicate, and paper pulp, with a purpose designed fiber-weave dustcap, and is tuned for excellent mid and low bass response. The upper woofer cone is made from hard polypropylene with a soft polypropylene dustcap, a material well known for its remarkable midrange characteristics. The tweeter is ProAc’s 1″ soft dome tweeter, well known for its dynamics, insightful yet remarkably smooth presentation. The two woofer operate in tandem to reproduce the entire mid-band and low frequencies, before gracefully transitioning to the tweeters, with the three drivers working together for an even, natural full-band response.
Cabinet
Handsome on the outside and clever on the inside, the Response DT8 is the quintessential British speaker.
Made from varying thicknesses of MDF, extensively braced, and then dampened with bitumen (an asphalt-like material), DT8s cabinets are heavy and totally inert. The tuned bass reflex port is fired downwards into the base plinth, managing the acoustic port function handily. This port arrangement make the speaker very easy to place in room because negative room/port interaction is minimized. The plinth is fitted with adjustable/removable spikes for isolation.
Each cabinet is covered with hand-selected sustainably harvested real wood veneer and handmade in the UK. They are then meticulously inspected at ProAc for any flaws before being hand assembled by ProAc’s skilled technicians. The entire process is overseen by Stewart Tyler and his daughter, Zoe, making this truly a family affair!
Technical Specifications
- two-way system floor-standing loudspeaker
- bitumen-dampened MDF cabinet
- down firing bass-reflex port terminates into plinth
- 25mm (1”) silk dome tweeter
- 2x 165mm (6.5”) mica woofers, response tuned
- 38Hz-30kHz frequency response
- 4 ohm nominal impedance
- 90dB sensitivity
- 20 watt min, 180 watt max continuous
- 25kg (55lbs) per side
- 978mm (38.5”) H, 193mm (7.6”) w, 229mm (9”) D
- Standard Finishes: cherry, black ash, mahogany
- Optional Finishes: ebony, rosewood (upcharge)
- Special Order Finish: maple, oak
Availability
Response DT8 will sell for $3100 for standard finishes and $3800 for upgrade finishes. Available in standard finishes of cherry, mahogany, oak, maple, black ash, or silk white, and upgrade finishes of ebony or rosewood. Find a ProAc retailer near you.
About ProAc
Even in the short history of high-end high fidelity, few companies have lasted the course. Even fewer have consistently developed and produced high quality products which have earned international acclaim. ProAc is one such company. The ProAc range is, as they say, reassuringly expensive. We do not make cheap loudspeakers and certainly do not produce cheap sounds. Happily, many thousands of audiophiles worldwide agree with our philosophy. Every ProAc loudspeaker is hand-crafted, with our technicians individually responsible for the building and testing of each unit, from the flagship Response models to the diminutive Tablette. Build quality alone is unsurpassed, each cabinet being meticulously constructed, damped and finished in real wood veneer. Only the very finest components are used in ProAc loudspeakers, with each new model reflecting the very leading edge of audio technology. Indeed many models now incorporate dedicated drive units using our own basket, cone and magnet assemblies. Drive unit performance is fine-tuned through expensive and sophisticated crossover networks. But all the finest cabinets and components in the world are redundant without inspired design. And for a quarter of a century Stewart Tyler, Chairman and Chief Designer has been responsible for putting it all together and producing the performance. He alone decides the cabinet size and configuration, drive unit layout and crossover design and all the other factors which combine to produce some of the most cultured sounds available in modern audio. ProAc loudspeakers are available through a network of enlightened dealers who will be pleased not only to put our models through their paces, but to give informed advice on partnering equipment. When you think you’ve heard the best, then go and hear ProAc.
About The Sound Organisation
Since 1995, Steve Daniels and his crew at The Sound Organisation have dedicated themselves to the importation of fine audio components from around the world to American consumers seeking something different from the field of mass-produced identity-less commodities. SoundOrg is the sole US distributor for Arcam electronics, Chord Co. cables, DALI loudspeakers, Melco audio servers, ProAc loudspeakers, Rega Research electronics, and Quadraspire audio furniture.