Unusual looks but a great musical performance at the price
View online review whf.cm/Response_DT8
The use of two types of 16.5cm mid/bass driver working in tandem may be clever from an engineering point of view, but visually it unsettles us. Still, these towers turn in as musically cohesive a performance as we’ve heard around this price.
Why use two types of mid/bass driver? In engineering terms, there’s always a trade-off between the optimisation of midrange and bass performance in a drive unit. Designers simply end up with a compromise that best suits the product.
By using different drivers working in tandem, ProAc’s engineers have attempted to get the best of all worlds, a polypropylene cone in the top unit shoots for natural mids, and a stiff poly mica diaphragm in the lower to deliver powerful-but-articulate bass. The trick is to get the two working seamlessly.
Despite a nominal impedance of just 4 ohms, the DT8 aren’t overly demanding of an amplifier. They’re pretty sensitive at 90dB, so there shouldn’t be an issue getting to high volume levels with most price-compatible models.
These floorstanders use ProAc’s usual downward-firing port arrangement that vents to the sides. This configuration makes the speakers less fussy about room positioning than conventional rear-firing ported alternatives tend to be. We position the Response around a metre into our test room and well away from the side walls and angled slightly towards the listening position to focus the stereo imaging.
We start with Beethoven’s Fifth and the ProAcs respond with a large-scale sound full of force and fury. They deliver the music’s high-octane dynamic swings with enthusiasm and plenty of punch, yet have the skill to render the subtleties with care.
Tonally they are a little forward, but they have enough by way of refinement to prevent this being an issue. We’d still avoid overly bright or aggressive electronics, though. Detail levels are high, with the DT8 able to resolve layers of information and organise it in a cohesive manner. They render instrumental texture superbly, and deliver slight changes in intensity and drive well.
Plenty of attack
Stereo imaging is lovely. These speakers paint on an expansive sonic canvas, and locate instrume
