proac d25 vs totem Mani 2


Hello,
I am looking for a pair of musical speakers for a small room. My budget is around $1800, I have looked around and found there is a very good candidate: Totem Mani 2. This pair has already got a lot of rave reviews on Internet. However, recently, I found another candidate, that is Proac D25, which I can get with much lower price than the Mani 2. I wonder if the Proac is much sonically and musically inferior to the Mani? Anyone happen to hear both of the speakers please share some of your experience.
Thank you.
Huy.
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Showing 2 responses by jerroot

quanghuy147--

+1 on akg_ca's comment.

The Mani-2s demand power and will not perform up to their potential without it. You didn't say what you are using to drive them (nor what kinds of music you listen to), but if it's a relatively low power tube amp, I recommend that you do not do it. IMO you will not get enough low end control of the bass heavy Mani-2s. I finally ran mine with a pair of Rogue M-180's with KT-120's and they really sang, but that was the only tubed amp out of the 4 or 5 I auditioned that worked for me. They also sounded beautiful with both of my Class-D amps, a Bel Canto 300u, and a W4S-500, both of which have enough power as well as excellent tight bass control.

I ran my Mani-2s in a relative small room, but be prepared to do some experimentation with placement. They are a difficult speaker to tame, but when you get there the sound is fantastic for a speaker of this size.

I have heard the Proacs, but not in my space. I liked them, found them musical and not fatiguing, but overall they did not excite me.

That said, I've recently replaced my single-owner Mani-2s with a pair of Harbeths, and it's been on my list of things to do to get them up for sale here. Let me know if you have an interest and I'll move getting them listed to the top of my long to-do list.

Happy listening,
Jerry
The Harbeth's P3's are closer to your stated price range than the C7's although even they are a little bit more. I haven't heard a speaker around 2K that I enjoyed as much as the P3's and I have been able to A-B them with the ProAcs. I set up my girlfriend's system with them and my old Bel Canto 300u and a decent pair of speaker cables and I was way more impressed with the results than I thought I would be. For the price, jaw dropping. I'm contemplating a similar rig for a second system for my place. Don't know how I'm going to get my Bel Canto back though.