If a speaker is too bright, this recording is
unlistenable. On the other hand, if a speaker
system is too dead-sounding, Jewel’s voice
will slink into the background. On stereo
music in general and this track in particular,
the two little ProMonitors made for a huge
sound, eliciting all of the textures and layers
that can make this song such a lush listening
experience. With so many instruments
playing—including some sort of triangle
thing, a piano, a string section, percussion,
and Jewel’s voice—many speakers have a
lot of trouble deciphering this song. The
ProMonitors made it sound like less of a
recording and more of a performance, and
truly a delightful one at that. On Ron
Sexsmith’s “Words We Never Use,” one of
our imaging and soundstaging reference
tracks, these speakers shined. The sound-
stage was much bigger and deeper than one
could imagine from such small, inexpensive
speakers, besting recently reviewed systems
such as the Alón Centris and approaching
the imaging presented by really high-end
systems such as the Aerial Acoustics
reviewed last month or the Vienna Acoustics
system reviewed in this issue.
On my
Lion King
and
Evita
center-speaker
test, which uses just the center speaker
alone, the ProCenter passed with flying colors.
The tonal balance was excellent, with the
voices in both movies sounding full without
any audible distortion, even at high levels.
After I turned all the channels back on, I
listened to some of the explosion scenes
from
Evita
, which also have an undercurrent
of acoustic bass, as well as bass drum. The
entire presentation put forth by these speakers
was absolutely first class. All of the minute
textures and details that were put into this
wonderful soundtrack rang true.
On the
Crimson Tide
and
Broken Arrow
Dolby Digital laserdiscs, the surround
effects were highly realistic and piqued the
senses every time they were present. These
speakers made both Brent and me yearn for
movies with tons of surround effects and
loathe those without. For digital multichannel
movie material, these speakers are as close
to perfection as I imagine anything in this
price range could be, especially at high
listening levels. This system was able to
sustain loud listening levels and produce
wonderful sound for the duration.
One of the most startling aspects
of this system is the quality of the
bass that it produces. The low end
of each recording is reproduced
with a smoothness and clarity that
no sub in this price range should
be capable of, but the ProSub 100
clearly sets a new standard for
sub/sat systems. The ProSub played
loud and deep, without getting
boomy or muddy. Brent and I both
noticed that the sub reproduced
electric bass lines perfectly, without
emphasizing or blurring any notes.
This system achieves more than just high
fidelity—it has the ability to transport the
listener to another place. On
Broken Arrow
,
The Lion King
, and
Evita
, especially, the
front three channels ceased to be three
speakers, and instead became a
massive
front soundfield
. Effects that went from right
to center to left
speakers displayed
no significant tonal
shifts, testament to
the matching and
design effort that
clearly went into
this system. The
same is true of the
surrounds, which
never sounded
wimpy or out-
matched by bigger
systems—they were
always up to the difficult
paces that we put them
through, and presented a seamless
soundstage on digital multichannel film
soundtracks.
The ProCinema system makes the perfect
step up from the Energy Take 5 system,
which sets the reference standard for under
$1,000 sub/sat systems. Compared to Take
5, the ProCinema’s subwoofer will play louder
and deeper and blends better with its
satellites, so the system sounds
much bigger on the whole. Also,
the ProCinema satellites will let
you achieve higher listening
levels than the Take 5 sats.
Otherwise, the systems offer a
similar level of sound quality.
To step up in sound quality from
the ProCinema, you’d have to go
to tower speakers or a high-end
minimonitor like the Vienna
Acoustics Haydn.
If you want truly incredible
speakers at an unbelievable price,
run and get this system, because it
will improve the quality of your
life, and you will have yet another
fortuitous purchase that you can brag about
getting a great deal on.
“effects that went from
right to center to left
speakers displayed no sig-
nificant tonal shifts, testa-
ment to the matching and
design effort that clearly
went into this system”
“if you want truly
incredible speakers at an
unbelievable price, run
and get this system”
“clearly sets a new
standard for sub/sat
systems”
“this system achieves
more than just high
fidelity–it has the ability
to transport the listener
to another place”
“the front three channels
ceased to be three
speakers, and instead
became a
massive front
soundfield
”
“one of the most startling
aspects of this system is
the quality of the bass that
it produces”
Reprinted with permission from CurtCo’s HOME THEATER.
Copyright © by CurtCo Freedom Group. All Rights Reserved.
D.
All the speakers
in the system come
with meaty gold-
plated binding posts.
“a smoothness and
clarity that no sub
in this price range
should be capable of”
OVER
See next page for complete product
information on all the incredible
Definitive ProCinema Systems.
www.definitivetech.com
