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I have even previously attempted to ignore some upper midband glare by telling myself that what I was getting was the unvarnished truth and thinking of the sound as being ‘ultra hygienic’ or ‘brightly lit’. But the Carbons have made me wonder whether the particular variety of vividness we are used to experiencing with much ultra-fi (both speakers and electronics) is in actual fact a sin of commission. The Sixes are free to an almost brazen degree from any gnawing fatigue whilst still managing to offer a new benchmark—for me at least—in terms of the sheer amount of information concerning the reconstruction of the original musical event. Think about it. A live performance may possibly leave your ears ringing from exposure to high volumes but it’s very rare that real instruments result in the sort of jarring effect frequently experienced with recorded music.
In my April review of Mark Levinson’s N°512 SACD player I compared it with two other players, Gryphon’s Scorpio & Ayre’s C-5xe MP. I’ve been doing this type of test for many years but I’ll admit the degree to which the Carbon Pros succeeded in projecting each player’s unique personality caught even me off guard.
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This was the very breeziest of open windows and startlingly transparent to the partnering hardware. Neither were recording imperfections camouflaged in any way. Indeed in this respect they could accurately be described as monitors although I’ve never heard this kind of sweet clarity coming from anything with that label before. And don’t get me wrong. I do think they make certain demands not just of the partnering equipment but of the listener also but only because they serve as a reminder of music’s extant power and not all of it is meant to be an easy ride.
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A carbon-neutral conclusion. So who aren’t the Carbon Sixes for? If you have a taste for west coast jazz and enjoy listening to it through a big pair of Tannoys powered by a Unison Research valve amplifier (or any other variation on the theme of very sensitive speaker and tube) you will likely find the balance of the Carbon Sixes a little up on its toes, sparse even because though rich in information they don’t offer any sort of sedan-like padding. Alternatively if your desire is to recreate PA-style pressure levels, then a pair of active ATCs boasting twelve or fifteen inch drivers would be a better bet. Indeed the omission of any carpet tack-popping bass driver will entail that for a certain type of listener the ProAcs may lack a little blood and thunder.
But for me the Sixes represent a set of uncannily tasteful design decisions which have resulted in a beautifully balanced auditory eco-system. Never once did they grate their gears and nudge me towards one genre over another. Instead they displayed an empathy with whatever musical direction I wished to swim in. And I have a feeling that the loudspeaker world may soon be awash with carbon fiber because the manner in which the core sound was at once so fast yet also so Technicolor and fleshed out is something I haven’t experienced before at this price. In fact you could argue that the Carbon Sixes represent the continuation of one old-fashioned ProAc tradition after all, namely value for money.
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older Proac Future range |
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I’m more than aware that many audiophiles wince reflexively when faced with products that carry five figure tags and will find the suggestion that some of them may even offer—cough —good value a contentious claim. But even in just the last few years the sphere of specialist audio has witnessed some truly remarkable developments and it’s loudspeakers in particular that seem to be reaping the benefits of new technologies or the discovery of innovative ways of implementing established ones. Recently reviewers have described flagships from Magico, Vandersteen and Focal as ‘invisible’ (and it’s interesting to note that two of them also use carbon fiber in their drive units.) But take a look at their price tags. I have absolutely no doubt that this is the select group the Carbon Pro range belongs in.
The Sixes’ real achievement though is that they provide proof that the cutting edge needn’t always be bleeding. They are taut but not tight, illuminated but not bright, complete but not complex. On the subject of alcohol Dean Martin once quipped: "I feel sorry for people who don't drink. They wake up in the morning and that's the best they're going to feel all day." Well, it’s a shame he never owned a pair of Carbon Sixes. They would have given him a renewed lust for reality.
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Carbon Eight detour. I got a brief opportunity year to hear the Sixes’ big brothers, the Carbon Eights (£25.550), with partnering equipment supplied by Gryphon (Mikado CD, Mirage preamp and Colosseum monoblocks). Unfortunately it wasn’t in my own listening space but it proved enlightening nonetheless. The larger cabinets measure 1230 x 240 x450mm HxWxD and boast 8-inch bass drivers and a 3-inch midrange soft dome (instead of the Sixes’ 6.5 inchers and 2 incher respectively.)
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What was apparent straight from the off was that not surprisingly both models had much in common. Indeed at lower volumes I’m not altogether sure that in a blind listening test I would be able to differentiate between them with any real degree of certainty. As the volume rose however differences did emerge. Listening again to Ray Brown’s double bass on the Oscar Peterson disc it was apparent that the Carbon Eights’ elevator dropped an extra floor all the way down to the lower basement. These speakers were very alive subsonically while displaying frankly ridiculous levels of start/stop control with even the very lowest notes. But as well as the tremendous weight there was still the highest degree of transparency, the Eights displaying no thickening effects whatsoever. Also they boasted slightly greater soundstage width.
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Where with the Carbon Sixes everything comes back to the midband, the Eights move the listener’s focus down a notch to the lower midrange. This results in a slightly darker balance overall. With Manu Katché’s Third Round my attention on the piano and saxophone shifted more to Pino Palladino’s bass. Suddenly his interplay with the other band members became more of a feature, each individual note being picked out more obviously and with a greater range of color. I don’t think there is a clear ‘winner’ here as such and I could see listeners being split depending on their tastes as well as by the size of their listening space. To use a car analogy, it is a bit like comparing a BMW M3 to an M5. A nice dilemma to have! |
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Quality of packing: Good
Reusability of packing: A few times.
Ease of unpacking/repacking: Much more straightforward than usual due to a cleverly simple design.
Condition of component received: Fine.
Human interactions: Excellent.
Pricing: Though expensive the Carbon Pros compete both sonically and build quality wise with some far more highly priced products.
Final comments & suggestions: If the trend towards truly neutral sounding loudspeakers continues apace, I wonder if some designers will be tempted to dial back om certain attributes which loyal listeners associate with their respective marques. Just a thought.
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