equipment report

ProAc Tablette Reference Eight Loudpeaker

Neil Gader

lthough my first encounter small loudspeaker performance. larger Tablette 2000, for example, was

A with the ProAc Tablette was

over 20 years ago, it took
but a quick memory jog to
recapture the event. TAS
colleague Paul Seydor was using a pair of
Super Tablettes (the second iteration of
the original) back in the early 1980s.
Physically diminutive in the extreme, it
had uncanny musicality and superb
midrange dynamics, almost as if
Houdini had secreted some sleight of
hand in its design. In the years since its
1979 debut, the Tablette has undergone
various driver and cabinet changes at the
produced for the nascent home-theater
market, where greater bass extension
and power handling were demanded.
Loyalists to the original remained hope-
ful for a return to the Tablette’s roots.
Now in its eighth incarnation, the
2003 Tablette Reference Eight1 restores
Just a few minutes of listening and I behest of designer Stewart Tyler. The the original cabinet specification and
understood why this deceptively simple
two-way was causing legions of audio- 1 A Tablette Signature is also available, adding a more costly mid-bass driver, complete with neodymi-
philes to reexamine their perceptions of um bar magnet, copper rings, and phase plug, and a larger surround for the silk-dome tweeter.
 equipment report

recaptures much of excitement of the than wishful thinking. The tiny, rigid staging it has become famous for.
original Super. Some changes include enclosure seems to exude energy rather Because of its transient speed and
replacing the original 3/4" tweeter than absorb it, thus radiating a single quick reflexes, the original Tablette suf-
with a custom-spec Vifa 1" soft-dome sheet of boxless sound. Image detailing fered when partnered with slow or loose-
with specially formulated ferro-fluid has an almost tactile element. There sounding subwoofers. One thing that
damping. The new tweeter is paired was, for instance, a fleshy component has changed with the explosion of mul-
with a higher output 4.5" Seas mid- accenting the conga-drum finger rolls tichannel and home theater is the preva-
bass driver. The bass-reflex design or the ping of guitar harmonics in lence of affordable yet high-quality subs.
positions a pair of rear-firing ports James Taylor’s “September Grass” A number of good models from REL,
above the dual set of binding posts. [October Road, Columbia SACD]. Sunfire, Velodyne, and others should
Interestingly, the Tablette Eight also Further distinguishing the Tablette serve the speedy Tablettes well.
marks a return to marine birch ply- from other pint-sized pretenders is its The ProAc Tablette Reference Eight
wood after a lengthy flirtation with low-level resolution. The decay of is, like its predecessors, a loudspeaker for
MDF. Tyler prefers the resonant prop- brushed cymbals or the air encircling a the connoisseur who prizes the petite
erties of the plywood in the small vol- set of castanets are resolved as well as precision of a Piaget or a Fabergé egg. It
ume enclosure of the Tablette. I’ve ever heard them. This speaker cre- is capable of musicality out of all pro-
The character of the Tablette has ates an arresting sense of dimensionali- portion to its size. Certainly there are
evolved over the years, but this iteration ty and liveliness. speakers in this price range with broad-
is, to me, the best-sounding model yet. In an acrobatic display of vertical er shoulders, but the Tablette experience
It restores the original’s energizing pres- soundstaging, a strong central image remains as unique in the dynamic-driver
ence and immediacy. Given the cabinet’s like Sonny Rollins’ sax was positioned a universe as Quad is in electrostatics or
modest volume, its signature is a light foot or so higher than the top of the Magnepan in planar-magnetics. The
one, with a stronger emphasis in the Tablette. Not what I would have expect- Tablette Reference Eight should be
midband and treble regions. The tonal ed from a short speaker on 24" Target required listening. &
balance is slightly forward in the vocal stands. Likewise, soundstage depth was
range, but soundstaging in orchestral enhanced in my room to a degree far
S P E C I F I C AT I O N S
material is uncompromised. Naturally greater than most small speakers—due
Two-way bass reflex
the magnitude of an orchestra is in part to a tiny front baffle that effec-
Drivers: 4.5" long-throw midbass and 1" soft
reduced, but Corgi-scale miniaturiza- tively reduces reflections.
silk-dome
tion this is not. Dynamic behavior is somewhat fre-
Frequency response: 40Hz–30kHz
Low-frequency-restricted speakers quency-dependent, with finer grada-
Sensitivity: 86dB
can create the impression of treble tions in the middle and treble ranges
Nominal impedance: 8 ohms
emphasis where there is, in actuality, and less dynamic muscle in the upper
Dimensions: 10.5" x 6" x 9"
very little. I think this is mostly the case bass and lower frequencies. But the net
Weight: 10 lbs.
with the Tablette. Although I perceived result is a sense of authority greater than
a trace of spotlighting in the lower tre- the speaker’s pint-sized parts. Even as
A S S O C I AT E D E Q U I P M E N T
ble, the soft-dome ring radiator opens the midbass region rolls off audibly
Sota Cosmos Series III turntable; SME V
the highs with extension rather than below about 80Hz, there is discernable
pick-up arm; Shure V15VxMR cartridge; Sony
heating them up with brittleness. The output into the 60Hz range that enables
C222ES SACD; Sony DVP-9000ES; Plinius
way the ProAc distinguished a pair of the speaker to blend with any well-exe-
8200 Mk2 integrated amp; Placette Volume
piano recordings makes a good example. cuted subwoofer. The Tablette’s volume
Control preamp; Nordost Valhalla & Blue
Evgeny Kissin’s reading of Pictures at an envelope is not as elastic as that of some
Heaven cabling; Kimber Kable BiFocal XL,
Exhibition [BMG] had a steely, high-ten- larger compacts, and the loudest levels
Wireworld Equinox III, Wireworld Silver
sion tone that initially made me ques- harden the sound somewhat. The com-
Electra power cords; Richard Gray line
tion the Tablette’s accuracy. However, pression of big rock kick-drum like
conditioners
when I switched to Bill Cunliffe’s grand those on David Bowie’s Heathen
piano in Live at Bernie’s [Groove Note [Columbia SACD] showed where the
SACD], the mood changed radically. game little Tablette was overmatched. M A N U FA C T U R E R I N F O R M AT I O N
Here was a warmer, softly pedaled piano Still, within its limits, it continues to PROAC USA/MODERN AUDIO
reproduced in a way that was reminis- cast a beguiling spell. Placed at two to P.O. Box 334
cent of my reference system. three feet from the back wall, the Stevenson, Maryland 21153
With the center of the small driv- Tablette gets some measure of bass rein- (410) 486-5975
ers only 4.5" from one another, point- forcement—which it needs—without www.proac-loudspeakers.com
source coherence becomes fact rather diminishing the imaging and sound- Price: $1,200