PMC Owners thread - Part 3

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As we are talking floors here, does anyone use their PMC's on a suspended floor? how do they find they sound? I've only used mine on a solid floor and am just wondering is the bass harder to control on a suspended floor, I've also been reading that some guys use granite or slate slabs, Sorbothane feet for isolation purposes or Auralex acoustic foam.

My CB6i is on Auralex Mo-Pads:

MoPAD Monitor Isolation Pads - Acoustic sound isolation products from Auralex Acoustics.

They made a big difference, compared with mounted directly on the glass shelf, even flat out you can hardly feel ANY vibration coming through to the stand, definitely improved the sound as well...

I have often meant to get round to putting them under my TB2i - rears as well.

Cheers
 
For anyone who hasn't already seen, in this months HiFi Choice and there is a cracking 5 star review of the twenty.22's :) Just got round to picking up a copy.

Basically it describes Pete Thomas as among the very best designers in his field and that there are very few standmounts that offer the same degree of immediacy, openness and musicality that the 22's can deliver, it goes on to explain them as immensely open, dynamic and fast with massive musicality that gets straight to the heart of the music.

Couldn't agree more :smashin:
 
Vipers,

Yep, they are fantastic. But as I keep saying, it's the 21s that shock my nipples into disarray every time I hear them.
They really are shockingly good.

Kyri
 
Vipers,

Yep, they are fantastic. But as I keep saying, it's the 21s that shock my nipples into disarray every time I hear them.
They really are shockingly good.

Kyri
How would you say a set of 21s with a sub that goes to 20Hz and is well tunesd with the speakers (so the bass is subtle and underpins them without overpowering), would compare to the bigger 22s or even the 23s?
 
Richy,

It wouldn't sound anything like as natural or as fast, I imagine. And the cohesive sound of the floor standers, all the way through the frequency range is something incredibly sweet.
Also, why not simply go for the 23 or 24s? They take up no more floor space with all the benefits that come with that.

Kyri
 
Richy,

It wouldn't sound anything like as natural or as fast, I imagine. And the cohesive sound of the floor standers, all the way through the frequency range is something incredibly sweet.
Also, why not simply go for the 23 or 24s? They take up no more floor space with all the benefits that come with that.

Kyri
Well I'll have to demo the combinations to see if I agree, but personally I wouldnt think the bass of the floorstanders is quite enough for movies. Which is something i do use my hifi for.

I cant see why a really decent musical sub wouldnt be as fast either. I'd only have it set so it plays the notes that most standmount speakers cant - i.e approximately 20-50Hz range.
 
Richy,

I agree, the floor standers won't give you the bass you seek for movie watching.
The twenty floor standers are great in terms of flat frequency response and speed. I've not heard an add on sub that has integrated itself perfectly. For music I would listen to the floor standers alone, and use a sub to reinforce the low end with movies.

Kyri
 
As we are talking floors here, does anyone use their PMC's on a suspended floor? how do they find they sound? I've only used mine on a solid floor and am just wondering is the bass harder to control on a suspended floor, I've also been reading that some guys use granite or slate slabs, Sorbothane feet for isolation purposes or Auralex acoustic foam.

Thinking about it, Does anyone use their speakers upstairs in their house or in a flat? how does the bass travel throught he floor, just curious really.[/QUOTE]

I have suspended floor , i have had the Pb1's on spikes direct onto the floor, on to granite work top off cuts 40 mm thick, with ice hockey pucks on top of the granite to stop the speakers moving about.

I have just ordered much thicker granite to see if it improves things.

I found bass in mY place disappeared into the void to a certain extent the granite did improve things.
 
Richy,

It wouldn't sound anything like as natural or as fast, I imagine. And the cohesive sound of the floor standers, all the way through the frequency range is something incredibly sweet.
Also, why not simply go for the 23 or 24s? They take up no more floor space with all the benefits that come with that.

Kyri
Thats a good point. Its mainly because the misses doesnt like the look of floorstanders in general. However I think thats because of multiple drivers and large cabinets, but the 23 / 24 with only one driver and sleak cabinet shoudl be ok.

How fussy are they with positioing though
?? I could probably only have them pulled out enough to give 8-12" space behind them. But still have about 1m to the side.

Richy
 
Hi Richy,

thought you were hell bent on the Monitor Audio's? I can only recommend you go listen to the PMC's, from my demo both the i range and the twenty range were far far superior and also much less fussy about placement.

Jon.
 
Richy,

My right hand speaker is hard up against the rear wall & is maybe 10cms from the side wall. The left hand speaker sits between my equipment rack and a bookshelf. They would sound better in better environments, but they sound pretty bloody stunning just as they are.
My previous FB1s weren't fussy about placement, either.

Kyri
 
Hi Richy,

thought you were hell bent on the Monitor Audio's? I can only recommend you go listen to the PMC's, from my demo both the i range and the twenty range were far far superior and also much less fussy about placement.

Jon.
I love monitor audio, as they are a quality speaker and also look fantastic.

But if these PMCs have the edge and are less fussy about placement then perhap they are worth the extra money.

I have a demo of gx50, PMC 21 and PMC 23s tomorrow. So i'll see which I perfer. :)
 
Dodgybanana said:
Vipers,

Yep, they are fantastic. But as I keep saying, it's the 21s that shock my nipples into disarray every time I hear them.
They really are shockingly good.

Kyri

Could not agree more. Loving my 21s. Best piece of equipment I've ever purchased. Simply sublime.
 
Barzo,

I adore my PMC twenty 24s. But every time I hear the 21s I sit astounded. Their miniscule size and modest look belies their incredible ability. They remind me of Mission speakers of old, in the way in which they can create so much from so little.

Kyri
 
Richy,

My right hand speaker is hard up against the rear wall & is maybe 10cms from the side wall. The left hand speaker sits between my equipment rack and a bookshelf. They would sound better in better environments, but they sound pretty bloody stunning just as they are.
My previous FB1s weren't fussy about placement, either.

Kyri


Kyri -if I were you, I would pull you speakers forward a little bit so that they slightly protruded from the shelving unit, as this may achieve a slightly better speaker dispersion. If you don't hear a difference, you can always put them back !
 
I have a demo of gx50, PMC 21 and PMC 23s tomorrow. So i'll see which I perfer. :)
Well, back from the demo and I'm glad I auditioned the PMCs!

I demo'd the PMC Twenty 21s, then the MA GX50s, then I popped on my MA RX1s as a comparison.

If I had to sum up each in 1 word it'd be
PMC Twenty 21 - Engrossing!
MX GX50 - Metallic
MX RX1 - Bassy.

I thought I was going to love the GX50s as they look stunning, but then tbh in the flesh they were too nive looking and almost a little distracting to look at! They sounded good but not much better than the RX1s tbh, just a bit punchier, less bloated bass, and better high end.

The PMCs on the other hand I couldnt believe the size of the soundstage from 5.5" drivers! Very very nice mid-range, bass goes dep but is a little lacking, but I'd use a sub so that doesnt matter. I just found that with the PMCs playing I was taken in by the music, and it brought a smile to my face. Whereas I could turn off with the MA's playing.

I didnt demo the 23s as I think the 21s with a sub to underpin them for some music and for movies would be a winning combo :)

So then, what Amp / CD player combos work well?

Currently I use a Rega Brio-r but I guess that wont quite drive them to their potential? The guy in Sevenoaks recommended the Audiolab 8000 CD / Amp combo. ASny other suggestions?

Richy
 
Nice one, Richy.
The Cyrus gear is worth a listen, although they can be a little bass light. Incredible speed though.
I like the Musical Fidelity sound. Either the M1 series or M3 series is worth a listen.

Kyri
 
Twenty 24 _ Speaker cable - no name - QED Silver Screen - Chord Epic Twin

I was a cable sceptic until i tried all three with the 24's and the NAD Master series M15HD and M25 - I was pleasantly surprised at the differences in each cable change - with each upgrade there was more detail, base and depth to the music which rounded off with the Chord Epic Super Twin. This was a significant improvement over the others. So it should be given its price - however it was still a surprise to listen to the difference with my own ears. The sound was smooth, detailed and warm.

Interconnects - No name brand - Monster - Chord Crimson - Chord Cadenza

Again much like the speaker cables they improved levels of detail in the music across the board. I didn't find that much difference between the Monster and the no name brand. The Chord Cadenza improved musicality overall and won my vote.
 

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Nice one, Richy.
The Cyrus gear is worth a listen, although they can be a little bass light. Incredible speed though.
I like the Musical Fidelity sound. Either the M1 series or M3 series is worth a listen.

Kyri

I went the Musical Fidelity route, I now have an M3i acting as an amp for music duties and power amp with the HT bypass when watching movies, I then have the M1clic for streaming/net radio and also dac duties, with an old Marantz CD-63 KI sig as a transport. Have hardly turned off music for the last month while I've been home, it just sounds wonderful.

I also demo'd a Cyrus 8 set up and also the Naim SuperUnity at the same time as the MF kit, the Cyrus seemed to be lacking something to me, and while the Naim was very good, I couldn't justify the extra cost and I got tired of it pretty quickly, there was just too much going on.
 
Vipers,

Yep, they are fantastic. But as I keep saying, it's the 21s that shock my nipples into disarray every time I hear them.
They really are shockingly good.

Kyri

Kyri, you really should be a HiFi reviewer, you have such a way with words my friend :laugh:

I know what you are saying though the 21's really do defy their size, there was a great review recently in hifi news that was an excellent read, to sum up they say -

'the 21's easy driveability and manageable size add real world appeal to the purely audiophilic benefits of sublime sound, rich, rewarding bass and terrific imaging, with this in mind I'm keeping a pair as my £1000-£2000 reference'

The article also mentioned how unfussy they are to set up and ended with a sound quality score of 85%, which I have to say,after reading HFN for a few years now is a very high score for them.

It really does seem that everyone loves to the twenty range, and with good reason it has to be said :)
 
Just discovered HD tracks - https://www.hdtracks.com/index.php?file=best_sellers
If you sign up they give you some sample tunes - and I must say they sound superb - I am a convert - shame about the price of the albums.

There is some great music on HDTracks, if I am right to purchase any of the music on there you have to use a US address, I guess this is for copyright reasons, you used to be able to get around this by paying with Paypal but that loophole was closed recently, it's a real shame, I can't help thinking that there must be demand out there for a European version of HDTracks?
 
Well, back from the demo and I'm glad I auditioned the PMCs!

I demo'd the PMC Twenty 21s, then the MA GX50s, then I popped on my MA RX1s as a comparison.

If I had to sum up each in 1 word it'd be
PMC Twenty 21 - Engrossing!
MX GX50 - Metallic
MX RX1 - Bassy.

So then, what Amp / CD player combos work well?

Richy

Thanks for the feedback Richy, I've always been a big fan of MA, I had a 5.1 silver series setup before going over to PMC but I found that there is just more refinement, musicality and a smoothness to the music with PMC that the MA's just couldn't match.

Before going over to Bryston I used to use Arcam with my PMC's so it may be worth looking at their range or maybe even the 2nd hand market, also in last months HiFi Choice Cambridge Audio's new 851A integrated amp and 851C cd players got stunning reviews, but for my money I would also look at either the Naim Uniti 2 or SuperUniti, I think you mentioned these before, as I know from personal experience that both these systems work extremely well with the twenty range and offer so much from a one box solution
 
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