After a month of owning them, I thought I'd give my review of the Twenty.23s. Yes my opinion is simply an opinion, and some (or even many) may disagree, but if it helps someone out, then happy days.
I'll start by saying that my previous speakers (Monitor Audio RX1) were only 1/4 of the price so the PMCs should be a substantial step up, which they most definitely are!! Secondly though I'd like to say that before buying them I did consider numerous speakers (ranging from £995 right up to £3500) so I've got a good idea of what the competition is like! Thirdly, the system that I'm using - it's a simple one; Naim Superuniti and Chord Epic cables. No fancy racks, no nothing.
Right then, onto the review...
FINISH... I have the gloss black finish, which I must say is glorious! Smooth looking but unobtrusive due to their slim form. It perhaps doesn't have the refined look that some of the high quality wood finishes do. They do collect a little dust but PMC provide a quality cleaning cloth, so a quick wipe every week or so is all they need.
BUILD... I know PMC have some strict tolerances and with the cabinet / drivers, it shows. However, in my opinion the plinths good do with improving. I'll get to this soon. The tweeters sit neatly and closely behind the dispersion grille - all is very neat and well built. With the driver itself there are telling signs that these are hand build as you can see a line of glue (I assume) where the centre of the speaker has been put in place. This has no effect on sound and to be honest gives them a nice feel like care has been taken in putting them together. At the back, the terminals are some of the neatest and highest quality I've seen.
Now then, the plinth... At first I thought all was fine, however I've had 2 issues - one was with the wording in the manual which states to screw the plinth to the cabinet with the 3 bolts "until flush with the surface" and then add another half turn. Now I've spoken to PMC and in actual fact it should say "screw until they begin to bite" and then add half a turn. This is only a small gripe, but if followed to the letter, can leave the plinths not quite tight enough. Another issue I had was with the spike locking nuts which when tightened have a tendency to bite into the section sitting within the plinth, causing them to be troublesome to undo without taking the plinth back off. So make sure you have them all set and steady before doing these up for good. I must say though that these are my only negatives on the speakers, and that after speaking with PMC, their customer service is absolutely top notch in dealing with any questions or issues
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LOOKS... Slim, with a slight setback that adds character, simple yet very attractive IMO
SET-UP... What can I say. Once you've attached the plinths, they really couldn't care (within reason) where they are placed!! The ATL port allows for ease of placement and they are much more forgiving of placement near walls than other speakers. Pop them down, as wide apart as you can get them, give them a little breathing space and only a touch of toe in and they are immediately fabulous! I've tried them in a few positions and to be honest they've never sounded less than great. In my opinion, I agree with many reviews, only a tiny amount of toe in is required to focus the stereo image, and with them facing almost straight out into the room, they create a very nice 3 dimensional soundstage. Music is devoid from the speakers. After a little playing around I've ended up with mine 8-10" from rear wall, toed in 5 degrees and they sound truly lovely!
SOUND... The important part now!! I've talked about soundstage, so ill focus on the basics now - bass, mids, treble and timing.
- BASS... To put it simply, I'd say defined and with real focus, but not for the bass mad. The bass isn't going to have you churning out drum and bass music with the walls shaking by any means, but what it does is allow you to feel the emotion of the music. I say this because bass notes sound like real notes with definition, not a one note thump that you get with so many speakers. They can get down into the low frequencies (35hz or so) but the bass is never in your face. It's there but not to a large extent. Instead it's got that foot tapping quality that gets you involved, and I really love.
- MIDS... This is what sets these speakers apart from so many others IMO. With female vocals especially, they sound truely beautiful, the speakers grab your attention and draw you in.
- TREBLE... Musical would be my way to describe the treble. High notes dance around from one speaker, between the speakers, and over to the other speaker. The treble is never harsh, it is well pronounced though, but always sounds defined and musical.
- TIMING... I'm not sure how to explain this but what I will say is that compared to my previous speakers and to some that I tried, the PMCs are great at splitting one note or sound from another, so you get a really defined sound that is easy to follow and never sloppy around the edges. This is obviously partly due to the amp, but definately a characteristic of the speaker also.
These will suit someone who enjoys moderate listening levels, with a well defined sound, and a very inviting (come sit down with a glass of wine) type nature, rather than someone who wants the music to have real drive, power and impact.
In summary, some marks out of 10
Finish - 9
Build - Speaker - 10, plinth - 6.
Ease of positioning - 9
Bass - 7
Mids - 9
Treble - 8
Timing - 9
Overall - 8.5 (A real joy to listen too, some room for improvement, mainly bass impact / dynamics, but no mentionable negatives to the sound what so ever. At this price range they blow most of the competition away and you'd have to spend a fair bit more to get a noticeable improvement)
Richy