PMC Prophecy Loudspeaker Line Launch at AV Designs - Pushing the Boundary of Transmission Line

Posted by Tan. 

The recent launch of the new PMC’s Prophecy loudspeaker line at AV Designs aimed for both audiophiles and home theatre enthusiasts alike. Held in acoustically optimized settings for home theatre and stereo music, the PMC showcases offered the attendees a close look into the British brand’s latest innovations, with the Prophecy series testifying to PMC’s latest innovative pursuit of sonic perfection.

At the heart of the Prophecy line is PMC’s groundbreaking Laminair X vent, a precision-machined evolution of their Advanced Transmission Line (ATL) technology. PMC’s ATL designs have long been known for their ability to deliver deep, controlled bass. With Laminair X, PMC has advanced the transmission line design further. As the company explains, “ATL designs involve air moving at high speeds and complex fluid dynamic, and introducing the precision machined ultimate aerodynamic control of Laminair X negates turbulence and drag which in turn reduces resistance, reduces harmonic distortion by up to 3dB, eliminates air noise and provides bass with superlative timing and an unparalleled dynamic range.”

The Laminair X vent not only improves airflow efficiency but also adds a structural advantage. Its all-metal and weighty construction, acts as an anchor, enhancing cabinet stability and reducing unwanted resonances. This dual-purpose design—acoustic and mechanical—underscores PMC’s inventiveness and engineering prowess.

A Versatile Lineup for Music and Movies

The Prophecy range, comprises of five models: one bookshelf (Prophecy1), three floorstanders (Prophecy5, 7, and 9), and one centre speaker (ProphecyC), is clearly designed to cater to both stereo music lovers and home theatre aficionados. AV Designs made this dual-purpose line-up evident in the demo sessions, with the different models used for HT and music duty.

Price list of the PMC Prophecy Range

In the midsize home theatre setup that AD Designs demo'ed, the Prophecy7 and ProphecyC centre speakers were paired with PMC surround speakers and atmos speakers to deliver a thrilling movie experience. I found that explosive action scenes were handled with ease and dialogue was crisp and intelligible. Dynamics and attacks were rendered impactfully, even scary at some points. It was a clear demonstration of how the Prophecy line can anchor a serious home theatre system without compromise.

In Prophecy1's stereo music demonstrations, the speakers were set up in a smaller room. Driven by PMC’s own integrated amplifier, I found the Prophecy1's delivery outstanding. It delivered a performance that was imbued with warmth and musicality—hallmarks of British loudspeaker design philosophy, vocals were rich and emotive, instruments well-defined, and the bass output was quite surprising for such a modest cabinet. It’s the kind of speaker that would disappear into a room.

PMC Prophecy1 demo session

If you were looking for bigger scale, more depth, and greater authority, then just move up to the Prophecy1’s bigger brothers, the Prophecy7 and Prophecy9. Both proved to be a significant step up in these parameters yet retaining the warmth and musicality so evident in their smaller brother. The video below is evidence, showing the Prophecy7 set up for home theatre purpose, playing 2-channel stereo:

The PMC Prophecy line reaffirms the brand’s commitment to delivering emotionally engaging sound. Whether you’re building a reference-grade stereo system or a high-performance home theatre, the Prophecy range delivers.

Contract AV Designs at 03-62411237 to arrange an audition.

Tweeter Dimming, DIY Tweeter Pad

Are you suffering from high frequency fatigue each time your are listening to music on your stereo system? Is your HT system too bright sounding, that your ears bleed from gun shot sounds and what nots? Maybe you only experience high frequency love bites on certain CDs or LPs?

The above symptoms common with many beginner set ups. They are a result of a variety of possible causes. Chief amongst them are poor speaker to room placement, seating position error, room modes to speaker interaction, poorly matched equipment, cheap or fake silver cables, wrong tweaks application, and probably many , more reason caused by poorly set up system. On the flip side, is bass boom, or simply not enough bass. Well, that's another side of the problem.

Saw this tweak available for lunch money and thought maybe I should just try it for fun, even though my system never exhibited any of the high frequency symptoms as mentioned above. My system at some point many moons ago did exhibited some of the high frequency issues but I have since learned to fix them on a fundamental level, i.e. fix the source of the issue, not treating the symptoms with band aid. I think this tweak clearly belongs to the band aid category, if one is looking to fix an overly hot tweeter issue!  

The tweeter pad came as a pair, it's a square felt like material die-cut with generic tweeter hole and comes with double side tape on one side for easy application to tweeter. 

My PMC IB2i before tweeter pad treatment

And tadaa! with tweeter pad treatment

I bought the item and went home with the merchandise. As I started to play some music, I started the first 30 minutes just listening my system as is. Then I stopped the music, and put on the tweeter pad to the tweeter on my speakers. The whole process is rather easy as all it took was 10 minutes or less.

I restarted my music, the very same music I played 30 minutes ago. Right away, I noticed some minor difference to the sound. The good thing is that the vocal size became 50 cent sized(using old Malaysian coin standards, which are much bigger in diameter than the current 50 sen coin), which is certainly a good thing for vocal biased audiophiles. The cons(in any tweak no matter the cost, there is always pros & cons! You invariably win some & lose some too!) are, my system had lost it's spatial cues, yes, the back ground was blacker(if there's such a thing!) but the sound became less airy too! Yes, the vocal was now super focused, but it sounded like the singer needed lozenges to sooth his or her throat, i.e. vocal sounded dry! I kept the tweak on my tweeter for a few days, just to let it settle down, hoping the cons will be reduced in time, or maybe we just get used to the sound!

However, it was not to be, I still hear the cons as mentioned above more then any pros the tweak made to my system. I finally decide to remove the tweak for good. Maybe pass it on to someone who need a band aid for hot tweeters. My advise is to work on fixing the fundamental issues if one's system has a problem. Band aids are just that, they help your to cover up the rough spots, but at what price? What other compromise? I think band aids like this can work if your speakers are truly stuck in position due to home minister approval requirement, or for room aesthetics matter, then it may be a solution. However, it's not my preferred solution.    

Re-Introduction To My HiFi Circa January 2019

My simplified 2 rack HiFi system, circa January 2019, to start my journey again after a 3 year plus hiatus

Let me tell you about my reintroduction in to HiFi again, circa January 2019. With a remodeled home many things have changed, except my man cave, whic remains untouched at the same 12ft x 10ft x 9ft(L x W x H). Small room, and the urge to make it 14ft x 10ft x 9ft(L x W x H) was there, but I had resisted as I loved the way the speakers loaded my room, sound wise. So all it got was a fresh new coat of paint & some LED strip lighting. I started with the room because over the years, my HiFi philosophy have come to embrace the room as the starting point, followed by speakers, amplifiers & lastly sources in the order of hierarchy in the degree of sound influence. Allow me to further explain why it all starts with the room. The room as we choose to house our HiFi system in to, will determine how big a speaker pair allowed, which will in turn tell you how big a power amplifier should be, then comes preamp to be the source switch and volume control plus maybe, just maybe add sonic flavours to your source, which ever you choose. Make no mistake, the job of the source is to extract as much musical information from the media medium as possible. My hifi set up reflects just that philosophy as above and a little more as we go along. 

This set up consisted of items that were mothballed from the past, such as my PMC IB2i speakers, ATI Reference 6004 power amp, Kuzma Stabi S turn table and lastly Torus Power conditioner. Add in some new elements such as the Aesthetix Janus preamp/phono stage & Sony CDP X7-ESD CD player. 

PMC IB2i speakers

The PMC IB2i have been in my past system before. They came in to the picture as replacement to the pair of PMC Fact 8. I fell in love with this pair of speakers at the time of it's review in these pages. At the time, budgetary issues prevented them from being mine. However as PMC introduced a newer model in the form of IB2 SE, this pair made it's way from the showroom to my place with some discount. My HiFi philosophy also dictates that speakers should always be British, especially variations or students of the past BBC Technical Dept designs. Those guys really did much research in to all that make great speakers.

In theory, the pair of IB2i speakers are somewhat over sized for my room dimensions, but with careful placements of not only the speakers, but also my throne in avoiding room modes, made it a possibility in practice. These are speakers with a big sound and real beefy bass. Being a 3 way design with a dedicated silk dome mid range, the magical vocal is always there, ever present when playing music. The highs are not extended like newer speaker designs, but that's OK, as with the right source material, it can still relay the amount 'air' required for 'live' recording that is so dependent on the illusion of being there. The Achilles heel of having such a big speaker is the requirement for an equally big, beefy amp, which is the subject coming next!
     

ATI Reference 6004 power amp

ATI is not a new HiFi manufacturer as they have been doing that for other big American high end brands since 30 years or so ago. ATI amplifiers are designed by Morris Kessler, even if not as famous as Nelson Pass, Mark Levinson, Dan D' Agostino or John Curl, he is definitely in the same technical prowess when it comes to amplifier designs. All good designers but different design philosophies & technical implementation. Coming back to my HiFi philosophy for amps, my choice would always be American muscle.

The ATI Reference 600X series is designed as a multi channel high end AV amp. It can be configured for 1-7 channels in a single chassis at time of purchase. I wanted a four channel 350W amp, so I got an ATI Reference 6004, the last numerical denotes the number of channels in a single chassis. Why 4 channels you ask? Bi-amping, ever since I did that with a pair of stereo Magnet amps, I can never go back to normal stereo. So each one of the PMC IB2i speaker is powered by one channel for the bass driver & one channel for the mid range & tweeter.

I found the ATI Reference to be extremely transparent & powerful for an AV multi channel design. Which is all one needs for HiFi, gain on a wire. Some may accuse it of not being the last word in refinement and I agree, but it has a certain mid range texture that's invariably missing on those over refined amp designs too. So in HiFi, you always win some, lose some. It's just what parameter is more important to win or lose only, your choice determines the brand and design.

Asthetix Janus pre-amp, comes with built in phono stage. It is basically a simplified Calypso & Rhea rolled in one box for those who needs to de-clutter their HiFi!

The Aesthetix Janus represents another American amp choice for me even if it's a tube based design. We reviewed the Aesthetix Calypso in these pages before and liked it quite a bit. I felt it's performance came closest my pre-amp reference of sorts, the Audio Research Reference 3. Many argue that this is a decades old design, but to me this tube based pre-amp struck a balance between  being transparent & the way it adds a tinge of golden rose hue to the tonal color of music is nothing short of magical. Newer ARC Reference designs have since improved on linearity, lowered noise floor & higher resolution capability, but lost it's musical soul in the process.

Sorry if I digressed, but the Aesthetix Janus represented just that, as in the very slight tinge of rose gold hue added in to the tonal color does wonders to lift music, give it soul, make it just a little bit more humanized. Partner those sonic qualities with a full function remote and high quality phono stage, then is it any wonder why it deserves to be here?

I know Jim White as an excellent phono stage designer. If one can excel at making 1000X amplification,  preamp design would seemed like childs play, wouldn't it?   

Sony CDP X7-ESD CD player, the best of Sony circa 1988!

The 1988 Sony CDP X7-ESD is a special breed indeed, if you didn't know that? I have not come across another CD player that comes with transformer coupled XLR output! The X7-ESD is the first ES series CD player to include XLR output, and Sony went all out to make it special. While the BB PCM 53 DAC chip is one generation before the best, PCM 63, the sound from this Sony unit is truly something else. I used to have the Marantz CD 7, which was a truly magnificent CD player, if not for it's sound quality, then at least for it's collector's value.

The Sony is from a decade before the Marantz, yet will not lose out anything in terms of sound quality, shows that Sony as the CD format's co-developer was truly ahead of the curve at the period of what could be called the Golden Age of CD players, which is from the late 80's till late 90's. I would almost always favor high end Japanese CD players(the other exception being Philips CD players) as they made the transports, and built them to last a life time. I know mine did, it's more than 30 years now and still plays music like as if it was new!

Kuzma Stabi S, or baby Kuzma as many would come to call it!

This Kuzma Stabi S replaced my Linn LP12 turn table sometime after this pages probably in 2014. In terms of design the Kuzma is totally a different breed altogether. I liked the bare bones design of a solid high mass turn table equipped with a 12 inch unit pivot Stoggi arm, fitted with my trusty, long service Benz Micro LP cartridge.

For a small turn table, the sound is big boned & bold. The design is also very quiet in terms of bearing noise and that double thick cast iron platter gives equally big, ballsy bass. Never mind if it's the cheapest turn table among Franc Kuzma designs. The Kuzma family sound is just as evident here as in his bigger, badder ass designs. it's also a very musical turn table, otherwise it will be difficult to persuade me to move away from the Linn Sondek LP12.

Torus Power RM 8A, yes 8 Amperes is all you need. It's showing 1.6A current draw at idle, when my system hits it's Rock & Roll stride at 104dbs, it would be drawing a little over 4.2A! 

The Torus Power Conditioner needs no introduction as you can catch or revisit my adventures with it here within these pages. That's what buying the best equipment do, it stays with you for a long..... time, and possibly maybe for a lifetime. No further thinking about what ifs or regrets later, years down the road.

So that's all about the equipment, as all cables and accessories are carried over from the past and can be viewed from these pages. All I can say is that after 3 years living without HiFi, I am just glad to be back and have sound, good or bad. My journey starts all over again from here on. 

10Qs For Andy Wilson, Technical Manager, PMC Loudspeakers.

James Tan(left) of AV Designs and Andy Wilson(right) of PMC Loudspeakers.

I had the good fortune to talk to Andy Wilson, Technical Manager for PMC Loudspeakers. He was in Kuala Lumpur to complete a few active speakers installation for PMC clients, to ensure that the speakers are set up and optimized for sound quality to meet strict standards, required by company policy. I caught up with him just before he made the dash for the airport on his return journey home to UK.

Big E: Hi! Andy, your first time in Kuala Lumpur?

AW: No, second time actually. I was last here more than a year ago.

Big E: With a name like Andy Wilson, do you feel perhaps people may ask if you could perhaps be working for the other high end loudspeaker company in the US?

AW: Ha! Ha! Other than name sake, I share nothing in common with the other high end speaker company in the US, with one exception, both are speaker manufacturers with a design priority for excellent sound quality!

Big E: As Technical Manager at PMC, what are you responsible for?

AW: I go around setting up, installing and optimising all PMC active speaker systems for clients.

Big E: Can you elaborate exactly what are considered active speaker systems by PMC?

AW: Well, technically anything upwards, starting from the PMC IB2S XBD-A in the product catalogue is considered  an active speaker system. These are not just a pair of speakers, but a whole integrated system solution, including electronic x-overs, amplifiers and finally, the actual speakers themselves.

Big E: So if I shall hit the jackpot tomorrow, and do buy a pair of MB2S XBD-A, you'd come to install, set up and optimise the pair of speakers in my home?

AW: Absolutely!

Big E: Can you elaborate step by step, exactly your installation, set up and optimization process of a pair of PMC active speakers?

AW: I would first measure all drive units again, to make sure they are performing up to specifications before I do anything else. This is to ensure that the internal wiring and drive units are not some how damaged in transition between our factory and the client's place. Even though we do measure the speakers before the leave the factory, it's still better to make sure everything is in order, before I proceed further. I then proceed to hook up all the components that make up the speaker system.

I then start physically placing the speakers in the given room, usually about 1/4 of the way in to the room from the front staging wall. I then try to balance between the bass response and sound staging depth by moving the speakers forwards and backwards from the front stage wall, at this point of setting up all the parameters on the electronics x-over is left in it's neutral setting. It always a compromise between the two(between bass response and sound staging) . Once I get the bass response correct, than I'd work on setting the mid range gain, followed lastly by the tweeters. This is to ensure I get a fairly even tonal response from the pair of speakers. The final step in the process is to do an in room frequency sweep measurement to confirm with what I heard.

At this stage, the client will be called in to give his opinion on the sound quality and small degrees of final adjustment can be performed to suit his or her preferences. Another round of in room frequency sweep will be performed to confirm the tonal response differences, compared to my original setting.

Big E: I noted in the set up process you did not mention any x-over point adjustment for the active speakers?

AW: You're right, there's no x-over point adjustment allowed in the PMC active speaker system design. The x-over points are pre-set at the factory and I can only change the gain setting of the drivers.

PMC BB5 XBD-A, the biggest, baddest speaker in the range.

Big E: What happens when you get an acoustically poor, or un-suitable room which does not do justice to those PMC big boy active speakers?

AW: There have been cases like that before, but thankfully it's not often we have a problematic room. The PMC active speakers are pretty room friendly, despite their size, but just don't put them in to too small a room, after all, they are still big speakers, and they do need room to breath. Our knowledge able dealers like James, will usually advise potential clients about the suitability of a PMC speaker model for the room size available, which usually ensures the speaker room match equation is workable in the first place.

Big E: I noticed that the latest PMC IB2S XBD-A uses in-cabinet class D amplifier modules instead of the usual Bryston supplied amplification in previous products. Is PMC choosing to go class D from here on, without Bryston?

AW: The class D amplifier modules are only specific to the IB2S XBD-A. We will continue our association with Bryston for all other active speaker models. And quite frankly, I personally feel analog amplifiers are still the best solution for sound quality. The only reason we selected class D amplifier modules for the IB2S XBD-A is because of the market positioning for this model, which is meant for home/small studio installation environments, hence there are budget and space restrictions that we have to consider in the product design. It's a work horse pro-model, rather than a hifi speaker used for domestic environment, where sound quality take precedence above all other considerations.

Big E: Which area or market are all the big boy PMC active speaker systems going to most?

AW: In Asia they mostly go in to big custom home theater installations, and in Europe and US, where they mostly go in to recording studios. I think it's because Asian homes tend to be bigger, and are able to accommodate very ambitious home theater installs. The typical European home is too space restricted for the PMC active speaker systems, we tend to put them in to studios. In the US, most of our active speaker systems go in to Hollywood studios for sound track and music recordings, and some big custom home theater installs too.

Andy's ride to the airport manage to arrive for pick up on time, and with that I wished him Bon Voyage, he very quickly left my 10Qs session. I wish to thanks James and Tony of AV Designs for arranging this talk session.

Twentieth Musical Returns! PMC Twenty 22 Loud Speaker.

The PMC Twenty 22 speakers with matching stands in my room. It's a classic two way design with and Sonolex dome tweeter and 6.5 inch mid bass driver, both designed by PMC, supplied by SEAS. 

As far as the equipment review queue that my eye can see, it looks like an all British affair, starting with this review! It tells us something about the resillience of the Brit hifi manufacturers in these trying times. PMC is one of those thriving Brit hifi manufacturers, and they had celebrated their twentieth anniversary in style last year, with the high light being the Twenty series speaker launched to commemorate the occasion. I have been pretty impressed with the Twenty series during the launch demo, and particularly smitten by the vocal sweetness of the baby 21 model.

James Tan, of AV Designs decides to throw a curve ball at me, by insisting I play with the Twenty 22(the larger stand mount model) instead. Well, nothing like a little audio adventure in to the un-charted waters. I must say, right out of the box, the PMC Twenty 22 speakers looked gorgeous in piano gloss black finish. The paint job has the deep polished, wet look that most of us hot blooded males lust after from our black coloured automobiles. There's only a slight problemo, the black finishing is one mighty dust magnet, as one can see from the photos, which was taken barely 2 days after setting up in my room! The drivers of the Twenty series speakers are rather simplified units, of what looks like a variety of those used on the higher Fact range.

A closer look at the stands.

Attaching the floor coupling spikes.

Preparing the top plate for speaker mounting with a small lump of blue tack at each corner. Note that sandwiched Neoprene like material layer in between the top plates for resonance damping purposes.

Now it would seem like I am putting way too much attention to the speaker stands, but I believe the proper matching stand do optimize the sonic performance a stand mount speaker design. James also supplied me the original pair of PMC matching stands, designed specifically for the Twenty series speakers. When installed and attached to the speakers, the stands with slanting pillars matched the dynamic looks of the slanting baffle design on the PMC. The stands are worth a special mention because it was especially design with noeprene like damping materials on the top and bottom plate to absorb and prevent resonances from compromising the speaker's performance(of which other speaker stand designs may do).

Setting up the stands is pretty easy with the usual attachment of the floor spikes at the bottom plate, and then applying a small amount of blue tack on to each corner of the top plate, to securely fasten the speakers to the stands. I then proceeded to position the speakers in my room, starting at the same spot where my very own PMC Fact 8 used to sit on. Being a smaller speaker with higher bass response roll off point, the speaker sounded rather lean. I than push the speakers further back in to the front stage wall, to get a healthier bass response. At 39 inches from the stage wall, and 18 inches from side wall, measured from the outer rear speaker corner, I got the best compromise where a healthy bass response is accompanied by a still reasonably wide and deep sound stage. A slight toe in of 2 degrees or so was required to focus the vocal imaging.  PMC allows bi-wiring or bi-amping of the twenty series speakers, however I only used the conventional single run method(as can be seen in the picture below), which is what this sonic review is entirely based upon.

As with all PMC speakers, the Twenty 22 allows bi-amping or bi-wiring. I just use plain single run speaker cables.

Chie Ayado sings about the Good Life, like she's lived thru it. This is a very soulful album, with simple arrangement and great recording quality in 24/96 hi-rez FLAC file, available from the Chesky label.

Like all speakers of Brit origin, this one's mid range proud. There's something special about the mid range's vocal reproduction, regardless if it's male or female. You'll hear every lyric clearly dictioned, teased and sung, mouth, teeth, moist tongue and lips. Some of the mid range sweetness of the baby 21 is still found here on the 22, which is no bad thing, really.  I found the highs to be a tad more laid back, less exteneded and less busy sounding, if just as airy and open compared to my more expensive reference, the Fact 8. Being a stand mount, the bass doesn't extend quite as low(about 45hz or so, in room response, my ears tell me). However, what ever bass notes that were reproduced is clean, clear, articulate and tunefull, with no over hang or excessive warmness. What it loses in extention, it makes up with enough bass(air moving) volume. In short, this is a fairly neutral speaker, tonally speaking of course, capable of decent punch, when called upon to do so.

This is a fairly noise free(the ear on tweeter test!) and transparent sounding speaker, with low level details a plenty without really having to look hard for them. Playing simple vocal and piano tracks, like those from the Chie Ayado's Good Life album, in 24/96 hi-rez FLAC file, brought out the best properties of the 22 speakers. The piano is full, delicate sounding with acompanying grandness in scale(which even some larger speakers struggle to reproduce). Ms Ayado's raspy voice fully reproduced with precision and yet at the same time, flushes out the soul in her crooning. I just love to listen to this album over and over again on the PMC Twenty 22 speakers. By the way, these speaker not only do simple music, they do rock(Mark Knopfler's Shangri-La) and other more demanding musical genre's just as well.

Being stand mounts, these PMCs readily disappears from the music(sonically of course) and brings with it an intimate imaging, with well spread out, and layered sound staging behind. The Twenty 22 is the "Jack Of All Genre" which clearly walks the fine line between musicality and serious hifi performance capability. By the way, did I tell you that I am very much a sucker for any Anniversary models? Ha! Ha!

A top down look, will always reflect the gorgeous piano gloss black finish, which is unfortunatly, also a mighty dust magnet, as this picture clearly shows!

Compared to the more than twice as expensive Fact 8, the Twenty 22, only does two things slightly less well. It's not as transparent nor does it sound dyanmically as hard hitting. However, those are small sacrifices one makes for an easy to like and musical sounding speaker. In fact I bet once the music is playing, it's easy to immerse one's self in to the music, and pretty much forget about sweating the audiophile stuff. It's easy to set up and dial in it's positioning is a bonus too.

The PMC Twenty 22 retails for RM$10,100.00/pair and the matching stands cost RM$1,800.00/pair. I can't think of a better way to drop RM$12,000.00 or so for a pair of brand spanking new, stand mount speakers. Yeah! it's that good!

By the way, AV Designs will be demo-ing the full range of PMC Twenty series speakers in stereo and multi chanel HT mode, at the coming KLIAV Show 2012.

PMC speakers are sold by AV Designs, contact James or Tony at 03-21712828.

PMC Launches Twenty.C Speaker.

Andy posing with the Twenty C center channel speaker, in piano gloss black finish.

PMC loudspeakers UK have launched the Twenty series matching center channel, aptly named Twenty C. Andy Duffield, one of the hardest working marketing guy in the business, was at the AV Designs showroom elaborate on the finer details of the Twenty series speakers and the official unveiling of the Twenty C in the Malaysian market.

The event was duly followed by an AV and music demo of the Twenty series speakers in multi channel surround mode. Needless to say, the speech intelligibility is superb for such a small and discreet center channel.

A closer look at the Twenty C.

Andy also mentions that there are signs that the Twenty series is starting to out sell the classic i series speakers, due to it's modest step up cost and huge performance advantage. The Twenty series will eventually include a matching sub woofer design, in the not too distant future, to complete the AV configurable of the range. Full AV demo of the Twenty series is now being hosted at AV Designs.

PMC Loudspeakers is sold by AV Designs, contact James or Tony at 03-21712828.

Sub-liminal!! PMC TLE-1 Sub Woofer.

Since my little rendezvous with the Rhythmic Audio F12 sub woofer not too long ago, and found the experience to be highly addictive. I begun to wonder if the PMC TLE-1, a high quality sub, retailing for RM$12,900 each, would do the trick in my smallish 10ft x 12ft room? Hmm.........

A call to AV Designs confirms the availability of the TLE-1, and within a few days, this handsomely built, slim design sub, with two six and a half inch bass driver incorporating PMC's proprietary ATL(Advance Transmission Line) technology, was in my man cave, awaiting to be set up. This PMC TLE-1 sub is an active design and comes with it's own 2 x 150W Bryston supplied power pack, read plate amplifier! Initial set up was a fairly easy affair, which once removed from the shipping carton, I proceeded to affix the four screw on spikes on all four corners of the bottom panel. After that, I proceeded to place the TLE-1 right next to my right speaker, from the same stables. Then the only other thing left to do was to connect the cables. A pair of XLR and RCA inputs are provided. I used the XLR option to go along with the rest of my system, all XLR wired. The only remaining cable to plug is the power cord. That's the easy part of the set up.

The PMC TLE-1, sitting right next to my Fact 8 main speakers. The TLE-1 was designed to visually match the PMC Classic series loud speakers, the latest with i moniker. Note that picture here taken is without grille to show the driver units. The actual review was based on the grille in used. This is due to the sub frequencies beaming and drawing attention from the music. With the grille in place, acting as a diffuser, the sub frequencies no longer draw attention to them selves.

We now come to the difficult part of the set up. Finding the right spot in the cave to place the PMC TLE-1 is hard work. The TLE-1 has to be reasonably far away from side walls to prevent bass re-enforcement which muddies the bass quality. The lack of a rumble filter also made it difficult to place in the context of my room. The sub kept picking up my turn table hum for some reason, causing the twin woofers to flap uncontrollably the moment the stylus hit the record, which is strangely solved by toe-ing in the sub slightly, so that it's paralleled along side my Fact 8 speakers did the trick. I did try other spots but all those places still had the sub picking up the turn table hum. It went back to the original spot where I first started. I then proceeded to dial in the sub parameters to suit my room and system.

Since the PMC Fact 8 extends all the way down to 28Hz @ -3db, the TLE-1's frequency dial would have to be set pretty low at 22Hz, to ensure a good, clean overlap. Then there is the sub level dial which allows me to match the sub output to complement the main speakers, and lastly, a phase dial which compensates the sub/speaker integration and reduce room mode interaction.

Attaching the floor coupling spikes to the bottom panel of the TLE-1.

The very simple 3 knob, 2 button, control panel of the TLE-1. From left: gain level, frequency roll of ON/OFF, variable phase, XLR or RCA input and frequency roll off point. 

It was nearly a month of experimenting with set up within my man cave, before I was satisfied and proceeded with the serious listening sessions. Actually, James Tan of AV Designs offered to help me with set up, but I declined because I wanted to try it out on my own(it's a man's thing, I guess). I am sure James has had more than enough experience to making setting up the TLE-1 a painless affair.

The moment I managed to successfully integrate the sub in to my system, I started to hear the lowest of bass notes, such as those pesky 20Hz from a pipe organ, which would've been previously rolled off naturally by the Fact 8 main speakers. The lowest notes like those 20Hz are actually more felt than heard. It manifest itself as a slight vibrato under your throne and if you stand close enough to the ATL port behind the TLE-1 with bell bottom pants, it should be flapping uncontrollably! The bass notes were clean with clear definition of note to note transfer on instruments like bass guitar and double bass. Listening to The Best Of Yazoo(remember Alison Moyet then in her prime?, who kinda reminds me of Adele today), one of my favourite electronic punk bands of the 80's, keyboard bass keys had gained a kind of electronic texture and substance to them.

However, adding a sub-woofer to the equation didn't only benefit the bass region. I felt there was an overall improvement to the whole sonic picture being presented by my system. It made the system sounded bigger than it actually was. The sound stage scale grew and imaging qualities included a sense of elbow room between the musicians, that includes the 3D stage layering effect. In "live" recordings, the venue acoustics becomes more apparent and convincing, transporting me to the actual concert event(with lights off). Often when increasing bass bandwidth, treble extension too will naturally be felt, and this PMC is no different. The highs took on a softer, less shinny brilliance, yet retaining all it's "air" quality, un soiled.

Obviously, dynamic range, both the macro and micro kind improved as well. When playing large scale orchestra music, such as Telarc's Round Up, featuring the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, conducted by Erich Kunzel. I heard harder hitting tympani(track 2, William Tell Overture), more forceful horse foot galloping effect(track 1, Sounds of the West) and surely, more surreal 20Hz rumble in track 3, The Magnificent Seven. With added dynamic range, comes excitement thrill ride of the sonic kind, where music dives deep in to the sub abyss and then rebounding the very next instance, all the way to ultra highs.

The back panel of the TLE-1 sub woofer. Note the stereo XLR input used to connect to my pre amp. Make sure left/right channel connection is correct. The TLE-1 would sound phasey if the channel connection is reversed between left and right!

On the whole, mating the PMC TLE-1 sub woofer to my resident Fact 8 speakers brought about an exciting musical synergy, never before experienced in my system.  Once dialed in completely, the TLE-1 would cease to exist in the sonic picture, not drawing any attention to it self. After a few weeks, I had begun to take it for granted, in the fit and forget manner. I had visitors who came and was un-aware of the existence of a sub woofer, yet left wondering how the Fact 8s could go so low in to the bass department. I would say mating the TLE-1 sub woofer to the Fact 8 main speakers sounded more like having a "mini-me" pair of PMC MB2i-XBD in my cave!

More experienced visitors would often ask why they didn't hear the sub, and would request me to disable the TLE-1 from the system. Once disabled, it became so obvious, how very subtle, the ways of the TLE-1, working to extend the last few hertz of the bottom octaves that we had taken for granted, in the listening experience. This sub is not for the "wham-bang-thank you ma'am" crowd. It's too cultured for that. I'd rather call it a musical sub instead, but that doesn't mean it can't do AV duties either, as I've heard a pair of them TLE-1 in action inside AV Design's premium home theater demo room.

Another prominent fellow blogger, Audioing who came to listen, even suggested that I operate a pair of TLE-1s, instead of a single sub, to take the whole experience to an even higher level. I know where that devil is coming from, and can only agree with him whole heartily!

PMC loud speakers are sold by AV Designs, contact Tony or James at 03-21712828.

Best Speakers 2011.

Speakers are most difficult to judge of all hifi equipments. Their interaction with a given room will determine the final outcome of the sound you'll hear.  They are also responding to the amplified signal from the power amp. Impedance/Sensitivity/Watt matching will also play it's role in the final sound one hears thru a pair of speakers.

For review purposes, most big speakers are just too bulky to lug around, but we really did try, with the help of some dealers. Odioslueth was in the mood for some speaker up grades and some of the candidates here were shortlisted. Did he buy any of these?

PMC IB2i with stand.

PMC IB2i.

You can say that I am somewhat biased on my choice here which is the PMC IB2i. For me, this is an aspirational choice, should one day my ship comes to dock! The IB2i has won numerous awards in other publications and I can see(no, hear) why. It has an effortless sense of sheer musicality, lead by a tight, deep diving bass with propulsive qualities. The mid range is as full bodied and "kau-kau"(Malaysian speak for describing creamy, aromatic, thick coffee or tea) as only a special 3 inch mid range dome driver equipped pair of speakers can provide. The highs are refined and smooth, but is not outstanding either. Top to bottom coherence is the order here. This PMC images stably within a wide, open sound stage, some thing that only well designed stand mounts do with ease. It's surprisingly easy on the amps too, as Odioslueth's 60W Pass XA mono block never seemed to run out of steam(except during the most demanding of orchestral crescendos!) when partnered with the IB2i speakers. Some have commented that it looks a little dull, but my advise to them when listening to these babies is "Cover the face, fire the bass!" Ha! Ha!


Dynaudio C4.


Dynaudio C4.

I've always loved the Dynaudio Confidence range, especially the C1. We had to listen to this pair of C4s in CMY's listening room, due to it's long, heavy packing crate which would've being too difficult to move up to Odiosleuth's 2nd floor man cave! The Dynaudio is supremely transparent, and has some of the most refined, yet pristine high frequency reproduction. Mids are true to source without any sugar coating. Bass goes low and articulate enough, but seems just a little shy from diving in to the deepest octaves. Some may complain that the C4 can sound somewhat hifi-sh, but I think that's the speaker's transparency at play here, it's simply reflecting the characteristics of the equipment chain up front, or perhaps the recording it self. John of CMY Audio & Visual tells me that Dynaudio C4 MKII is on it's way to Malaysian shores soon.


Marten Getz.

Marten Getz.

Marten Getz holds joint honours with the C4, Odiosleuth is very fond of these speakers as he always mentions about them during our hifi tea sessions. I can understand why. This speakers has open and highly extended highs, sweet mids, and well controlled bass. It really does nothing wrong except if telling the absolute truth is a crime! That's how highly transparent it is. I still can't forget how seductive Stacy Kent sounds thru the Getz. The Marten Getz offers an open window to your music collection. Did Odiosleuth made them his permanent reference? Stay tuned to find out.

PMC Twenty.21.

PMC Twenty.21

The latest PMC Twenty.21 are my current favorite small/budget speakers. They are highly transparent, and come with the famous BBC LS3/5A kinda sonic cues, if only in broad brush. Again, female vocals are their forte' providing some of the sweetest voices for the below RM$10k budget range. They are easy to position in the room and offers wider than expect bandwidth, dynamic range and volume loudness from such a small foot print. At one point during the world wide press demo, this diminutive pair of 21 silenced a crowd of 30 or so mingling seasoned audiophiles, and captivated them to listen thru a few songs until the demo stopped. It was as if time stood still for the crowd and only the music mattered, even if only for just a while. The music wasn't loud at all, but just enough to fill and immerse that rather large demo area with pure music. If that's not phenomenal, then I don't know what is?

There are other speakers out there for sure, some of which are better, if not more suitable in your own room and preferences than others. I hereby list them here, in no particular rank or order,  that I've heard else where, but not formally reviewed or previewed.

1) Triangle Magellan
2) Wilson Audio Maxx 3
3) Sonus Faber Cremona Auditor
4) PMC Fact 3
5) Magnaplanar Mini
6) XTZ 99.36
7) YG Carmel
8) Franck Tchang's Super Tango
9) Linn Majik Isobarik
10) TAD CR-1

We rate the Best Power Line Gear 2011 next!

PMC Factory Tour, Part III. Hifi Trio Visits PMC!

We come to the final part of our PMC factory tour. Keith Tonge still our tour guide. Now, we are brought to the main speaker assembly area. As PMC does not make the speaker boxes in house, there's no wood work section to view. Keith tells us that it's better to let specialist box manufacturer 40 kilometers down the road do the job. Most drive units used by PMC are supplied by SEAS except for the 3 inch mid range dome unit you've seen earlier in part II.  The tour continues:


Jo inspecting the assembly line of "Twenty" series. Production was in full swing when we visited! Keith seen here explaining the finer points of speaker construction.



More "Twenty" series speaker boxes and drivers lined up for assembly.



The internal cablings for all PMC speakers are especially made. As seen earlier during part I, in the cable store room, various grades of cables are used for the diferent PMC product range.



Ryan is seen here assembling the one piece speaker cable terminal and x-over module to box.



Phil is putting on the PMC badge on to a line of "Twenty"series boxes.



An internal view of a "Twenty" series box, internally lined with foams of various density for the ATL(Advance Transmission Line) tunnel.   



At another section of the final assembly area, a line of BB5-XBD speaker boxes awaiting the various foam lining to be inserted in to the box.



Some of the semi finished BB5-XBDs on the production line.

Each finish speaker is brought in to this test chamber for final QC against an original reference sample, as seen below.

An original reference sample for all the range of PMC speakers is lined up next to the test chamber.



Some of the test equipment for the final QC. Note that Bryston amps are used.



The various test cables used for testing purposes.



After the final testing, the finish products are packed and ready for shipment worldwide.

We bid farewell to the friendly people at PMC after this. The factory visit was especially rewarding for me, as a fellow PMC speaker user, knowing the level of pride and attention that has been showered in to the making of each speaker. Peter Thomas tells me that the current factory is getting a little tight for the increased production volumes that PMC is currently experiencing. We may be visiting a new factory the next time round, he said!

A final note from London, courtesy of  Mastercard. We used the public transport transit card to get around London. This transit card allows access to the tube and all bus routes.

It's been great hifi travels for us all. We wish to thanks the kind folks at PMC louspeakers and AV Designs for making this visit possible. The whole experience and friendship we take home from this trip is well,.... PRICELESS!

PMC Factory Tour, Part II. Hifi Trio Visits PMC!

We continue with the PMC factory tour now, by visiting the area where the magical 3 inch mid range dome driver is assembled. Keith Tonge continues to be our tour guide.


Note the finished 3 inch mid range dome driver on the bottom right corner, laid out all over the table are the various pieces that make up the over sized magnet structure of the driver.



Keith show us the reverse side of the partially assembled dome, which we'll see how this part is formed later.



Keith shows the front side of the dome, which is hand coated to ensure uniformity of the coated surface.



This is the first step of the magnet assembly.



Followed by another additional copper cap.

Topped with a piece of precision die cut high density foam, which acts as the stop bumper to prevent the voice coil from over excursion. Keith says that since the foam is eternally sealed inside the cap and dome structure of the driver, it will not deteriorate with time and age.



See, another aluminium cap seals the foam.

 

Another copper cap and magnet structure is added to the assembly. The whole assembly will be put in to an electro magnetic chamber to get magnetised.

 

This is the voice coil winding machine, with 2 pieces of finished coil on the right hand side.



A closer look at the voice coil winding process. Note how fragile the copper wire is?

Maria personally coats every dome, winds every voice coil, and seen here attaching the coil ends to the dome. 



Marquette hand solders all the passive x-over components and PMC's internal electronics such as active x-over and plate amps for powered speakers.

 

The finished boards are then tested to meet specifications. On test here is a BB5-XBD x-over board.

 

Finished plate amp modules, completed testing procedure, and awaiting further assembly.


From here onwards, we will move towards the final speaker assembly area. Stay tuned for the final part of our PMC factory tour!