PMC FB1 Advice!

quote:

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...midrange was less natural and a little harder edged on the PMc, I would tend to agree..but I,m thinking lets see what the xps does to the pmc,s midrange...

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With respect, what about the music? Did it flow and swell? Were the band having a good day? Could you hear them grinning at each other?

BTW, I don't know about the FB1, but other PMC speakers (specifically the IMHO vastly underrated LB1s) used reguarly to shut down NAP135s at shows, even at fairly modest volumes.

YMMV!

Best;

Mark

(an imperfect
forum environment is
better than none)

A word of caution

I bought a pair of these in Melbourne Sept 01 and sold them April 02
While they certainly aren't bad speakers I found them a curiously lifeless listen unless you have the volume wicked up LOUD. I was driving them with a 180 and was never very happy with that combo. Some say they require 200 Bryston watts to really get 'em moving...there may be something in that.
I kept them until I'd upgraded to a CDX and better pre just to make sure that what I was/wasn't hearing was not down to the 3 series Naim stuff I had before. The CDX certainly fleshed the sound out more but they still didn't move me. So many favourite albums simply fell flat on their faces through the PMCs.
If you insist on your system being able to play music which allows you to make an emotional connection with what you're hearing I'd say avoid them. Sorry.
People have commented that these speakers have a harshness in the midrange which can be off putting. Unfortunately this is also true...

Make sure you have a lengthy home trial first. Something I didn't do

A few months back, I remember Redeye getting really pissed off with me 'cos I hit him with my "told you so!" response regarding PMC FB1s, when he was getting a bit disillusioned by their slowness, and lack of involvent.

If you want a big transmission-line speaker, then I suggest you try the Rega Naos, or their little brother the ELA 2000, or speakers by JM Lab like the Cobalt 8156s - which are ported, btw. All of these are much faster and more involving than the PMCs, and they are also less expensive.

My own dealer recently sold off his demo pair of FB1s at a reduced price, because he failed to sell any of them following demonstrations to (potential) customers.

Yeah, they do door-hinge-rattling bass, but that is about yer lot, apart from their tonal neutrality.

One lesson to learn in all this is that magazines give raving reviews to hi-fi equipment (like FB1s) to sell more copies of their magazine, not to help a potential buyer put together a decent system.

For that, you need a decent dealer.

Regards,

Steve.

The proof of the pudding...

Hi all,

Ok had the dem on wednesday that I spoke of;180 ,82,hi,cdx with the FB1's & this time I added the xps. Checked this out for about 40 mins .....nice I liked it...mids were explict & refreshingly pure & open plus the whole sound was more weighty with much firmer foundation = good!!.
So I compared these with the Alleas & the Tannoy eyris...My thoughts were;

Alleas not bad but mid sounded not so natural in fact perhaps coloured in comparison to the PMC, the imaging wasn't as presise & bass didn't sound as tight or as deep.

Tannoy Eyris immediatly struck me as being overly smooth to the point of masking over most of the upper mid & treble detail, a boring none offensive sound but most noticable was the inability to convey what instruments were playing where & at what level in relation to one other- in other words the music had gone!

For me the most musically rewarding speakers were the PMCso unless I hear a better pair then my vote goes for these..


Ps. the 180 drove them no worries!

Cheers mad boy mat

Mad Boy Matt

Was this at AE in Park Street?

See if you can get them to do the same system, but with 250 & Intros on Mana SBs. Suspect that would easily better what you heard, for about the same money.

Best;

Mark

(an imperfect
forum environment is
better than none)

Just my 2p of caution - I demmed them in a dealer's a couple of times and didn't think a 250 was really up to driving them, and found them slow as a combination.

I would echo Nick's advice - make sure you like them in your own listening room - bass boom and separation seemed potential problems.

Alex

Hello again,

Sure guys (Nick & Alex)the home dem will definatly take place before a puchase! But you know how it goes at a hifi shop? I can directly compare one speaker to another & when I find one I like I'll home dem that one!
I mean it would be great if say the dealer came to my house & set up a different pair of speakers in my listening room every week until I found the pefect pair! but...I suspect they wouldn't be too impressed having spent all that time & energy only to find that I prefer a make speakers they don't stock!!..This = wasting peoples time..not fair.

.....Oh & in answer to your question Mark it wasn't Audio ex that I demed it was Radfords as AE don't stock PMC!

P.S The only other speakers that I like at present are the Tannoy TD10's but at £5000 its a bitter pill to swallow!!

Mad Boy Matt

...with TidyW re the LB1. Someone I knew had some for a number of years, both with 135s and subsequently a Bryston. Memory is never 100% accurate, but I seem to recall that they sounded a lot less "pro" and more musical with the 135s, but would shut them down with more than about 20 mins at about 11 o'clock. With the Bryston, they'd run all day at whatever volume one wanted, but often one didn't. Tricky. I also remember that susbstituting a 32.5 for the Bryston pre improved thinks a LOT.

Best;

Mark

(an imperfect
forum environment is
better than none)

Someone I KNEW... shame on you.

John,

Glad you are getting on well with my old LB1's. I would have definitely hung on to them if they worked 75% as well as they did in our last home, the new room that is almost cube shaped just set them off. I always felt they gave about the best live sound for enclosure size & cost.

Bob.

Buying speakers are the hardest part of the HiFi purchases and it is all about personal taste. My believe is that if you like a certain sound characteristic (i.e., Naim sound or Linn sound or Mark Levison or even Exposure sound) you should consider the speaker lines that the HiFi maker of your choice uses to test their product lines (in the case of Naim they probably use naim speakers and may be one or two more other designs) to optimize the sonic characteristic that you like. However, sometime too much of enhancements may cause tired listening (eg., to much agressive sounding from all Naim electronics and naim speakers). In my case I like all Naim electronics but I use B&W 805 speakers. The PMC speaker lines are fabulous but they need high power amp to drive them. I yhink the mininum has to be a NAP250 for those small ones and Naim mono amps for floor models. I have heard the MB2 model with Bryston top of the line pre and power amp. They are very impressive (details, accurate, huge sound stage). I found that using Naim CD players and Bryston top of the line amplification with the MB2 or LB1 models of the PMC bring me the best of both worlds.