Atom with PMC?

Posted by: Olle90 on 30 March 2018

Hi! I have a pair of PMC twenty 26's and i'm looking for an all in one box around 2000-2500 pounds. I got my speakers in a great deal and today i have Atoll IN200SE and DAC100SE which are good but the speakers are on another level and it would be nice to improve the sound quality even more. I know that the speakers would thrive with an even better and more powerful amp, but the Atom is in my budget and i would love to hear some of your thoughts.  It seems to be a very good and capable of driving medium/large floorstanders.

Posted on: 01 April 2018 by spurrier sucks
Dan.S posted:

Can you detail a bit the differences between 25.23 vs C20?

Different room on different gear so I'm not sure how accurate this is. I thought they were somewhat similar overall but I felt the PMC had a bit more detail to them. Not that the C20 lack detail but I do believe the C20 are more laid back and the PMC a bit more forward I it not harsh or fatiguing. I had around 1.5-2 hours with them with all types of different music and thought they played all of it well. I really want to hear them side by side in the same room on the same equipment  I'm not sure I would trade C20 for 25.23 but I am sure I want a pair of PMC. After living with both for a bit I'm sure I could decide which one I prefer most. Right now my plan is to get 20.21 or 25.21 and put on my newly acquired SN. Maybe that will give me all I need and satisfy my PMC lust I have right now. 

Posted on: 01 April 2018 by feeling_zen

I sincerely beleive you can get better results pairing a more cable one box with a lesser speaker, given the budget you are discussing. But since you already have the 20.26s, there is no point debating that now I suppose. I had a chance to get 25.26 in 2016 and an excellent and very honest dealer talked me down to something more likely to work in my context (I had a suitable system for 25.26 but not a suitable room). So I spent a lot less money and got a superb result.

A second hand SuperUniti would be the only Naim one-box I would consider here. The question is not whether an Atom can drive them (it can), but whether it is effective as a system. If you are in love with the aesthetic of the Atom but could conceivable hide away another box, a NAP100 power amp driving just the bass units would be in your budget and greatly change the Atom's ability to drive these speakers (though as a source and preamp - they still deserver more). Bi-amping simply to improve power handling is perfectly valid. If a SU is not to be found, 2 boxes are out of the question, and the 20.26 are the fixed constant, then I might actually look to a non Naim solution in your budget. The word "stereo receiver" is a dirty word which is probably why Naim have not used it, but the Uniti range is Naim's range of stereo receivers whichever way you look at it. As such, I might be looking for beefy GBP2500 receiver from another manufacturer. 

Ultimately, your budget is never going to put together and source and amplication package that will do the 20.26 justice whether that be one box or many.