Right! Results from the Surrey Hills jury is. . .
When I unpacked the PMC's from their box and lugged in the hefty Kudo stands I really had a 'good feeling' about the pocket-sized monitors. Once fired up they didn't disappoint in any shape or form - they were also perfect for the OH's concept of down-sizing.
The first album we tried was Bowie's 'Ziggy Stardust' and the DB1i's immediately lived up to the hype and positive appraisal. The detail, clarity and timing was first class (thanks Iggle, DM, JD
). Then I loaded up the CD73 with a Small Faces album with the same impeccable traits. Itchycoo Park sprang out from the tiny bass driver with aplomb. Clearly they didn't have the clout of bigger speakers (that's as obvious as Jeremy Clarkson's ego).
By this point I was mentally writing a cheque out for these great little speakers. So all's perfect on the PMC front then? well no. While they had all the clarity, detail, imaging you could ever wish for once I put on 'Saving Private Ryan' DVD it really showed up the DB's deficiences: The Omaha beach scene at the beginning exposed the speakers the lack of bottom end grunt. On my RS's you get virtual surround sound, the impression you are there - really got the sonic juices flowing. The PMC's not so. The detail from falling debris was spot-on though. Back to CD's and played the OH's Norah Jones's album 'Come Away With ME' and the PMC's lack of realism once again exposed. The instruments were again beautiful, but her voice seemed to be thin and lacked a velvety texture of the MA's.
Another slight disappointment was I played The Foo Fighters 'Nothing Left To Lose' album and subsequently played some Big Band Jazz. What these albums confirm is that when the bass drum is wellied out the PMC's sounded a tad flat.
I carried out a strange experiment last night. On Tuesday night I invited the OH's physio around to have a listen. She has a ridiculously expensive B&O system, and all I said was bring 1 CD and listen to these speakers. When she arrived I didn't ask her to judge which speaker she preferred. . .simply asked which pair was the most expensive, in her view. After listening to 3 Cliff Richard tracks on both speakers she cited the RS6's as the most expensive. I was suprised because the PMC's, to me anyway, sounded more sophisticated. Hyacinth Bouquet vs Linford Christie perhaps?
I am sure my Arcam was partly to blame for the PMC's bottom-end reluctance. I remember when WHFI, Jan 07, did an all-in-one test, the first review of the DB1i's, CD73 and A70 completed the system. They did comment that A70 lacked a bit of verve and suggested the Roksan LIII along with CD73 and DB's would be the ideal combination. Which only goes to prove that detail and timing without excitement paints an incomplete picture.
So are the PMC's a good speaker? my answer would have to be a big fat NO. . .they are ruddy marvellous. Will I buy them? No. They retail at around & £800, factor in the additional cost of the stands and you're looking at the best part of a grand. That's a lot of money for a slight improvement.
Thanks all for your patience.
PP
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