Yes at the top edge they can go fairly close to a wall.
I think there’s a lot of ways this can be viewed. As the HE doesn’t have an amp inside so the old “too much speaker for the amp” warning will never apply here. It really comes down to simply whether the source and preamp section are up to the job and they probably are.
But for sure, if headfi is your main thing, the active PMC are a lot of money for occasional listening.
Are you getting the dedicated stands? They’re good looking little speakers and, naturally, are most visually appealing mounted on the stands. Acoustic Energy also reckon they sound best on the stands, but they would say that! It’s worth thinking about, when you get the speakers, as you can save getting on for a couple of hundred quid by buying them together.
Roger
There only seems to have been one person suggesting the PMC and/or ATC aren’t suitable, but the OP appears ti have convinced himself. Mention of “even a Muso” rather confirms lack of interest in getting best sound in the room. A room that would appear to be no more compromised for listening than many, if I’ve the system pics thread is anything to go by.
Yes, that will be me!
Hi, not a new design but may we worth trying to find a pair of Elac Narvis ARB51. Great imaging, good dynamics plenty of clarity without sibilance. Was so impressed I eventually purchased the floorstanders for my HE in a 4.5 x 4m room.
I guess that first of all nobody have really listened to those yet 
. They might be a very good upgrade, who knows. The suggestion is to start with the smallest of them.
Well I’d already got a demo arranged for the PMC 22i & 23i, sometime next week hopefully. I’ll see how it goes. If I like one of them I’ll see if a home demo is possible. Thanks for the input.
No ATCs at this stage?
Admittedly based on mg long established preference for transmission lind bass I’d expect to prefer PMCs to the smaller ATCs (including the 40 in smaller), but then I’ve never heard ATC’s hifi speakers …nor the smaller PMCs! I hope you get to hear all and make your decision informed by ear not this forum.
ATC’s next after PMC’s. Dealer doesn’t have any demo models at the moment.
Definitely worth auditioning both brands with a final trial at home, if that’s possible. With active speakers, you’re buying power amps as well as drivers and cabinet and I suspect no one here has actually heard the new PMC power packs, so definitely worth a proper comparison.
FWIW I went from passive PMCs to current SCM 40As and haven’t looked back, but there’s so much personal taste in speaker choice that other’s recommendations have to be treated with care and that includes mine.
Roger
Thanks @PeakMan, it’s been a journey even getting to this point but I’m finally happy with my choices. Looking forward to listening to them all.
Paul
I finally got to demo the new PMC Twenty5 23i Actives with my Atom HE. Wow, just wow!! Absolutely incredible sound.
My expectations were raised when on entering the dealers an employee whom I’d not met before approached me to ask if it was my demo that the 23’s were set up for.
He then enthusiastically informed me that he had been listening to them and had been ‘blown away’. He told me he has an NSC 222 Streaming Preamplifier and a NAP 250 into Passive 23i’s which was great but he’s now thinking about fitting an active board to the 23i’s to replace the 250. This was genuine - not sales patter.
I’ve got them on order but will have to wait two months before I get them.
But you can’t add a PS to the atom……
Yebbut that’s a benefit innit?
LOL… No it isn’t given how much of an uplift the NPX300 brings to the NSC222…
That’s both intriguing and surprising. Some on here, including at least one dealer, have claimed the NC 250 is superior to the OC 300DR. So if PMC’s active amp pack at £1.8k sounds better than a 250 and to what was a £8.5k amp not long ago,the rule book is changing. Class D amps coming of age, perhaps?
Roger
Or just the benefit of active operation.
The “rulebook” as you put it has always had it that active driving is better than passive. And the amps are chosen/designed for that specific purpose. And of course cost is only ever a direct indicator within the hierarchy of an individual manufacturer.
When I started in hifi (back when dinosaurs ruled the earth) the “rulebook” was: buy your source or sources (typically vinyl deck or tape recorder in those days), then an amp, integrated or pre/power, and add speakers. In domestic hifi until recently I think something like this has continued to be the norm, but with new sources and variants such as external power supplies, monoblock power amps etc. But with PMC’s new active packs for their twenty5 series and Kudos’ forthcoming SIGAO drive as well as several continental manufacturers introducing active speakers recently, it looks like one box feeding actives (perhaps with a vinyl setup as well) is gaining in popularity for home hifi. Perhaps recent improvements in the quality of compact Class D amps is one reason for this.
And of course I’m well aware price is not a perfect proxy for quality, but I still think it remarkable and worth comment if a recent and very highly regarded power amp really is bested by an amp pack at not much more than a fifth of the price. Though I’d want to make the comparison myself rather than just go by reports.
Roger