Hi feeling_zen & thanks,
I read on the web somewhere that the drivers PMC use are the “Peerless by Tymphany” but I’m not sure of that really. I kind suspect PMC only make the mid and low end drivers on the highest end versions/studio. I do agree it’s important to not get hung up on where things are made though 100%!
I am thinking at the moment that B&W will probably be an easier option for me here in VN since they have better representation and I already have B&W 606 - so am pretty sure I’ll like what I’m getting into with them. I’m thinking of the new 702 S2 Floorstanding or maybe the stand mounts. I don’t like the dark wood colour but rather sadly I could get them vinyl wrapped to black or white maybe…! I doubt it would affect the sound
Hi Homeaway,
I think that’s a great idea visiting Singapore, my parents went there last time and had a good time.
I will look into the Proac speakers thanks…!
Hi Terry and thanks,
I’m a little wary of the ATL to be honest just due to the cut away photos I saw probably (maybe it was too much information lol)… You can make a ‘box’ have a lot of bass as we can see on the low end speakers included with basic ‘hifi’s’ (I’m thinking Sony 3 box sets here). I’m kind of steering to B&W now as I know what it will sound like pretty much.
So, to shed another view along the same lines, this is common practice with drivers across many brands. Just like a good watch, which is another hobby of mine. A standard ETA movement is used in many brands. Would I like to purchase an Alang and Sohn, Ulysses Nardin Blue Ocean, Panerai, or a Hublot with all in house made movements, sure I would, but the $10.000 - $100,000 price tag is not in my wheel house. So I will purchase a watch, or speaker if you will that has some in house design, in house parts, with some supplier parts , and a nice design and look, or SOUND in this case. Let the suppliers who specialize in design and manufacturing do what they do best and keep the cost down by purchasing goods for design and build.
This may or may not be useful to you. I agree that buying speakers after demoing is the best but I have to hold my hand up to buying my current pair blind… with a lot of feedback from here.
I ended up with PMC Twenty5 22 stand mounts. I originally had the B&W CM6 S2. I preferred the look of the B&W but luckily for me in this instance, the PMC are better by some margin.
What I like about the PMC speakers is the bass, very controlled and tight. Way deeper than it should be fore their size etc. Mids are really clear and detailed without sounding thin and the highs have bags of detail but not to the point of being harsh. I did find at times the B&W could be a bit edgy.
In the end I felt the level of detail from low to high was more balanced with the Twenty5 22 than the CM6’s which were great at the high end but lacked a bit of bass and felt a little muddled in the mids in comparison.
I love detail, listening to elements of a track and being able to focus on them, the soundstage, imaging and detail of the PMC speakers, to my ears/system, are incredible. That said, the levels of detail etc from the B&W speakers were also very good.
So… it’s a tough choice so, if possible if you’re buying blind online, make sure you have the option to return and just have the running as much as possible within that return time period!
Edit. I’m using these speakers in a relatively small room and they’ve ben a breeze to position with no problems with bass boom etc.
In my quite limited practical experience, speaker brands do tend towards having a house sound. For example, all the Dynaudios I’ve heard sounded rather lean for my taste, whereas I’ve never heard a pair of B&Ws I didn’t like. In fact, it was the latter that made me do the unthinkable a few years ago and bought a pair of s/h B&W 804S without… are you ready for this?.. without listening to them first. I got away with it too - I’ve had them over 8 years and still love listening to them. Every upgrade I’ve done elsewhere in my system has just seemed to improve them further.
I’m not recommending that as a general rule, of course - listening before paying will always be the best advice - but it is possible to make a reasonably informed choice and get away with it.
Which ever brand you choose you might want to consider buying from a dealer that allows you to upgrade within a certain time period and get full or partial credit trading your speakers on some other pair of speakers. Sometimes you are forced to buy blind and you never “know” until you place them in your room with your system what they will sound like. It’s just a worse case scenario that the ability to switch to another speaker may be your saving grace.
Transmission line loading has been used for decades, mostly only on higher end speakers because it is hard to design right (much harder than reflex), and complex to build, making them expensive. In my experience they beat other forms of speaker cabinet design. But I am not so sure how well the loading works on smaller speakers; it was always said to need adequate size, so I am less sure the smaller you go (e,g. PMC twentfive.23 downwards.). Not saying they don’t work, merely that I don’t know how well.
The main brands over the years before PMC were IMF, became TDL, and both Cambridge and Radford made one. And the original B&W Nautilus, the shell shaped one which I believe is still made as their flagship speaker, uses a form of transmission line loading.
Hi Mark,
Not based on what you said (as I just sent the email a few mins ago) but “I’ve never heard a pair of B&Ws I didn’t like” sounds very good to my ears at the moment! (anticipated buyers prejudice now included).
I ordered the B&W 702 Signature @ 148,850,000 VND
Hi Zackwater,
If that were possible it would be great. I live in Vietnam and to be honest the only way to get good hifi gear here is to make 100% sure you’re getting brand new kit. I won’t go into it too much but if anyone reads this later say in a couple of years then take the above advice very seriously as Asian countries have high humidity and hifi gear sitting on shelves or in boxes for any length of time even in show rooms will degrade rapidly.
Well, I hope you have as much luck with them as I did with mine, @Milo! I haven’t heard any of the latest B&W models since they went all grey cones from the yellow Kevlar, but I hear good things about them. What surface finish did you go for?
Hi Mark,
With these new ‘special editions’ (it tipped the balance actually being ‘newer’ and less un-obtainable/more reliable supply) they only seem to come in a dark wood colour. It doesn’t suit by decor but if it turns out to be totally unacceptable I’ll get a ‘professional person’ in to wrap them in vinyl plastic wrap. The Vietnamese are absolute legends at these films I can see, so I’m pretty sure they would get a pretty much perfect finish lol. They often do it with the motobike scooters and phones hence the expertise & perfect finish. I doubt I could get a good wood effect but I could go with a hard solid colour say!
Innocent_Bystander,
To be honest it might be best if the guy wraps the whole speaker like the baggage thing in the airport and I carefully cut the holes out with a scalpel
I’ve found that the Vietnamese are absolute experts and legends with stuff like this so as long as I’m sure that the individual has to be done it will be ok.
A practical word of caution: if the cone surrounds are proud or flush with the speaker face, or even anywhere close to flush, they’ll need protecting from risk of contact from the adhesive vinyl.
