Hopefully this will be of interest to anyone thinking of upgrading their PMC speakers and a useful archive for future PMC purchasers re warranty .
I spent the beginning of this year upgrading my NDX2/252/300 system to the fantastic 500 system. I then put my PMC Twent26 speakers on some Townshend Podiums and, as everyone who has tried them can attest, they were transformational.
I recently completed my journey by upgrading my speakers to PMC Fact 12 Signatures, which fortunately required the same podiums.
Although my listening room is acoustically treated, I was a little concerned the two bass drivers and ATL would be too much for my 3.5m x 4.5m space. I was assured by the dealer that if my room worked with the 2026’s, they would be fine with the 12’s. And as he was offering them ‘sale or return’ (always a sign of a good dealer) there was little to risk in demo-ing them.
I needn’t have worried. The bass is very taught, very detailed and textured and whist it has substantially more presence than in my 2026’s, it remains totally balanced with the mids and highs, and presented no problems in my room. I have not needed to use the + -3dB fine adjustment switches the speakers have for bass and treble adjustments.
On playing, I found the speakers just faded away leaving a superb soundstage, with all elements in the recording incredibly detailed. There is no blurring of image, each instrument positioned in their own pinpoint space even when one instrument in behind another. The depth of sound stage projection is similar to my 2026’s, but much more clearly defined, ranging from way beyond the front wall to right by my ears. Instrument often appearing next to the left and right walls by my listening position. Jean Michel Jarre’s opening sequence of Chronologie part 1 has the spot sound rushing left and right just in front of my face.
The harmonic richness of a double bass or the sound of a kick drum being stuck is a pure joy, as is the chest punching opening of Massive Attack Angel.
On Holly Cole’s Train Song (Temptation album) I can clearly hear the single bell ring just after she sings ‘never ring a bell’ @ 1:05 into the track. That’s something that was very hard to spot with the 2026’s.
Overall I would say the Fact 12 Sig have the same temperament as all the PMC speakers I have listened to, giving a natural and neutral experience that I can listen to for hours. The 12 sig’s fill my listening room with beautifully rendered, pin point accurate instruments with so much detail that well know tracks often feel unfamiliar.
As you can tell, I’m really pleased with them and make the fabulous 500 series shine. So all good except……..
PMC offer a class leading 20 year warranty on most of their speakers. There is a massive, small print, BUT here though. If you don’t register your speakers with PMC within 10 days of the purchase date (as written on the invoice) then that warranty is downgraded to just 2 years!
10 days is often barely enough time to get them delivered or picked up, let alone evaluate them in your home environment. And you can imagine what the pressure of those 10 day counting down does to what should be a pleasant and relaxed listening evaluation.
I came to an arrangement with the dealer on invoice date and I’m sure you can too now you know.
