I have recently tried a pair of PMC Twenty21 book shelf/stand mounter’s in my system(very kindly borrowed from a close friend for two weeks)
couldn’t believe the performance from such a small cabinet, having always used floor standers, their speed and agility was excellent, the bass performance amazed me for such a small speaker.
What I would really like to know is how the sound signature varies from the early Twenty series to the current Twenty5 i range, the only thing I didn’t like was a slight edge to vocals or added sibilance, which in fairness did vary from track to track, some tracks showing no sign of it whilst other seemed to highlight it quiet a bit.
If I had to sum up the difference between my Twenty 26’s compared to the Twenty 21’s it is a little like a featherweight boxer compared to a heavy weight guessing what I would like would be something in the middleweight range, if this makes any sense.
Just to add, I’m guessing the 21’s probably suited my electronics and room size better which probably helped.
Thanks in advance for any feed back from past or present PMC owners/users.
I use a pair of 25.21’s in my system and I think they are just incredible for their size plus the speed of small speakers. Unfortunately I have not heard the 20.21’s but I do remember from the reviews that the improvement over the 20.21’s was thought to be considerable and not just tweaking around the edges. Probably not very helpful to you!
Have heard this said a few times before by PMC owners, I have a demo part booked to hear for myself but that is obviously buying new,
Twenty5 would be a little more affordable and in the current climate I find that some how a little more comfortable.
Hi @silverback
I have the 25.23s.
I borrowed a friends pair of 20.23s (who was selling) for a few weeks to try before I opted for the 25.23s. To my ears the 25 range has a better integrated and deeper and tighter bass, an amazing midrange - a heftier punch that reveals more detail to a wider soundstage.
The treble was a problem with sibilance initially but once the speakers had properly burned in this went. Occasionally I would hear it but after pointing the speakers straight into the room and tightening the nuts on the cones it’s not been a problem.
I agree the Twenty range are still great speakers and I had a chance to buy some very cheaply from a friend but felt the Twenty5s offered a big enough improvement to justify buying them.
Obviously speakers are all about room matching, but the 25.23 are the sweet spot in the range and can be flexibly placed with their front port transmission line. No idea how the the latest ‘i’ range compares.
I moved from the Twenty23’s to the Twenty5 23’s, which was a good improvement, listened to the Twenty5 23i’s a few times at dealer’s room, I didn’t upgrade, surprisingly he agreed, although then convinced me I needed a set of AT40A’s and ‘kindly’ offered a home demo.
Hi 1GiantLeap,many thanks for your comments, the sibilance seems to be a common feature of PMC’s, maybe the presence region is a little forward which may be something to do with their history being a professional monitor manufacturer, as when you listen to live music then can be very infectious but sometimes can be a tad wearying, these are just my findings which could be down to the room or the front end.
Really I know my electrics are probably more suited to the 21,22,and possibly the 23 range, where as the 26’s probably deserve a higher level of front end to get the best out of them and probably more room to breath.
The Twenty5 23i were probably my initially favoured choice but since hearing the 21 I’m not so sure now.
Really appreciate your thoughts regarding the Twenty5’s,this has given me room for thought.
Can I ask how you find the ATC’s compared to your PMC’s, I can see they are the active version but still curious as to why you switched and your impressions.
I like the ATC’s a lot, they deliver more of everything, bass, mid range and treble. I felt for a while the PMC’s were holding back the Dave/MScaler and considered moving to bigger PMC’s, which would have also required an amp upgrade. The ATC40A’s combined a three way speaker which was relatively easy to place near back wall with a lot of power. Like the way they look, very happy with them.
I went from Twenty.23 to Twenty5.23 and there was a very long thread on the old forum about the experience.
In a nutshell, the Twenty range had a smoother trebble and more laser accurate pinpoint soundstage. The Twenty5 have a slightly more corse trebble and less pinpoint but a massively expanded sounstage and bass digs much deeper.
I only ever heard my own 25.21i, so can’t compare either. Just with the Dynaudio Emit10 (or M10 I believe that first line was called) but that’s hardly a fair comparison, although they both are neutral to cool-ish, which I like. One could be fooled by the PMC though because the bass does go deeper than average for such small boxes.