Hi all, new member to the forum and need some help/advice. I’ve a uniti star, with PMC 25.23 speakers connected with Chord Odyssey (either side of tv) I’m looking for the best ‘tweaks’ to reduce some harshness and sibilance ‘at times’ (seems to be better at night)
My room is definitely a contributor as it’s a converted conservatory with wood floor and lots of glass on two sides, though tried to mitigate with fabric blinds and large rug - (I know, not ideal…) lots of room treatment is not an option either as I need the system is in the main living room and have a ‘strong willed’ wife… I’ve the Star under the tv in a fairly solid wooden cabinet, on a granite slab with sorbothene feet, same with speakers.
There’s the potential for a couple of small acoustic panels behind the speakers and I’m thinking about tellurium q ultra blue or black ii speaker cables, what are your thoughts, any other ‘tweaks’ to consider.
If it sounds better at night its probably from your blinds/curtains shielding reflections from the glass. It might help if you could post some pictures of your room so members can advise better?
A conservatory is always likely to be difficult with all those hard surfaces. Try getting as much soft furnishing into the room as possible. Thick, heavy rugs and curtains, cushions and upholstered chairs, etc. Some of them could even be presents for your wife
The solid wood cabinet may not be helping. You could try a dedicated rack, preferably with no TV on it. As an experiment, maybe try it on a light weight but rigid table on its own.
Different speakers may help. If you have a friendly dealer perhaps you can home demo some alternatives, as you’ll never know without trying.
You could try measuring the room using REW software as a starting point for using room treatment, as ready made acoustic panels aren’t cheap, so trial and error is maybe not the best approach here.
Good luck!
Thanks, yes agree trying to get as much soft furnishings in as possible. I’ll see what I can do about experimenting with the cabinet but long term removing the tv is not an option, as it’s the main room and we use the uniti to add to film soundtracks too, there’s not really anywhere else to position a tv, switching the cabinet may be tricky too as it keeps things tidy.
Re the speakers yes I’m wondering whether I made a mistake here, they are new I demoed 25.24 and really liked but too big visually so got a pair of 25.23. They’ve been running in for 5 days solid but still sound harsh to my ears.
Agh…when I heard the PMC 25.26 my dealer was running them in…they were horrendous. When i came to demo 6 speakers i did not put them on my list, but my dealer explained they were a different speaker, once run in. He was right and that is what i purchased. I would run them 24/7 at low volume when you are not listening…after a couple of weeks they will be on song. Best of luck.
Phew, thanks Gazza. I hope they do come on song. I’m coming from Spendor SA1, which I love but I wanted a bit more bass (SA1 have none!) and scale, I reconnected the Spendors at lunchtime and they still sound lovely - better than the PMC at the moment. What’s your system by the way and what sp cable are you using?
Nd555/552/500 dr…came from a Nova with the PMC 25.26. Currently use naca5, though just ordered Kudos KS-1 speaker cable. I am sure they will bed in nicely…as i said my first impressions of brand new was horrendous😬
Well, I’ve not learned to love the PMCs although they have mellowed a bit. I’ve put my old Spendor SA1s back in place and boxed the PMCs up. Contacted the dealer last week about a return but they needed to speak to head office to authorise, now with the lock down in place, I think I’ve ended up making a rather costly mistake!
My 25.23’s don’t sound harsh at all. Have you checked all your cables? Are there any radio/wifi/electrical signals that could causing noise or interference?
Yes I’ve checked, unplugged, and repositioned a number of times over the past couple of weeks. The main issue has been with voices - they sound recessed if that’s the right word and also have a lot of sibilance. There seem to be a lot of people very happy with the 25.23 with their Naim kit (one of the reasons why I bought them) so maybe it’s just that they’re not working in my room?
Hi Mike and HMcF, I’ve only had them 2 weeks. But been playing non stop to try to break in, PMC have advised they should be run in by now 50hrs to 100 on the outside - advised experimenting with positioning, which I’ve been doing. I’ve had some other owners on the forum suggest they do take longer though, but wouldn’t the greatest change occur in the first couple of weeks, with only incremental improvement after?
The mid range and vocals are critical to me (my SA1s are good here and I love their pace, smooth detail and stereo imaging), but with the PMCs they seem to be ‘hidden’ between the bass and top end. What’s your experience with the PMCs in this regard, did the midrange fill out over time, as well as the top end smooth out? How far out from the back wall do you have yours? Due to my room set up, I’m a little limited in this regard, I considered the PMCs as they don’t have a rear port.
Re WiFi, yes there is WiFi in the vicinity the Uniti, TV and Apple box, though it’s not possible to distance any further. I am looking at upgrading my older Chord Odyssey for the shielded EpicX.
I’m just concerned that if I wait for months, they’re still my not be doing it for me and then I’m left trying to move them on with a greater loss. If the dealer won’t take them back, I’ll perhaps put them back in the system and give them more time.
Speakers are both very personal, and, very dependent on your choice of music. My experience was similar to yours with the often recommended Sonus Faber Sonetto V just not doing it for me with a lot of music. But with some pieces it was brilliant, so I suspect I know what the people liking them with Naim listen to.
I ended up with Bowers’ which we loved while plenty people here say do not work with Naim (although the 500 speaker thread looks to be proving them wrong)
If you can, return them. There’s plenty of others to try out there, and for this sort of money they should wow you from day one and perhaps get better with run in. Not being dependent on run in to sound good.
I don’t have PMC, I have Totems on my two systems. But they both were harsh for a few months - more in a fatiguing way. As n-lot says, they should sound good to start with and only improve with time. If you have demoed them with the Star before buying, I’d stick it out for a while, assuming they are better than the SA1s. Does the Star deliver more bass on the SA1s for that matter?
Thanks n-lot, that is where my thinking is at. Agree with your point, I was expecting to be blown away from day 1…
interestingly, the Sonus Faber sound may be more up my street than yours?
Next step all depends on whether dealer will take them back as this is the third pair of .23s after demoing .24s which were too big for my space - first they brought in an exdemo pair from another store, I unpacked them and they had damage on the bottom, took them back and paid a bit more to get a new pair, these arrived, I opened the first speaker and it had a manufacturing fault with badly fitting/damaged terminals, so straight back again and they ordered another pair, they checked them instore, they were ok and these are the pair I have.
We’ve had emails back and forth, but not sure where I am now as they were going to speak with regional manager to authorise, but corona virus situation has intervened.
I’ve the Star under the tv in a fairly solid wooden cabinet, on a granite slab with sorbothene feet, same with speakers.
But been playing non stop to try to break in, PMC have advised they should be run in by now 50hrs to 100 on the outside - advised experimenting with positioning, which I’ve been doing. I’ve had some other owners on the forum suggest they do take longer though, but wouldn’t the greatest change occur in the first couple of weeks, with only incremental improvement after?