@elverdiblanco I weakened… I found a dealer selling a pair of PMC Twenty5 22 in oak for just over £1500 ex-display but full warranty, boxed etc. Need running in as they haven’t been used but at that price it’s about half the price of the 22i and if I sell my existing speakers, probably workout as £800-£900.
Wow that’s a ridiculous price! I’m sure they won’t disappoint once they’re fully run in. Enjoy and keep us all posted on what you think of them
Will do. Even if they don’t work out, at that price I’ll not be out of pocket that much if I sell them! Although my gut feeling is I’ll not be.
Each dealer I’d contacted who sold most of the ones above recommended the Twenty5 22 first. I emailed details of my setup/room to PMC (who replied quickly) and they also recommended the 22 as there were still a few available at really good pricing but if I liked the new white finish that would only be available on the i version. They’ll be here tomorrow!
Will you invest in the PMC stands? They really complement the look of the speakers and are nice and heavy.
Not in the current room. They’ll be on large wood units (2inch thick) but I also have two speaker blocks that I had made from heavy hard wood with isolation spikes and the CM6 then had spikes into the blocks as well. Although, I understand the PMC speakers don’t have threads underneath to take these additional spikes so I will need to find an alternative to get the isolation I have now. All in all, they don’t move 
The isolation that comes with the PMC stands is a strip of blu tac 
I think I may be able to sort something out a bit better!
Once they arrive tomorrow I’ll check them over and sort out an something a little better 
Photo’s please 
@Ardbeg10y Here’s a couple of phots of the current setup with the CM6 s2 speakers. A bit shameful I know compared to other systems posted here but, it works and makes work a whole lot more enjoyable 
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@elverdiblanco 
haha, thought I’d build the suspense 
When I first connected them I was a little worried by the amount of bass, warmth… but then I realised the DSP corrections in Roon for the B&W speakers were still active. After switching that off, things were a lot better. More balanced. They do have more warmth than the B&W CM6s2s, which I wanted, and they have very good level of detail that I also enjoyed with the CM6 but the twenty5 22 appear to have that bit more.
I say appear, as with all new speakers, listening is mixture of wow… and , oh sh*t what happened there. There are glimpses of brilliance followed by flatness. I’m expecting this to go on like this for a while but I have been running the Tellurium Q system disc to help break in the speakers. It really helped when I first got the B&W speakers.
At the moment, visually, I think I prefer the B&W but, there is nothing wrong with the PMC speakers, more likely a case of getting used to them after being with the CM6 for so long. I don’ think the appearance of the wooden block stands help so I’m likely to re-work those at some point. For now though, they work well in keeping both speakers to the same height given the different height of the units. I can’t really do much about the units as they store a lot of materials. They would look way better on the proper PMC stands. Some nice adjustable black stands would work well.
One highlight at the moment was with Crosby & Nash Deja Vu (Demo version). The guitar sounded so real, you could almost feel the strings.
One thing I have noticed, I can move these closer to the walls without any bass boom. So, so far so good!
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I recognize very much what you wrote, we have CM5 S2’s.
For hifi we have SBLs now and Ovators. These are much better than B&W CM series. However, the B&W’s are in use in the AV system and there they are perfect. The fact that they show less details can well be a benefit when playing compressed audio.
My fight with the B&Ws was that they have to be so much away from walls in order to perform well. To close to wall = boom (various degrees) = lack of details.
A last thing, I never had issues bringing home B&W loudspeakers, my wife seems to like them. Their visual appearance is a pre.
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Sounds like a positive start. Once they are properly run in they will be so much better, when I got mine I couldn’t believe how different they sounded to the ones I had on demo. And as you’ve noticed they are very happy to be placed close to a wall without getting all boomy. Enjoy!
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Yeah, I’ll miss the look of them. The level of detail is terrific. Miss not having the threads in the base of the PMC speakers for spikes etc. The PMC seem to be more revealing when presented with hi-def files, which follows what you’re saying about them being better with compressed files. That said, I mainly played Flac +.
I have to admit, I won’t miss trying to keep my wife away from polishing the things with a cloth with god knows what on them… and the pods… jeez, she was warned to keep off them early doors! About the only time she ever heard me say that in 18 years
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@elverdiblanco The speakers are really opening up now… been running the system disc for 3 days now in between playing proper music. The sound stage, imaging feels vast in comparison to the B&W speakers.
On occasion with those speakers I’d find the sound stage was also very big and was easier to focus on the imaging with eyes closed or blindfolded. I find starving visual reference to the smaller room allows the brain to believe what your ears are telling you. This is very much the case with the Twenty5 22. The soundstage is not just wide it’s very deep and the feeling of sounds washing up to your feet and stretching out way beyond the speakers. Listening to Music Hole by Camille was very entertaining, sheer musical theatre of instruments and sounds moving freely around the room. Stunned.
My wife rarely, if ever, listens to the system but after sitting her down to listen to a few tracks… she was there for 30-45 minutes before getting the hot seat back. Speaks volumes to the quality of the speakers!
So, big thanks for the recommendation… certainly paid off getting these!
To finish, I’m currently using Tellurium Q Silver II speaker cables… had mk1 TQ black before. Swapped them around to see how they compared and the Twenty5 22 sounded way better with the Silvers… really opens up the mids, detail in the lows and smooth highs. Definitely worth a listen, demo if you get a chance… dealer or via a certain shop that may give you up to 60 days to return them if not happy!.
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I’m so glad you’re enjoying them but I was sure you would. Great news that you can hear improvements after just three days, wait until they are fully broken in and they will be even better.
A couple of tracks I’d recommend to really see what they can do…
Hey Now by London Grammar from the If You Wait album. Feel the bass and see how low it goes.
Isotype by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark from The Punishment of Luxury album. Deep and wide soundstage makes your jaw drop. Both these tracks are on Qobuz in 24 bit hi res.
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Will do… I’ll add them to my Qobuz library. Between Qobuz and Roon I keep finding some amazing tracks!
I’m just very envious that you got them for £1500, that’s a grand less than I paid for mine and I thought I was getting a bargain!
Tell me about it… sheer luck, good timing. I actually paid less than I did for the B&W speakers. The latest versions are just short of £3k. The ones I got sound like they’d be worth that as well.
I must say, I found PMC really helpful as well about the 20 year warranty. I spoke to them about the cost of the speakers and that they were ex-display and they said it wasn’t the norm but if they hadn’t been registered they’d honour the 20 year warranty even though technically they weren’t brand new. Sure enough, they hadn’t been registered and the warranty went through. Good customer service as well as excellent speakers!
Yes PMC are very good on the customer service. When I got my PMC stands one of the logo badges on the base wasn’t stuck down and came loose and I think the good lady must have thrown it out when cleaning. I emailed asking if I could buy a replacement and the next day a pair of logo badges arrived in the post free of charge.
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