Hell-of-a PMC system!

eddie-baby

Wammer
Wammer
Feb 28, 2009
6,813
3,803
158
Pembrokehsire
AKA
Eddie
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
mmmm  

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PMC-MB2-XBD-Active-System-with-Bryston-Pre-owned-Audio-Therapy-RARE/174583701986?hash=item28a5ffe1e2:g:us0AAOSwq7Rfz3mj

s-l1600.jpg


168fc228b82500f528b4dbf6209a4ff8.jpg


 
  • Like
Reactions: Tazzo

MartinC

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 29, 2005
9,828
6,148
158
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I'm probably being thick but would the tweeters not be rather high for a typical seated domestic layout?

 
  • Like
Reactions: lazycat and MVJ

eddie-baby

Wammer
Wammer
Feb 28, 2009
6,813
3,803
158
Pembrokehsire
AKA
Eddie
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I'm probably being thick but would the tweeters not be rather high for a typical seated domestic layout?
Not a lot domestic about those :) Probably meant for a sound room/studio where musicians are playing standing up or something. Who knows what the designer had in mind. 

The thing is this tweeter thing at ear level is like an unwritten rule. I don't think there's any major issues having tweeters at whatever level you like, have them on the floor if that's what you like. Apart from perhaps being blocked by the coffee table or where the cat usually lies it doesn't 'really' matter. Higher frequencies don't travel past objects well I get that and I suppose if you are aiming for some sort of true sound field image or sound stage replication by sitting away front and in between your speakers, then ear height might be optimal. But then there are people who like omni directional type speakers as well who swear it sounds more like live than anything else :) And if you go to a live gig the HF's are a lot of the time hanging from the ceiling anyway. Some of these guidelines of hifi can cause us a lot of grief :) but I do get your point Martin.

 

timmytiger

Wammer
Wammer
Oct 4, 2013
874
286
78
Essex costa
AKA
Tim
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
I'm probably being thick but would the tweeters not be rather high for a typical seated domestic layout?
Mine are on 20" stands with the subs next to them, tweets / mids are a bit directional so i find that helps.

In an ideal world i'd have pivoting speakers for nearfield AV position.

I'm slightly dubious about the speaker connections and amp count; are there enough for it to be an active setup; maybe he found out when shopping for interconnects?

 

It Cost How Much!?!

Twisted
Wammer
Oct 27, 2008
17,429
2,413
173
Hartford, Cheshire
AKA
Bob
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The amps are PMC studio rebadged Bryston. The speakers are not the studio versions, which is strange. 

You can buy the stupid expensive MB2 stands from PMC, 1.3k last time I looked, and have the subs next to them.

In my distant memory, these were 12k when first advertised and they sold quickly, then appeared at 20k. 

 

timmytiger

Wammer
Wammer
Oct 4, 2013
874
286
78
Essex costa
AKA
Tim
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Also looking at the top cabs is it possible to connect three drivers through one Neutrik?

My stands were thrown in free!

 

MartinC

Wammer
Wammer
Jul 29, 2005
9,828
6,148
158
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
The thing is this tweeter thing at ear level is like an unwritten rule...
I think there are two different factors here: what height may be optimal for a high-frequency source, and what height the speaker designer had in mind when optimising the crossover region between the tweeter and the mid-driver (unless concentric).

On the first point I think small changes won't matter at all but I do think a tweeter very high up or close to the floor would it wouldn't sound great, although less so if the speaker is angled to point at the listener's ear height so at least it doesn't sound overly dull due to being so far off the tweeter axis.

On the designer's intention I believe the consideration is as follows. As the speaker height changes the difference in the distance between the tweeter and mid-drivers changes and so therefore does the response in the crossover region between the two, since here sound from each is adding up (interfering) to give the total. I've measured this effect with my own speakers and they are raised up higher as a result. Note that a designer may have designed the crossover with a listening height other than tweeter height in mind though.

 

timmytiger

Wammer
Wammer
Oct 4, 2013
874
286
78
Essex costa
AKA
Tim
HiFi Trade?
  1. No
Just seen a message on there. He has got the official wiring loom from PMC with multi pins.

The single bass amp was the spec when these were first released, was only later that doubling up of bass amps was introduced.

Could be a good deal but £20k is plenty.

 

cheater

Newbie
New Wammer
Mar 16, 2023
3
2
3
HiFi Trade?
  1. Yes
No way! You do need them high up. Having them on the floor would definitely introduce comb filtering. But you also don't want them /exactly/ at ear level if you like to keep your hearing, because those speakers are capable of some massive SPL and the way mine came, they needed some serious modification to the signal chain beyond the electronics there, in order to get rid of the noise from the line level crossovers. You need to gain-stage so the crossovers have maximum headroom within your range of listening levels. In that tiny room in the picture, the hiss was probably extreme. Especially with all that glass.

You can't angle these speakers. The amount of hardware you'd need to do that would be immense. A bunch of metal that would resonate at high SPL. You don't want that.

Those are not monitors for a live concert. Live monitors are there just to let the musician know if anything of them is making it through to FOH. Reproduction quality is not a concern at all. That's why those things always ultimately sound like crap. $100k speakers like PMC's have vastly different objectives to live monitors. No reason to bring up live monitors at all and how they're hung from the ceiling sometimes. That's like saying "well, with this Ferrari, you could get some nice big threaded wheels, they work on a tractor". No way...
 

Forum statistics

Threads
113,444
Messages
2,451,263
Members
70,783
Latest member
reg66

Latest Articles