ALPHA-AUDIO Review|PMC Twenty5 22i monitor speaker – Professional


 

 

Date: 2024-10-17

 

PMC is used worldwide in numerous recording studios and has become a hi-fi enthusiasts over the years. A while ago, they even won an Emmy for their recording work. But what we want to know today is whether they can live up to their slogan “The Music Makers”.

Construction and appearance
From the very beginning, PMC has had a clear vision that is mainly put forth by founders Peter Thomas (former BBC) and Adrian Loader. They have been in the business since 1991 and over the years have built a stable and well-respected company. The firm’s hi-fi segment is clear and uncluttered.

There are three series, each targeting a different part of the market. You have the budget-friendly Prodigy series, the Twenty5i series representing the mid-range segment and the Fact series serving the high-end customer. The DB1 Gold is the outlier in the range.

All PMC loudspeakers are handmade at the factory in Biggleswade and come with a whopping 20-year warranty. That is impressive.

Once out of the box, besides the beautiful paintwork, what catches the eye is the anomalous shape. It is a sort of trapezoid that slopes backwards. The shape looks pretty futuristic. Add to that the bizarre bass ports and you get a speaker that deviates from the norm. And we love that.

The Twenty5 22i comes in high gloss black, high gloss white, oak and walnut. So there’s something for everyone. The matching stands one pair.

Transmission line
The Twenty5 22i is made of HDF, a material that not only has a higher density than MDF, but can also be processed more precisely. You can see that in this speaker as well. The seams and lines look very clean.

The i in the 22i stands of course for ‘improved’ and that improvement refers to the new tweeter. It comes from the much more expensive Fact series. It is a 19mm patented silk dome SONOMEX tweeter that is ferrofluid cooled. On the one hand to dampen unwanted resonances and on the other to keep the coil cooled at all times.

Below the tweeter is a 17cm woven G-Weave mid-driver. This patented material is a blend of polyethylene, fiberglass and kevlar and should ensure minimal distortion.

The distinctive, again patented, Laminary grille at the bass port exit has several functions. It provides an even distribution of air, eliminates turbulence and should ensure a tighter, noise-free bass.

At the back, we see a pair of solid speaker terminals and that’s about it for the outside. Inside, however, is the most distinctive element of this speaker. A 1.72-meter-long transmission line, a sort of corridor system full of acoustic foam, that phases out unwanted bass resonances from the speaker. How this all happens while keeping everything in phase is a mystery to us, but PMC has been swearing by it for years and keeps refining the system.

Usually we don’t have much work with the placement of the speakers, but this time it was different. Experience tells us that closed systems and speakers with the bass port up front are harder to get right in our long, open space.

After some back and forth, we ended up thirty inches from the front/rear wall (delete what doesn’t fit), a lot closer than usual. This creates a little more foundation in the lower regions.

We also put them further apart than normal, almost three feet, because the stereo image opens up particularly easy and a lot more without creating a “gap” between the speakers.

Fast, pure, open. A particularly wide stereo image too, and due to the low distortion, lots of calmness. We relax completely and hear new elements every time. Transients come through particularly smoothly and quickly. Instruments possess correct tonality and we do not notice any coloration. Details and especially micro-details pop out of the mix and are more audible than with most competitors in this price range.

There is plenty of space and air so the music can breathe. In our room, the bass is very tight and defined but sometimes lacks some foundation in our lively room. However, the midrange is extremely controlled so this speaker times extremely well. You can also clearly hear every layer in the music. We do note that the room, system and recording must be up to par. There’s nowhere to hide. Don’t get us wrong, the PMC Twenty5 22i is not an aggressive loudspeaker but it makes a huge impact. The good and the bad.

Listen
Billy Woods makes intriguing, complex music and the Twenty5 22i lets it all through effortlessly. Damien Jurado’s intimate, rather barren music, on the other hand, comes across as somewhat colorless, literally, because the PMC adds so little. Belgium’s Messidor comes through beautifully, though. Their debut ‘When things go missing’ is full of good songs and we are fully into the music with the PMCs in the system. Throughout the listening test we were always impressed by the purity of voices and the tremendous insight into the mix.

For the purist. Someone who wants no coloration. Someone who wants to hear everything in the recording, without glossing over anything. No prettification. No sweetness. But when it all adds up, it’s enjoyment with a big E. The PMC Twenty5 22i also makes the rest of your system very audible. It better be on point or you’ll be left frustrated. The watts used should – so to say – be of decent quality.

Compare
Our Revels have a little more punch and kick in the low end. They also go a little deeper. They use the walls of the listening room to produce a deeper bass. Especially with certain genres, this is nice. The PMCs don’t go as deep but the bass sounds tremendously pure, fast and defined. Add a fast sub and you will have little to complain about.

Although they have been back to the importer for a while now, the PMC Twenty5 22i reminds us most of the Totem Acoustic Fire V2. That one not only had a similar shape but also a similar sound. We still have the fine Vienna Acoustics Haydn SE Signature (thanks to Hifimatters for the long loan) and they are quite different from the PMCs. The Vienna’s are friendly speakers that are somewhat tuned and never provocative. For someone who listens to music an average of five hours a day, these are a godsend. You sacrifice resolution, detail and layering, but the whole of the music comes through coherently.

Conclusion
Our first encounter with PMC is absolutely positive. The PMC Twenty5 22i is a particularly honest reproducer. This speaker is even more insightful than our more expensive Revels, and that means something. Because of the low distortion, you hear an extraordinary amount of the recording. The highs and mids are of exceptional quality but in our lively room we just miss some foundation at the bottom. Of course, that can be solved with a subwoofer or you can look at one of the floorstanders. The stereo image is exceptionally wide and, above all, sufficiently deep. In addition to its aural qualities, this speaker is also handsomely built and full of exceptional engineering. The generous warranty offered by PMC is the proverbial icing on the cake. Anyone looking for a neutral, holographic speaker has come to the right place with PMC.