Well balanced sound
Clear vocals
Huge soundstage
Excellent imaging
Incredible detail
Tight quality bass
Easy room placement
High spouse approval factor

Needs power
Not enough dealers depending where you live

Two years ago I decided my ten year old cube based speaker system was no longer cutting it as a home theater system nor as a music system. It was time for a serious upgrade. I started to save my pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. Since this was the first time I had considered high end audio loudspeakers, I figured I had better learn something about loudspeakers before investing any significant dollars. I took to the internet and was just amazed by the number and different types of loudspeakers that are available to the public. After reading countless articles and reviews in addition to visiting some dealers and big box stores, it became apparent to me I had to come up with a set of criteria in order to come up with a manageable list of speakers to consider. I determined that the speakers were going to be used 80% of the time for 2-channel music (no subwoofer) and 20% of the time for home theater. For aesthetic purposes, I wanted floor standing speakers made of wood. My family room is my listening room and I had only one option to place the speakers so the speakers had to have a small footprint, no bigger than 8”W x 11”L. As I began finding speakers that fit my criteria, I was discovering that center channel speakers can also be quite large so I added another criterion that the center channel could be no larger than 8”H x 22”W, once again due to space constraints. My over all plan was to purchase the front speakers and center channel with my current budget and add a subwoofer and the surrounds at a latter date.

During my research, I came across PMC (Professional Monitor Company) Loudspeakers. I became interested in two models, the GB1 and the larger, more expensive FB1+. I quickly realized there were only a handful of dealers in the entire Midwest and Great Lakes region. There are only 62 dealers in the entire United States of which 36 are located on the west coast and in Florida. That leaves 26 dealers for the rest of the country. Fortunately for me, a dealer was located just a 2 hour drive away from my house in the Chicago area.

I opted for the GB1 because it was within my budget. The PMC GB1 is a small (34.3H x 6.1W x 9.2D) floor standing, 2-way design speaker loaded with a transmission line. I purchased them in a very nice cherry wood finish. I will not attempt to explain the transmission line other than to say it is designed to extend the bass frequency and provide quality bass. Visit www.pmcloudspeaker.com to get a better explanation of the transmission line. Before I express my impressions of the GB1, let me tell you the impressions from the other two critics that live with me: my wife and my teenage son. The wife approval factor was way off the charts. She loved the finish and size. However, she insists that I put the grills back on when I am through listening to music. They sound better with the grills off. My teenage son provided the following comment after hearing just the first few bars from the first CD I played, “…wow, those are clear”.

I knew within the first few minutes that the GB1 were keepers. My very first impression was not much different than my son’s. These speakers reproduce a clean and natural sound. When I had listened to other speakers there was always something there that had left me dissatisfied. I now realize those other speakers had a certain amount of heaviness to their sound that is not present with the PMC GB1. The upper, mid, and lower frequencies all come together to produce a well balanced sound.

These speakers represent an excellent example of good things coming in small packages. Playing through my CD collection, I could only marvel at the huge soundstage, the excellent imaging qualities, and the incredible detail produced by these speakers. The bass is quick, tight, and articulate. It will not shake your collectibles off the shelf but it does have sufficient body for my musical tastes. PMC states the GB1 has useable bass frequency down to 29Hz so I suspect it starts rolling off somewhere between 40-50Hz, which is still incredible for a speaker this size. The vocals are clear and hang dead center in the air. Instruments sound natural and exactly how I perceive they should sound.

The speakers are set about 6 feet apart, with a very slight toe in and placed perpendicular to a corner facing toward the center of our 20’L x 16’W x 10’H family room. This room placement made it critical that I obtain speakers with a small footprint. They are driven by my Harmon Kardon AVR330 receiver, which is rated at 65wpc for 2 channels. The GB1 has an 87db sensitivity rating. The HK adequately fills my room and I have been playing the speakers at what I consider normal volume levels but I am sure the speakers would benefit from more power, which would make them sound even better.

I have listened to music through the GB1 for hours on end without the slightest hint of fatigue. In my opinion, they are the next best thing to being live at a recording session. For those you old enough to remember, there once was a TV commercial that asked, “…is it live or is it Memorex”? Substitute PMC for Memorex and you’ll understand what I think about these speakers. No doubt there are bigger and better speakers out there that can put out a more robust presentation but if there was a way to measure performance relative to the size of the speaker then their value rating would be right up there with the big boys.

I like my PMC GB1 and would recommend them to anyone but why just take my word for it. There are two excellent reviews I read on the internet. The first review was for the GB1 written in November 2005 by Roger Kanno. You can find his review at www.soundstage.com in the equipment review archive section. For those of you with a bigger budget and desiring larger speakers, there is a review for the FB1+ written in July 2006 by Sasha Matson. You can find his review at www.positive-feedback.com, Issue 25 in the online archive section.