I have one of the earliest TB1 versions, prior to the use of the PMC logo when the words 'The Professional Monitor Company' were displayed in full.

I've been unable to ascertain any differences online since they were created before widespread use of the internet, when dinosaurs roamed the earth & people still used the term 'Walkman' to describe portable music players.

I bought these as monitors rather than as hi fi speakers, and in that context they are excellent - ultra flat frequency response and the most accurate of anything I've heard so far. This does mean they're not terribly characterful as hi fi speakers, but the fun here is had feeding them loads of current and marvelling at how composed they remain.

They really do pick apart a mix, which means a lot of music can sound quite disjointed & bass dry, but well produced stuff really shines & it's here that you get your money's worth.

They're notorious for needing a big amplifier and will sound flat with low powered electronics.

They're also rear ported which means they're best away from walls, otherwise the bass seems muddled. The ' transmission line' port design was a big part of the design of these speakers.

I'm using them as stereo speakers until such times as I can get another studio together and I can tell putting them on IKEA furniture close to a wall is holding them back.

The way they handle bass is something quite unique, and I'd love to hear some of the floor standing transmission line designs.

However, I was quite lucky to pick up these well used cabs for £300, and every time I think of selling them I remind myself what they'd cost to replace!

Build Quality Clean Mids & Highs Real Sound Coherence Tight Fast Bass

Always...the price... but...

This review is for PMC GB1. It replaced my old Dynaudio 72. This speaker reveals incredible details without sounding analytical or sterile. Real sound. I feel as though I'm listening to electrostatics speakers. Soundstage...Soundstage beyond the walls of the room. Treble and midrange completely without grain at any volume level. Bass is extended and excellent. They disapear and fill the room.

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Focus 220 Dynaudio 72 Contour 3.3 PSB Stratus Gold

Nice quality of sound, never fear being driver by even 200w amp,

too real which might be a weakness in many old cds

Changing my old B&W 601 to PMC TB2 is quite a difference in sound. 601 brings a more warm, blurred voice. Though, TB2 reflects with's in the CD directly. The sound is very so REAL that after trying it for several months. I feel like throwing most of my CDs. Only a few CDs can make my TB2 sing well. What a disappointment. Those who buy TB1 or TB2 should know the speaker will truly show you all the details in the CD, good and bad.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 601, Dyna 1.1

Size compared to sound. Close your eyes and you think the are very large indeed.

Have not heard them up till now.

Use them together with a Naim Nait2 (+/- 23 watts/channel, best integrated in the world) and imho this is an excellent combo. Even my girlfriend (no audio freak but likes the music) noticed the quality. Up till now have not heard a minimalist stereo perform this well en very sense. Classical, rock, hardrock, country every once in a while, it is a pleasure to listen to. And they go deep. I listened to a song the other day with silent bits in it. At least, I thought there were. Now i heard a real deep bass is played way in the back. Excelent.

Similar Products Used:

Came from infinity rs5000, AR308HO

I've been living with the TB1's for about 4 months now. My last system was a Sansui amp with Boston Acoustics A100 speakers. I had that set-up for 16 years! So that shows you how much I loved those speakers & what it would take to pry them away from me.
I've been getting more & more into home theater lately, so I wanted to replace the fairly large Boston's with something smaller and more accurate. What I found were the PMC TB1's. You know how they say to be careful what you ask for, you might get it. Boy did I get it with these speakers.

They're a little large for a bookshelf, because PMC uses a transmission line instead of a port for base response. Mine are stand mounted and driven by a NAD T750 AV receiver. I've a PMC centre channel (basically a TB1 on it's side) a PSB sub-woofer and Mirage surrounds.

The speakers are very aptly named, they really are performance monitors. They're made by two guys who used to be in the BBC, and are now busy making monitors for movie & recording studios. So what you get is a faithful, accurate reproduction of the original performance. This can be a two-edged sword. If the performance and recording were great, the sound is great. If it's a lousy recording of a crappy performance you're going to hear it. And isn't that what it's supposed to be about, listening to the music instead of the speakers?

Bottom line; crystal clear accurate sound, superb soundstage (turn on the amp & the speakers disappear!)and the only reason they don't rate 5 stars is that they can be typically British and sound quite bright (moving them closer to the wall will help tremendously).

Hey, will somebody else in that big old world out there give a listen to these puppies? It's freaking me out that there's only 2 guys in Ottawa who are on to such a good thing.

Incredible bass accuracy

Limited distribution - Somewhat difficult to find a dealer

Actually, this review is of the new FB1s. The FB1s use the same components as the TB1s. The TB1s themselves are great little speakers, but the implementation of the TB1s components into the larger, floor-standing FB1s has resulted in speakers that have achieved what I thought to be previously impossible - They've turned my wife, who previously thought it was ridiculous that I would want sound better than that produced by the 15-year-old RCA console TV she had when I first met her, into an audio enthusiast!

I started shopping for speakers last October (replacing my old Allison 10s, which had pretty much disintegrated into an unlistenable bundle of firewood) with a budget cap of $4,000 Cdn(although hoping to find something <= $3000), having just completed some very heated negotiations with my at-the-time-hifi-hating wife regarding the maximum dimensions and placement rules that would apply to my purchase. After having visited every hifi shop in the Vancouver area at least once, I short-listed the B&W N805s, the Mirage MRM-1s, the NHT 2.9s and the PSB Stratus SilverIs.

Other speakers/models in my price range that I'd checked out but had decided against included Linn Keilidhs, Dunlavy SM1s (which suffered from an attrocious set up in an otherwise fine sound room and a disinterested, questionably-competent salesperson), and countless other models by JMLab, AR, Paradigm, Energy, Jamo, Castle, Polk, Infinity, Mission, Magnepan, etc..

The PSB Stratus SilverIs are such an incredible deal in Canada! The list price up here is already low (~$2,300), but there was more than one salesman who was willing to offer me a pair for less than $1,700. The sound was very, very good for the price. The sound of the Stratus GoldIs was even better, of course, and Paul Barton offers all us compatriots those speakers at an equally good price, but unfortunately, their bigger size put them in the 'probably won't get sex from the wife for at least 4 years' category.

Out of my short-list, pricing was all similar (except for the PSBs, which at this time were on my list primarily because they gave me, by far, the biggest 'bang-for-my-buck'), listing at $3,000-$3,500.

Of all the speakers on my short-list the N805s had the most clear, precise mids and highs, a characteristic that I guess B&W is known for. The MRM-1s also sounded fabulous in the small sound room in which they were demoed. However, the Mirages were painfully bright (as opposed to the continued 'smoothness' of the B&Ws) when I gave them my 'acid-test', playing Pearl Jam's "Evolution" off the "Yield" CD. I had to use tone-defeat to save my ears as I raised the volume up into the 'optimal Pearl-Jam-range'. (I was primarily using Sting in my listening tests because he includes such a wide variety of instruments and sounds in his music but had added the Pearl Jam track after I'd quite accidentally noticed that speakers tended to have a very difficult time sorting out the sound on it. The track track seems to be somewhat 'overloaded' with sound and has a lot of distortion - The PSB SilverIs were the lowest-priced speakers I found that could produce any kind of imaging of that track.) I was amazed by the low-frequency performance of both these small models.

I really loved the N805s and the MRM-1s, but the final complication I had to deal with was the fact that my listening 'room' is actually two connecting rooms that effectively create a single room 15 feet wide and 40 feet deep. In order to fill the room I would have had to supplement either of the two mini-monitors with a decent subwoofer which, aside from adding at least $1,200 to my total cost, would give me the added complication of trying to match/balance the sound from the two speaker systems. If I had a smaller room, say, 15x16, I would have had a much more difficult time ruling out the two mini-monitors.

The NHT 2.9s are wonderful speakers that do everything very well. Strengths? Weaknesses? I could say that nothing stood out, or that everything stood out equally. I really liked these speakers. I love my FB1s. The difference? The FB1s do have one outstanding feature that sets them apart. The other consideration for me, I'm still somewhat ashamed to say, is that although I found the speakers to be attractive in certain kind of awkward way I was sure my wife wouldn't feel the same way. Also, they're pretty much at my allowed threshold, size-wise. I could hear her, "They're too big and they're ugly, too. If you think we're going to have sex this century..." All other things being equal, then, the NHTs would have lost out. But then, all other things weren't completely equal...

Maybe now I'll finally get around to talking about the PMCs... The FB1s have, by far, the smoothest, crispest, musical bass response of any sub-$5,000 speakers I've listened to. I still can't believe they get so much out of two small speaker elements. They fill my extended room with ease. Their mids and highs are very - well, if I said the N805s produced highs that were spectacular I guess I'd say the FB1s had highs that were just really, really good, really pleasing, really enjoyable. If I said the N805s had highs that thrilled and excited me, I'd say the FB1s had highs that put a big smile on my face, that just made me feel good.

I first heard the FB1s in a sound room that had a 12-foot ceiling - The soundstage of these speakers in that room was absolutely astonishing. The soundstage was maintained regardless of the speakers' distance from the wall behind them. I've had a little difficulty matching that sound in my listening room, although it does have a 10-foot ceiling. I've found that the distance between the speakers is quite critical, with placement fairly close together (8 feet apart in my 16-foot-wide room) and a toe-in aiming the speakers to a point very slightly behind me producing the best overall sound quality. Unfortunately, I have a 9-foot-wide hearth that extends in a semi-circle out into the room, so I'm forced to place the speakers a little wider than optimal. With the sub-optimal placement I find that I lose a little bit of the soundstage. Also, my listening position in the room seems a little more critical.

Despite my difficulty in getting the utmost out of the FB1s, picking up these speakers has revitalized my interest in listening to music and, as I said at the beginning, triggered an appreciation of sound quality in my wife.

Right now I'm eagerly awaiting my tax refund. When it arrives I plan to purchase PMC TB1s for center and surround channels and maybe a Velodyne or Mirage sub-woofer.


In my 3-month search for speakers I was only able to find info on PMC speakers via the Bryston website at www.bryston.ca.

Other equipment:
Pioneer Elite VSX-27TX Receiver
Pioneer Elite DV-05 DVD
Ortofon Concorde 30 cartridge
Technics SL1300 turntable

TONAL NEUTRALITY/ACCURACY,IMAGING AND POWER HANDLING

NON IF YOU UNDERSTAND USE THEM ACCORDING TO THEIR STRENGHTS
BETTER FOR QUALITY CONTROLL I.E POST PRODUCTION THAN FOR MIXING,NOT SURPRISINGLY, THIS IS WHAT MOST PMC MONITORS ARE USED FOR I.E MASTERING (TO MY UNDERSTANDING)

absolutely brilliant for listening well recorded music,you dont have to use your imagination in a compensatory way when listening to music,making up for the shortcomings of the speakers becouse the whole of the frequency range is well represented and very smooth.If You would like me to be very very picky i'd say REAL sub bass frequencies are accurate but sometimes too quite unless reinforced by the room they are situated in (Down to the limitations of geometry and physics perhaps)This is compensated for by a slight bass and mid bass emphasis and a slight resession in the upper mid frequencies, the combination of this emphasis and de emphasis would render most music "dull" sounding but the incisiveness of the tweeter compensates for this,making music sound etched and precise: very clever design becouse if i am right about these traits, they are slight and do not detract from the musicality and representation of the whole recorded "picture"....they present music in a way that the ear appreciates but not artificially so.But i would,nt say they were "ruthless" speakers and this is why i have had problems mixing music on them in the past; becouse of their tonal accuracy and presentation they help you to select and organise sounds very comfortably, placing sounds across the spectrum from low to high but when replayed on a simpler (not lesser) speaker mixes have tended to sound "cheaper" and less "expensive" (limited bandwidth wise) whereas mixes on ruthless speakers i.e tannoys,yamaha ns10s translate in terms of there apparent size, better yet these mixes have the illusion of "bigness" without pocessing the tonal accuracy that the PMC give which has led to much nashing of teeth and frustration supporting the theory that one speaker system can not provide every possible perspective of sound.In my system they serve as a final reference monitor,a role that non of my other monitors can quite fulfill. I hope this is helpfull to you.IF YOU ARE INTO HI-FI YOU MIGHT LOVE THE SOUND OF THEM AS I DO, IF YOU ARE INTO MIXING BE SURE ABOUT THE ROLE THEY ARE GOING TO TAKE AND AUDITION THEM BY MIXING ON THEM *NOT* LISTENING TO THEM.

Similar Products Used:

I HAVE HEARD NOTHING THAT IS SIMILAR

These are fantastic speakers for the price

Sensitive to positioning

I have a pair of 500UKP TB1s bi-amped with Arcam's 9/9P combination, and I love them. Although I'm relatively new to hi-fi, I know smooth, controlled bass and open, involving treble when I hear it. These are very special speakers.

They use something that PMC call 'Transflex loading' on the main driver, ported at the rear, which extends their low-end down to about 40Hz, nearly an octave below standard bass-port designs that are usually tuned to 70Hz. As a result, these 'bookshelf' speakers (ideally, they need to be freestanding at least 50cm from the back wall) produce an incredible amount of oomph for their size, appearing to defy the laws of physics - big sound *can* come out of small boxes. On hearing the system, friends have even asked me where my sub is hiding!

The rear bass port does make them quite position-sensitive, however. For example, I found the bass to be a bit muddy and ill-defined if they were set too close to the wall, but in the right position the soundstage is well-balanced and accurate across the whole range. If you trial (or buy) a pair of these, I can't over-emphasise the importance of positioning.

As you up the volume, the sound retains its shape and balance perfectly - it just seems to 'get louder' without any perceptible artefacts, distortion or change in the presentation. Difficult to explain - you have to hear it. My hifi dealer described them as 'indestructable' (based on how many pairs he's had back into the shop for repairs, I think) and I can see what he means. The only problem I've found is that if I'm not careful I tend to crank up the level until I'm listening to *very* loud music without realising it. These speakers can seriously damage your eardrums.

In short, if you want full, powerful hi-fi sound with studio-monitor ruggedness at a reasonable price, these are well worth a look.