Hi All
Have been a proud owner of PMC and Bryston amps for the last 9 months but have only just found your circle. I have PMC FB1+, 3B SST power and a BP25 pre. My source is a Cyrus Quattro multiroom CDP with multiple preamps for the multiroom setup. I use the Cyrus to power systems in other rooms but as a source only into the BP25 for my main system. I am looking to upgrade the Cyrus sometime this year (I hope).
Have been using the 'power of search' to catch up on past threads and was interested to see that Bryston is think of bringing out a CDP and separate DAC. Just what I need to replace my Quattro. But as a regular visitor to the Bryston site I find it strange that there is no news of it/them there.
I also noticed some interest in the FB1 upgrade. Last summer I upgraded my FB1s to FB1+ and wrote the following review in the first flush of excitement after getting them home. Having re-read the review I think its style is a bit over the top but I'll stand by it. Here it is...
Review of speaker upgrade from PMC FB1 to PMC FB1+
I upgraded my FB1s in June this year (2005) and because I live near to Luton went direct to the PMC site. Picked them up again two days later and my wallet light by £385. (I upgraded to shielded drive units to avoid interference problems – a bit more expensive). While I was there I heard some GB1s and other FB1+s being tested on Bryston amps and am now convinced that while PMCs at 90db are easy speakers to drive they really enjoy lots of headroom (I believe that’s the term for lots of spare power capacity in the amps). It was a revelation to hear just what these speakers are capable of. PMC are, of course, the UK distributors of Bryston amps and for the record, I don’t have any connection with either company.
There are full descriptions on the net of what the upgrade consists of but in general they replace some wadding, the crossover unit and replace the tweeter with a soft dome of the type used in their pricier models. Those who are familiar with the FB1 will remember that they were famed for the deep extended bass but criticised for the harsh treble from the solid dome tweeter. The upgrade has the effect of solidifying the bass, much less boom and more bounce, without effecting the bass extension. I guess that translates into improved bass resolution and timing. The new tweeter eradicates any hint of upper harshness whilst maintaining or indeed improving the clarity and separation of high notes or cymbals, correctly integrating the them into the overall sound.
While these improvement are good, the icing on the cake is the improvement in the sound stage. The stereo imaging is very 3 dimensional with lots of detail without being too analytical. Meaning that you can follow an instrument should you choose but that detail is not thrust upon you. Similarly, sound texture is great. You can almost taste the raw sound of a sax, for example, without it being so forward that furniture starts to rattle or other instruments crowded out. I find it difficult to describe lacking proper knowledge of the terminology but referring to my glossary of terms I would say the upgrade has better definition, depth, detail and naturalness.
Let me tell you tell you the story of my HiFi control subject number 1. Rog (real name) is a totally against anything HiFi. Sure he appreciates music but only as a form of social lubrication. That is to say its good down the pub in the background or at a dance or disco. Rog has no finer appreciation of the musical arts or their reproduction. “Waste of money”, “environmentally unsound” (as is all unessential use of electricity) or “obsessive behaviour” were his usual comments to the extent that he had all but undermined my confidence in going for the upgrade. Was I just suffering from upgraditis? Are HiFi improvements mere fantasy or imagination? Many similar questions have been asked about upgrades in this and other forums.
When I got them back from PMC and installed once again I invited him round for a listen. The long and the short of it is that we were both equally impressed and he had to eat his words. “Wow that’s really different….. I like that…. its really changed the sound” he said, and much more in a similar vain. And it had too. The overall effect of the upgrade was a real change in the character of the speakers. Now don’t get me wrong it was still a PMC very neutral monitor type sound but smooth smooth smooth detailed with a gorgeous honey like mid range and deep base that you have to feel through your feet as well as listen to. At one point we though we had detected some mid range harshness but a quick swap of the preamp solved that problem. Personally and as a rule of thumb, I think the FB1+ would do justice to any system up to £3k per HiFi separate unit.
Well that’s about it. That session turn into a late nighter, 3 bottles of wine and a trawl through the CD collection listening to old favourites again with the ‘new sound’ FB1+s. To those that have read this far I would reiterate what I said at the beginning that while PMCs at 90db are easy speakers to drive they really really enjoy lots of headroom. So if your thinking of bi amping the FB1+ says “yes please”.
