[HifyFreaky]

Hi, I'm looking for the review of the PMC IB2 speakers published in the Hifi Choice 237 issue. I tried to get it from Hifi Choice but they only send photocopies of the article to people living in the UK, after paying so I'm prepared to pay (with paypal) if you can send me the scanned entire article.

By the way, if you're using these amazing speakers, I'm interested in what system do you have, specially power amps and your impressions about it.

Thanks for looking.
Peter.

[Sasha]

I got IB2 powered so far by a number of amps, latest being 7B SST.
I would not put too much emphasis on what a review or someone on forum says, it is highly subjective, system and room dependant, you have to hear it for yourself (I know, it will be nearly imposible).
Having said that, there are no speakers in their price range I would rather have.
And if we are discussing speakers regardless of the cost, there is only one other manufacturer that I may be willing to consider but only after an opportunity to have them compared to IB2 for extended period of time in my system.
IB2 works with Bryston exceptionally well for me. Just for the sake of comparison, I had Pass Labs X350.5 in my system and I preferred Bryston by a large margin.
If this sounds biased and comes too strong in favour of Bryston/PMC, I will mention that I did not like Bryston prior to getting IB2, do search on this forum and you will find me saying that “Bryston was not my cup of a tea”.
Now I cannot think of a better matching amp among those I heard.
So if you asked me, I would say to buy IB2 without hesitation, power it up with 4B SST or higher model (higher preferably but not necessary).

[HifyFreaky]

Thanks for your impressions. I bought IB2S main speakers and center channel almost 4 years ago from now.
I also prefer PMC IB2 over everything I've heard, and I've gone so far as Wilson Watt Puppy system 7 and Avalon Eidolon. Although I liked those speakers, I preferred IB2 overall.
They are simply outstanding speakers in a perfectly convenient package. I don't want a couple of coffins I can't move by myself if I want to experiment with toe in or something.
I have now Electrocompaniet amplification, but I'm gonna give a chance to Bryston and see what happens. Unfortunately, Bryston has no distribution right now in Spain so I'll have to go to Portugal or France. I'll probably go for 14BSST. Any recommendation about cables?

[Thunder]

I've had IB2's (S model - I love the black industrial look) for about 2 years now. Initially, I drove them with 7BSST's (prefer them over 14BSST - sound wise and can be placed right next to speaker to minimize cable length). Sounded very nice indeed. The speakers are very linear, powerful and dynamic. With a good source and room/set-up, imaging is really great and they literally "kick butt".

More recently, I decided to turn them into being active with a pair of Bryston 10B's electronic crossovers. 7BSST's drive bass and 4BSST's drive mid range and tweeter. Speaker cable goes directly from each of the three amps, straight to the driver, no binding posts - total cable length is only 5 feet. At the moment I'm using anti-cables speaker cables with a differnt gauge size per driver. The net effect is greater dynamics and more resolution - very revealing but not cold. Has more of that "in the room with you" effect. After experiencing, active speakers, it will be difficult to ever go back to any passive speaker.

Couldn't be happier with my IB2's. BTW, I have an IB2 center that I drive with a pair of PP 300's. Great for HT.

 

[Sasha]

I have been using and will continue to do so, Acoustic Zen's Satori shotgun as speaker cables.
As ICs I use Van Den Hul terminated with Neutrik (balanced), surprisingly good, especially when considering the cost.

[HifyFreaky]

And what about preamp?
Bryston too?

I'm considering using a passive preamp (Music First Audio), following the rule "less is more" or Kiss (keep it simple, stupid  ).

Anyone has tested passives preamps?

I have a Linn Unidisk 1.1 as digital source and Bluenote Bellavista+Pamphili as analog front end.

[Thunder]

I use BP26 for a pre-amp. Only passive unit that I've tried was built into a Meitner DCC2. The BP26 easily outperformed it but that may be because I run long balanced IC's (10 meter) -- I use Canare mic cable.   

[Sasha]

BP26, have not tried passive.
My friend did though, in an almost identical setup as mine, do not remember what it was, was based on transformer, his impression was that passive was somewhat more transparent, however he did not find the improvement outweighing flexibility of multiple inputs and he also has analog source.

[ryder]

I've had IB2's (S model - I love the black industrial look) for about 2 years now. Initially, I drove them with 7BSST's (prefer them over 14BSST - sound wise and can be placed right next to speaker to minimize cable length). Sounded very nice indeed. The speakers are very linear, powerful and dynamic. With a good source and room/set-up, imaging is really great and they literally "kick butt".

More recently, I decided to turn them into being active with a pair of Bryston 10B's electronic crossovers. 7BSST's drive bass and 4BSST's drive mid range and tweeter. Speaker cable goes directly from each of the three amps, straight to the driver, no binding posts - total cable length is only 5 feet. At the moment I'm using anti-cables speaker cables with a differnt gauge size per driver. The net effect is greater dynamics and more resolution - very revealing but not cold. Has more of that "in the room with you" effect. After experiencing, active speakers, it will be difficult to ever go back to any passive speaker.

Couldn't be happier with my IB2's. BTW, I have an IB2 center that I drive with a pair of PP 300's. Great for HT.

 

Hi Thunder,

I have heard from another PMC user stating that active speakers will trounce any passive ones by a considerable large margin. I am intrigued in your idea of using the Bryston 10B crossover to transform your passive IB2 to active. Can this be done with a pair of LB1 Signatures?

Thanks in advance.

[jimsmy]

HifyFreaky,
You have mail.  There's a large file attached, so I hope that you have broadband.
Regards,
Jim

[HifyFreaky]

Hey, thanks a lot! 

As I said, I'm willing to pay you at least the price of an HifiChoice issue. Give me your Paypal e-mail.

So you also have this amazing speakers? What's the rest of your kit.

thanks and regards.
Pedro.

[jimsmy]

Unfortunately not, they are much too big for my listening room.  I have much smaller IPL transmission lines (a kit from IPL acoustics).  These are run actively i.e. preamp to active crossover to amps to drive units (speakers built with no internal crossover.
Don't worry about payment, just enjoy the review!
Best wishes,
Jim

[HifyFreaky]

Again, thanks. If you are looking for any review, let me know. I have a lot of magazines (Hifi Choice, Stereophile, Hifi News, Revue du Son...).

I will try sometime the active thing, but I don't switch my IB2!

I'm going to sleep (I am in Spain, and it's bedtime) and enjoy the review in bed.

See you later.

Pedro.

[Thunder]

I've had IB2's (S model - I love the black industrial look) for about 2 years now. Initially, I drove them with 7BSST's (prefer them over 14BSST - sound wise and can be placed right next to speaker to minimize cable length). Sounded very nice indeed. The speakers are very linear, powerful and dynamic. With a good source and room/set-up, imaging is really great and they literally "kick butt".

More recently, I decided to turn them into being active with a pair of Bryston 10B's electronic crossovers. 7BSST's drive bass and 4BSST's drive mid range and tweeter. Speaker cable goes directly from each of the three amps, straight to the driver, no binding posts - total cable length is only 5 feet. At the moment I'm using anti-cables speaker cables with a differnt gauge size per driver. The net effect is greater dynamics and more resolution - very revealing but not cold. Has more of that "in the room with you" effect. After experiencing, active speakers, it will be difficult to ever go back to any passive speaker.

Couldn't be happier with my IB2's. BTW, I have an IB2 center that I drive with a pair of PP 300's. Great for HT.

 

Hi Thunder,

I have heard from another PMC user stating that active speakers will trounce any passive ones by a considerable large margin. I am intrigued in your idea of using the Bryston 10B crossover to transform your passive IB2 to active. Can this be done with a pair of LB1 Signatures?

Thanks in advance.

Ryder, I don't see why it wouldn't work. You will need to open up the back and remove the passive crossover. When you do, connect the cable form the binding posts to the cable connected to the drivers. You will probably only need one 10B to do a 2 way system. Keep in mind that you will need to be able to measure post installation to make sure that you have the right level for the tweeters. I use ETF software and a balanced mic for this. If you don't have this, perhaps a dealer or friend does. Going active definitely raises the performance of the speakers. You'll love it.   

[ryder]

Thanks for the reply Thunder. So I need to remove the passive crossover in my speakers and use ETF software and mic. Okay I can't possibly do that on my own since I'm not a DIY kind of guy. I'll need to get the dealer in should I consider to go active with my speakers.

Another question if you don't mind. I see that only the huge PMC speakers are available in active. I am not sure if I'll get some appreciative improvements with my diminutive LB1 monitors if they are converted into active. Are advantages of active speakers fully relished with large speakers only?

[Thunder]

Thanks for the reply Thunder. So I need to remove the passive crossover in my speakers and use ETF software and mic. Okay I can't possibly do that on my own since I'm not a DIY kind of guy. I'll need to get the dealer in should I consider to go active with my speakers.

Another question if you don't mind. I see that only the huge PMC speakers are available in active. I am not sure if I'll get some appreciative improvements with my diminutive LB1 monitors if they are converted into active. Are advantages of active speakers fully relished with large speakers only?

Ryder, the PMC AML1 is active and quite small in size with only 2 drivers. I've heard it and it sounds very good.
http://www.pmc-speakers.com/product.php?mode=view&pid=41

Any speaker requiring a crossover will benefit from going active, regadless of size. However, it's harder to justify financially with the smaller and less expensive speakers that PMC has because on a relative basis, going active with them is very expensive. The AML1 is example of this, a relatively expensive PMC speaker for its size but its performance is clearly superior to PMC's other passive 2 driver speakers.

I assume your not in the GTA area. If you were, I could help you through the process.

[ryder]

Ryder, the PMC AML1 is active and quite small in size with only 2 drivers. I've heard it and it sounds very good.
http://www.pmc-speakers.com/product.php?mode=view&pid=41

Any speaker requiring a crossover will benefit from going active, regadless of size. However, it's harder to justify financially with the smaller and less expensive speakers that PMC has because on a relative basis, going active with them is very expensive. The AML1 is example of this, a relatively expensive PMC speaker for its size but its performance is clearly superior to PMC's other passive 2 driver speakers.

I assume your not in the GTA area. If you were, I could help you through the process.

Thunder, I am not aware of PMC having the small active AML1's. I think you are correct in that the cost of going active with smaller and less expensive speakers is relatively much higher than the bigger ones, making them less justified financially. I need to reconsider my options carefully should I need to go about this. But that wouldn't be happening too soon since i've just done a few upgrades recently and still awaiting delivery for some cables. In fact, I was thinking about upgrading the amp after this. Will see how it goes.

Thanks for your kind offer but I'm not in Canada.

[James Tanner]

Hi All,

Yes you have to be very careful taking a passive design and turning it into an ACTIVE system. 

Many drivers and passive crossovers are designed as a 'system' and parameters such as, on and off axis frequency response, driver rolloff slopes - polar respose - time alignment, gain etc. are all part of the design integration. Taking drivers and crossovers that are designed to work together and arbitrarily inserting active components can get you in a lot of trouble.

I would rather have a well designed passive system than a poorly designed active one.

james