Dave do you ever find your PMC's a bit on the dry side? I have PMC TB2's, which I know are not in the same league as your MB2i's but i have always understood that all PMC's share the same acoustical traits? I really enjoy listening to the PMC TB2's , along with the Bryston BP25/4B and Benchmark DAC. The system is accurate as hell, but if I had to criticize the experience with one word , dry would be the term I would use.
Thanks
sfraser, given jaxwired's strong rejection of subjective descriptions of personal preferences, and James's quasi-official endorsement of same (an assessment with which I don't entirely disagreed, BTW), I am a bit reluctant to answer your question about whether I find my MB2i speakers dry.
At the risk of giving jaxwired et al an opportunity to blast the hell out of me, the answer is that before the 7BSST2s, these speakers sounded terrific, but I didn't know then what I know now. Something was missing.
One member (it may have been SoundGame) once asked a simple question: Does your system make the music have a presence as if the band is right in your room. That is what was missing! It's the thing I describe, poorly, and for the lack of another word, musical.
Bottom line, the hole my system was not caused by the MB2i speakers, it was what my old 7BSST amps didn't have and what the 7BSST2 amps do have, whatever that is.
Incidentally, the MB2is, as wonderful as they are, have a comparative weakness to my ear. in another thread I mentioned building a second system with a very old Pioneer SX980 receiver and standmount B&W 685 speakers ($800 a pair). I seldom listen to classical music, but yesterday I did. I found I preferred the sound of the B&Ws playing classical music. I think it is because of the predominance of strings, especially violins, in classical music. The B&W tweeter has a smoother, sweeter sound in this frequency range. It may be that the PMC tweeter is less kind to the type of tinnitus I have. On the other hand, the MB2is are absolutely great for the kind of music to which I listen most often, jazz.
Hope this helps.
Dave