PMC DB1i

Wind Chaser · « **on:** 12 Sep 2010, 02:42 pm »

Does anyone have some experience and with these? I have an opportunity to buy a slightly used pair for $1300. Unfortunately they are 2000 miles away so I can't hear them without buying them. All I know is they are about the same size and spec of my current speakers.

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #1 on:** 12 Sep 2010, 08:14 pm »

What do you currently have? What's the rest of the system? What are you looking for in these?

The DB1is are very good speakers. They're very neutral and color free. They sound far bigger than they are, and pace and time very well. They're also very controlled in that they don't try to do anything beyond their means/design.

Just like everything else, they're not perfect. They have a huge soundstage, but its more a wall of sound than a 3-D palpable image. While bass is excellent for this size driver (maybe the best there is), its still a very small driver; it'll only go so low.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #2 on:** 12 Sep 2010, 10:35 pm »

Found some measurements beyond PMCs specs... I need something more balanced with at least 50 Hz LFR and a minumum of 87 db sensitivity.

http://www.stereophile.com/standloudspeakers/pmc_db1iii_loudspeaker/index4.html

timind · « **Reply #3 on:** 12 Sep 2010, 11:50 pm »

I owned a pair for a month or two. They were not to my liking at all. Maybe the term "very neutral" is correct but I found them uninvolving and just not much fun to listen to. You will definitely need a sub if you want to hear much in the way of bass. One thing that helped for me was to mount them on stands that put the tweeter below ear level. It was a surprise but i swapped stands a couple of times to verify this. This was my experience so YMMV.

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 Sep 2010, 09:53 pm »

I guess the level of involvingness comes from system synergy. When connected to Bryston, Naim, and/or McIntosh, they were anything but dull and uninvolving.

Everyone's ears, room, and system are different.

I wouldn't discount a pair of speakers or any other gear due soley to measurements. Except maybe White Van speakers.