Review: PMC IB2S
Click your heels together three times and repeat after me, “there’s no PMCs at home.”
19 August 2009
Review: Robin Gist
Luton, in the English county of Bedfordshire, was once known for its millinery factories and the Vauxhall automobile assembly plant located there. In keeping with this broad commercial diversity, the Professional Monitor Company (PMC) has made this ancient locale its manufacturing and corporate headquarters, producing speakers for the hi-fi, installation and pro audio markets. It’s the company’s top shelf IB2S studio monitor that we’re scrutinising here.
PAST MADE CLEAR
When owners Peter Thomas and Adrian Loader started PMC back in 1990, their objective was to design the ideal studio monitoring system with the highest resolution possible without colouration and distortion. They must have done something right back then because PMC’s first product, the BB5-A active studio monitor, was snapped up by the BBC, Metropolis Mastering, Stevie Wonder’s Wonderland and many other mastering and post production facilities in the UK and USA. Feedback from engineers (not the speakers) has since helped PMC develop a broad range of products to suit a variety of applications.
PISTON NOT BROKE
The relatively new IB2S is a passive, three-way, transmission line design* based on the popular IB1S. The main difference with the IB2S model is its deployment of a substantially larger midrange driver, the PMC 75 large soft-dome squawker, which improves the midrange definition to the level of the larger PMC monitors without any increase in cabinet size. The IB2S uses what PMC calls an ‘Advanced Transmission Line’ design with two sections, giving an effective transmission line length of 2.4m (8ft). Transmission line designs, which employ a highly absorbent internal tunnel to support the bass driver and absorb its unwanted high frequencies, offer the advantages of higher SPL and extended low-frequency response compared to that of an equivalent-sized ported or sealed cabinet design. A twin-chamber fabric soft-dome HF driver with high-performance Ferro fluid cooling and a 10-inch carbon-fibre, LF piston driver complete the package – a very different piston to what Vauxhall might use I’m sure! According to PMC, this patented, flat surfaced LF driver design exhibits increased dynamic range handling and reduced cone break-up distortion.
BLACK IS THE NEW BLACK
As Henry Ford once said about his new Model T, “You can have any colour you like, as long as it’s black,” so too the PMC’s ‘S’ designated studio finish comes in black, black or black. The IB2i, (the IB2S’s hi-fi cousin) is available in a variety of wood grain veneer finishes but the increased cost of these options is something I’d wager most studio owners would find hard to justify. When faced with a choice between a more expensive veneer finish or the ‘black, plus a free compressor’ – such is the difference in cost – I suspect the studio owner will choose the ‘free compressor’ option every time. A matching low-profile centre channel version of the IB2S, the IB2S-C, and a SB100 subwoofer are also available if you’re after a complete surround monitoring solution.
Connectivity on the back panel of the passive IB2S involves three pairs of 4mm ‘banana’ sockets that allow you to tri-amp or tri-wire the monitors as you see fit. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to purchase the speakers in its ‘active’ configuration, a fitted Bryston PowerPac 300 mono-block option is also available, and this setup uses conventional XLR inputs. Strictly speaking, the ‘activated’ versions – as PMC describes them – aren’t truly active monitors since, in this arrangement, the crossovers come after the amp, not before, but they do sound good nonetheless. At nearly 740mm high and 330mm wide, these monitors aren’t exactly bookshelf nearfields but they can be soffit or stand mounted. Ideally, they’re best positioned in a mid-sized control room where their extra bass extension can be properly realised by the space.
NEED TO KNOW
PMC’s patented, flat surfaced LF driver design exhibits increased dynamic range handling and reduced cone break-up distortion. It’s built like a tank and well supported by the shock absorption characteristics of the transmission line itself.
TRANSMISSION LINE UP
While positioned as midfield monitors in my studio I listened to a wide variety of program material on the IB2S monitors, including commercial release CDs, pre-mastered mixes, material that I’d already mastered and some pre-mix multitrack files from a project I’m currently working on. In each of these situations the IB2S monitors proved to be very detailed, with an extended low-frequency response that was tight and free of ‘boomy’ resonances. The stereo image was wide, and dispersed itself evenly around the control room (this equal spread of sound was apparently a critical factor in Kraftwerk’s decision to install an IB2S surround system in their Kling Klang studio in Düsseldorf – the enigmatic electro pioneers like to be well spaced out it would seem, or is that spaced well out?). Walking around the control room, I enjoyed their uniformity and consistency of sound, and I had no sense of frequency gaps or holes in the soundfield.
The top end of the IB2S was clear and precise and revealed high frequency details on some of the classical and soundtrack CDs that had not been apparent on other monitoring systems. For my taste, I felt the midrange was a tiny bit lacking which could have been remedied quite easily had I had a third amp to tri-amp rather than bi-amp the setup. Clearly, this would have allowed me to run the midrange amp with a bit more gain and voice the system to my personal preference. This underpins the advantage of being able to power each driver individually, and tune the system to your environment or taste.
DYNAMICALLY SPEAKING
Dynamically speaking, the IB2s are very capable monitors. They perform particularly well when replaying classical music and movie soundtracks where full use is made of contrasting dynamics and sound effects. This is a good indication as to why they’re so popular in post and mastering houses – their ability to handle wide dynamic range with detail, precision and uniformity of dispersion is impressive.
At $16k a pair, however, these monitors are certainly not for the budget conscious among us. To own a pair you’ll need to be a very well heeled studio owner, and if surround sound is what you require, then clearly we’re talking about a very large sum of money. However, the PMC design philosophy is evident in all its models and the benefits of neutral voicing and transmission line-enabled extended bottom-end are apparent across the whole range. If you do end up with five of them in your space at some point, give me a bell… I’d love to check them out!
If you’d like to hear what’s been mixed, mastered or post produced on PMC monitors, the company maintains an extensive ‘hit list’ on their website: To listen to what’s been produced using the PMC IB2S monitors go to: www.pmc-speakers.com/company/hitlist.php?mode=viewhitlist. A similarly long list of pro users is also available at www.pmc-speakers.com/keyclients/index.php, where yours truly even gets a mention – and in the interests of full disclosure (ring the bell Lawsy) – I own a pair of TB2+ monitors, which I use in my studio.
RESPONSES