Inherited some nice speakers (PMC TB2)
Discussion
My Grandfather recently moved into a nursing home and as the nerd of the family his hi-fi gear came my way.
Included in this are a pair of PMC TB2 monitors, which appear to be a pretty high quality pair of speakers that would have cost approx a couple of grand at the time.
Now, I make no claim to be a sophisticated listener, but I've wired them up and to me they sound worse than my much cheaper Monitor Audio Bronze BXII speakers. Less warmth, a little less bass, and I think a little less clarity.
So finally on to my question - why is this?
Is it (as I want to believe) that listening experience is entirely subjective?
Is it that I'm driving them with a cheap amplifier (mid range cambridge audio thing)?
Is it that in 10 years or so speakers have come on and my BXIIs are just better?
Is it something else? Am I a philistine undeserving of these things?
Ninja edit: Is putting them in as front speakers to replace my existing KEF Qs in my home cinema setup basically sacrilege because they are too good for that?
Included in this are a pair of PMC TB2 monitors, which appear to be a pretty high quality pair of speakers that would have cost approx a couple of grand at the time.
Now, I make no claim to be a sophisticated listener, but I've wired them up and to me they sound worse than my much cheaper Monitor Audio Bronze BXII speakers. Less warmth, a little less bass, and I think a little less clarity.
So finally on to my question - why is this?
Is it (as I want to believe) that listening experience is entirely subjective?
Is it that I'm driving them with a cheap amplifier (mid range cambridge audio thing)?
Is it that in 10 years or so speakers have come on and my BXIIs are just better?
Is it something else? Am I a philistine undeserving of these things?
Ninja edit: Is putting them in as front speakers to replace my existing KEF Qs in my home cinema setup basically sacrilege because they are too good for that?
Edited by _dobbo_ on Tuesday 14th May 21:12
The TB2s are fantastic speakers. However, they need care in matching with electronics and where they are sited.
As an advanced transmission line design, they can be quite unforgiving in their presentation but that’s part of their charm. They won’t be as coloured as your other speakers which is also why you may find them at odds with your expectations.
As an advanced transmission line design, they can be quite unforgiving in their presentation but that’s part of their charm. They won’t be as coloured as your other speakers which is also why you may find them at odds with your expectations.
Thanks for the reply - I think probably the positioning of them more then anything is hurting the sound. I'm not in a position to be buying new amplifiers or other gear at the moment, and I'm very limited in where I can place them in my music listening setup.
I'll try them as fronts in the home cinema as they will be much further from the wall in that situation - if then I still don't see any massive improvement I'll just whack them on ebay - they are too nice to be wasted in a setup that is barely used or where they aren't providing an advantage.
I'll try them as fronts in the home cinema as they will be much further from the wall in that situation - if then I still don't see any massive improvement I'll just whack them on ebay - they are too nice to be wasted in a setup that is barely used or where they aren't providing an advantage.
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