PMC OB1i & Bryston Electronics Match made in Heaven???

denom

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I recently had the privilege of visiting an FM who had invited me over to have a listen to his PMC/Bryston Combo.
I have been waiting to hear the PMC/Bryston Synergy for quite a while & was glad to hear it finally.
His set-up consists of the following:
Source:
Oppo BDP-103
Bryston BDA-1

Amplification:
Bryston BP6 Pre
Bryston 4BSST Power

Speakers:
PMC OB1i

Cabling:
Marigo Audio Labs RMX Ref Series C/PS Audio XStream Plus power cables,
Van Damme UP-LCOFC speaker cables,
Audio Art IC-3 + Cullen Cable interconnects
PS Dectet Power Strip

Music played was a mix of Jazz, Pop, Rock, Hard Rock, Metal.

Pics of the set-up:

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Like the other PMC speakers that I have witnessed, the PMC OB1is finish is beautifully done, with attention to detail paid in all aspects. The OB1is were with the cherry finish. While it looked great, my current favourite finish is Amarone, which I loved on the Twenty.23s :licklips: The OB1is can be tri-wired/tri-amped, but how much more can the sound be bettered with such an arrangement is unknown to me. Maybe the FM will think over this wrt the next investment in his set-up:lol: Jokes aside, I dont think he needs to do anything, as the Bryston 4BSST is more than enough to drive & control the OB1is comfortably :)

Having been exposed to the PMC sound signature quite frequently in the recent past, I was keen to listen to another PMC speaker, one which has been highly praised & regarded by the audio publications for quite some time. The PMC OB1is did not disappoint at all. The beautifully matched complement of three precision drive units was very obvious as the seamless integration of the Highs, Mids & Lows was just a treat to experience. I think all the credit goes to the dome mid range driver that manages the perfect balance of the overall sound. The OB1is have reasonably sweet and extended treble, the mid range has warm, open clarity, yet solid and very good at imaging. The bass is effortless, goes deep & yet remains tight.

The OB1is are highly transparent yet reasonably forgiving to poor recordings. For me, this is a positive trait as there are many poorly recorded but good enjoyable music, like pop/rock recordings, for which 1 has no control over. Having said that, they do not short change audiophile grade recordings either. Makes you just hit play & continue to listen to music for hours together.

As far as placement is concerned, with the kind permission of the host, I tried some positioning changes & tweaks wrt to toe-in & out & found that the best positioning was achieved with the speakers being about 8 feet apart, about 10 inches away from the rear wall. A light toe-in of about 10 degrees made a significant improvement in the sound staging & overall presentation. The lows can be augmented by moving closer to the rear walls but I personally did not like the sound when the speakers were placed such as the Lows then can get a little overpowering. Luckily the speakers did not have any issues wrt side walls being near, like 3+ feet of free space available on both sides.

Coming back to the Bryston/PMC match, it is a beautiful one, one that will give you immense satisfaction day in & out. The first thing to hit me about the set-up was the fine balance that was achieved in the music reproduction. Good synergy was the main contributor to this & it just made the set-up shine through & through. A musical set-up which can have you lost in music for hours together. This fact was reiterated by the FM who said that he listens to music for 6-8 hours at the stretch quite regularly. Seems like he is in audio heaven already & does not intend to move from there for a very long time. Having heard his set-up, I can truly understand why! Look forward to many more enjoyable listening sessions at his place :D The fact that we found quite a bit of common ground made things even more interesting :ohyeah: A great host to boot!!! :cheers:

The more I listen to PMCs, the more I fall in love with them. Wonder where this will lead me to ;) Unfortunately all good things arent cheap & yet again the PMCs are way over my budget :o The OB1is currently cost 6.25L. One has to keep the currency fluctuations in mind to make things worse :mad:

Moral of the story???
Yin & Yang achieved by the PMC + Bryston Marriage:clapping:

I'm loving it :yahoo:
 
Nice review Dave.

I had listened to the PMC bookshelves of our FM Ravi_d some time back at Hyderabad and they sounded great.

Whose set up is this? Does the FM want to remain anonymous?
 
Nice review Dave.

I had listened to the PMC bookshelves of our FM Ravi_d some time back at Hyderabad and they sounded great.

Whose set up is this? Does the FM want to remain anonymous?

Thanks bro.

As for the 'FM' remaining anonymous, well lets just keep these things this way, a trend we are seeing with some recent 'reviews' ;)

Lets enjoy the review rather than get inquisitive. There is always PM option for .... :p
 
Denom and me had an extensive session with the PMC Twenty 23s a few weeks ago. I can safely say that the PMC sound is something that very few other brands can match. Unfortunately as much as I wanted to buy the 23s, they were out of my budget!
 
Great review and a highly envious set-up! :licklips::clapping:
A pure music thing, this!
Definitely worthy of a visit, if the FM agrees ever.
 
Thanks Denom for your kind words, your company, your critical advice and the mamy things common we share - good rock and jazz, good malt and good friends. ...
 
My pleasure Ozz! Ultimately, it all down to 'synergy' eh???
Some people can't seem to get out of pettiness & hatred. Sad, but best we move on & forget such 'bitter people' :indifferent14:
 
@Denom - Thanks for the brilliant review and the beautiful pictures!

The setup looks very neat and nicely done. It seems the balanced nature of PMC's runs across all model lines.
Truly great speakers for the price. I am sure you would have enjoyed the session immensely!

@Ozzstirker - Great setup Ozzie. It would be great to listen to it someday.
Speakers seem to be in immaculate condition! If you ever decide to move up in the audio-nirvana chain, I'd surely be in line for this setup!

Cheers! and Happy Diwali to all! :D
 
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@Arhant.....pls drop in whenever you are in Mumbai.....for now the OB1i's are everything I wanted from a loudspeaker. As Denom says, makes you just hit play and listen for hours and hours. If and when I go up the chain, I will keep you in mind for sure......
 
@Denom - Thanks for the brilliant review and the beautiful pictures!

The setup looks very neat and nicely done. It seems the balanced nature of PMC's runs across all model lines.
Truly great speakers for the price. I am sure you would have enjoyed the session immensely!

Cheers! and Happy Diwali to all! :D

Happy Diwali Arhant! Thanks for the compliment, appreciate it. Pics taken by Ozzy himself so credit must go to him :clapping:

Yes, somehow the PMC way is the balanced way :licklips:, but the bryston pairing should not be discounted either. Thats why to me its yin & yang combo.

When everything falls into place, it becomes magic. The fact that we are on the same wavelength makes things even better. True friends have that trait.


Denom, you are enjoying such a rich diet of hifi equipment lately :p

:D <--- green for a little bit of envy :)


.

Stand in queue then! Lots thinking the same way & some actually harboring ill feeling, intense jealousy & hatred for me, because am enjoying while they cannot :indifferent14:

Am sure they will try 'stunts' to de-stabilise me, am waiting to see how low they can go...
 
What a crazy thing.

Actually, all the people I know who have heard a lot of great gear have done so because they have made the effort to. I might be a bit :D-green, but you can say, "OK, you walk into the shops, phone the dealers, get stuff set up or delivered for demo." And you'd be right: why not?. Those of us who don't have, or look as as if we have, fat, over-flowing purses might face more difficulty, but if we are that keen we had better learn to act the part!

And if we want dealers to play their stuff to us with no sale prospect, then we should at least hold out the prospect of a review on a well known site.

It's all fair game. Those of who are not playing have only ourselves to blame.

Sorry for being offtopic :o
 
For excellent sound that won't break the bank, the 5 Star Award Winning Wharfedale Diamond 12.1 Bookshelf Speakers is the one to consider!
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