PMC speakers vs B&W... has anyone compared?

PMC make great speakers - I read somewhere that Brian May uses them. However, your comparison may not be fair.....the FB1+ is a two way design and this is not nearly as good as a three way design such as the B&W 800 series.

Frequency range specifications are NOT a good way to judge a speaker...low distortion, good dispersion, high dynamic range and accuracy & timbre under various operating levels is much more important.

Having said this, if you were to compare B&W 800 range to the PMC IB2S or MB2S then I think you would find PMC are comparable...indeed many would say significantly better...especially the dome mid range which was designed by PMC to compete with ATC in the professional studio markets where ATC dominate and have become widely accepted as having the best mid range driver in the world (PMC used the ATC mid range driver until they developed their own).

Oops Jkalman this was indeed an old thread, which I did not realize either.

BTW I agree with you, B&W 800 series are simply awesome speakers...nobody can fairly say that they are not up there along with the very best in the world. I don't have the 800's at home but I own many satellite and in wall B&W speakers and they are oustanding value/quality.

I think you will find that Alan Parsons (of Pink Floyd DSOTM fame) uses a pair of 800's for mastering ....perhaps the Nautilus ( I can't quite remember)...enough said!

Henryk,

It sounds like you have a strong personal dislike of B&W speakers....a bad experience perhaps? I may have messy cables and less than optimum speaker positioning, however, at least I do not bash top quality B&W speakers that are highly regarded by so many in the industry (including some top notch sound engineers). Have you considered what "bashing" B&W does to one's credibilty as an audio expert?

If anything, B&W have so many many designs that, in the end, it is impossible to compare them as a brand to a small company like PMC with a limited offering.

PMC pro series gear is fairly distinctive and recognizable; neutral sound, good dispersion in the mid, very dynamic and with good quality extended bass response - they play all genres well but being quite neutral may lack the "sizzle" or "flavor" that you can find by choosing between the extensive vareiety of B&W designs.

....this is a very old thread which got quickly diverted from a meaningful discussion BTW; if you are seeking guidance then start a new thread with a more specific question (a particular speaker versus another for example rather than a brand war...)