05. December 2024 · Comments Off on PMC Prophecy Loudspeakers Launch Event · Categories: Hifi News, Industry Insider · Tags: , , ,

PMC PROPHECY LAUNCH EVENT

Held on the 5th of December at Wired Masters studio in London, PMC gave the assembled press a tour of the studio before unveiling their new Prophecy range of passive speakers. Oscar Stewart was there for HiFi PiG.


Read on…

PMC Prophecy Loudspeakers Launch Event

Wired Masters was founded in 2004 and moved into this new building 2 years ago. They predominantly work with electronic music – both mixing and mastering tracks there.

PMC Prophecy Loudspeakers Launch Event

Studio 1 – PMC BB5 XPD Active – Wired Masters started as a mastering studio, now they do both mixing and mastering. Whilst in this room we were treated to a listening session of a track that our host Kevin was working on. He switched between the original mix and the studio mix on the big PMC studio monitors – with the studio version sounding more open, crisp, detailed, punchy, and dynamic. They use big speakers to be able to tell how a mix will translate on a club/festival system as smaller speakers cannot give you the same scale. Kevin made a point about engineers being more objective which allows them to fine tune a track or change elements to enhance the mix, without having an emotional attachment to a specific part of the mix. 

Into Studio 2 – PMC MB2 XPD Active – here we had more talk (this time with Sam) on the mastering process, and how you can change the sound of a stem by over-dubbing and then “ducking” certain frequencies. Ducking allows the engineer to focus on certain frequency ranges, it’s more flexible than pure EQ. It allows for zoning in on specific frequency ranges and provides better clarity as instead of boosting, it cuts. Spatial/Atmos was also mentioned, and Sam believes it may kick off with cars leading the way as more models incorporate multi-channel speakers. In this studio, Atmos mixes are still an add-on mix rather than the tracks being mixed in Atmos and then folded down into 2ch.

Finally, we visited Studio 3 with Cass as our host – PMC MB2 XPD Active. Cass started out as an analogue mastering engineer, however, it’s nearly all digital now. Digital has handy automation tools and it’s easy to tweak and make changes quickly to a mix. Digital mixing and mastering is a lot more flexible, so it does make the process quicker overall. Occasionally he will be asked for an analogue process for a specific sound, and he does sometimes run a track through an analogue processor…but then it gets finished in digital form. 

PMC PROPHECY LOUDSPEAKERS

Now on to the focus here, the Prophecy range from PMC. Featuring new tech, the models being released are the Prophecy1, 5, 7, 9 and C (centre). They feature a small, sleek, contemporary design, with a big sound. Made from natural materials, sustainability was important and the whole range has plastic-free packaging and are finished in sustainable veneers that are available in natural walnut, blackened walnut, and Mediterranean oak finishes.

Laminair X – PMC has fully optimised its Laminair design with this new, patent pending LaminairX design. The original Laminair concept was to reduce turbulence of the airflow from the transmission line port. PMC realised during the development of the Prophecy range that the original design channels were a little short and the airflow wasn’t fully stabilised. The new design now has a longer Laminair channel, which means more clean bass output, more efficient bass, and lower distortion at all levels. 

They also feature a new, distinctive waveguide that results in less directional sound and a smoother crossover region. This is achieved by matching the dispersion between the bass driver and tweeter. The Crossover frequency – 1.6kHz on the two-way, is remarkably low due to extra gain from the waveguide. Normally tweeter grilles are designed to be transparent, on these though, they are quite solid. This creates a secondary load chamber which boosts the top end of the frequency range meaning a more even response, instead of the usual dip in high-frequency response of most speakers.

All models use 5.25” bass drivers which have a mica-filled polypropylene cone, they have two 3-way models, two 2-way models and a 2-way centre channel.

Do they replace a range? Yes, these will replace the Twenty5 range over time (excluding the active range). These are the new passive models PMC are focusing on and we can expect shipping Jan/Feb 2025. 

We had a demo of the Prophecy1 and it is a very even-sounding speaker, with impressive extension for their size. They have remarkable midrange clarity, punchy kick drums, and Grungey music has good crunch (again, from that detailed midrange). They confidently go down to 50Hz with plenty of usable output below that. What was most apparent from this short demo, was the definition and fidelity between these speakers and the larger PMC studio monitors. This is a small speaker, and they won’t have the body or weight or a bigger design, yet use them in a sensible space and you will get a very faithful reproduction of your favourite tracks. They did a very good job on-axis at projecting a wide, and deep, sound stage – something smaller stand mounts have a knack for. 

Next, we got to hear the Prophecy5, with that beautiful midrange once again on show but with a little more body and depth to the sound. These have a bit more weight to the lower notes whilst retaining a wonderfully balanced sound overall. There was a big sound from a 2-way slim floor-standing speaker, coming across as dynamic and responsive with excellent sound staging capabilities. They manage to do deep tuneful bass that is never over the top, a “there when you need it” kind if presentation. 

Lastly, we had a listen to the Prophecy9 and I found the range to all be tuned very similarly, the 9 having the benefit of a dedicated midrange and two bass drivers allowing for more scale and increased output in the bass region. This doesn’t mean more bass quantity though (although they are capable of that), rather it is a little more effortless and digs a bit deeper in terms of extension. There is impressive depth to the soundstage, they are tonally even-handed and small details cut through in complex tracks. 

This is an exciting new range from PMC, it was great to have a listen to a couple of models in the range. They have put a lot of R&D work into perfecting their Laminair tech, and carefully considering the waveguide for the midrange and tweeters which, from first listen, has paid off. A huge thank you to Ollie and the wider PMC team for this event, a shout out to Phil from Ash Communications for the invite, and we hope to bring you a review of one of the models shortly. 

MORE INFORMATION AND SPECS IN THIS NEWS ITEM ON HiFi PiG

Oscar Stewart

The HiFi PiG Advent Calendar – DAY 6
PMC Prophecy Series Loudspeakers

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