Thoughts On The PMC OB1?

Thanks Cinematic. I agree entirely with your differentiation between bass depth and output. The Proac D25, for example, goes down to 20hz but the 6.5 inch woofer simply cannot move a lot of air. You get to "hear" the deepest notes but not "feel" them. This is why if I go with Proac I may have to hold out for the D38, which has two woofers. I haven't been able to scare up an audition yet to see if they are the ticket. I did very much like other aspects of the D25, however, and am also a fan of the Sophia. Since you do not seem to care for either of these I'm not sure we are looking for the same thing from a loudspeaker. I'm not into detail retreivers that are tonally lean. I like a bit of warmth because I think that is the way live music sounds and because it makes up for shortcomings in many of the recordings that I own. Also, domestic constraints make room treatments out of the question.

I'm curious--do you have any additional thoughts on the Proac's or ideas about the Fried Studio 7 or the Vandersteen Quatro?

Hi Dodgealum,

I have a sugesstion you might like. Try to listen to the Spendor S8e. Please report back if you get a chance to audition it.

Good Luck!

Dodgealum, I looked seriously into the PMC OB1's at one time and did some auditioning. Cinematic is correct in his statement regarding amplification, they need big power, big solid state power to get the best. I have a 250 ARC amp and would certainly sell it if I was using the PMC.
However after a lot of searching and listening I ended up with a pair of Proac 3.8's. They were a little more affordable than the PMCs and the matching stands for the PMC's made the price go up too much.
They really had two different sounds though and I will say the the PMC's are probably a little more on the acurate side of things, ie. very revealing. With my personal collection of music I found also that too revealing meant many unlistenable recordings. Proac does have a tendancy to smooth things over a bit (NOT the D80's or D100's though!) IMHO, but they are indeed wonderful sounding and great music makers. I should mention that I also had the D38's in my home and they lean a little more towards the accuracy spectrum, but I again prefered my 3.8's.
You have a nice sized room and ANY of these speakers will fill it with good sound it just depends on your tastes.
Good hunting

Thanks Alun. I really appreciate you sharing your thoughts on this thread even though it has been idle for a while. I agree completely with what you have said. I got a chance to hear the OB1 and agree that, to my tastes, it is overly analytical. In fact, I really did not feel that this speaker distinguished itself at all. I really wanted to like it but it left me feeling flat. I'm particularly interested in your views on the D38 which I have heard. I've currently got a pair of D25's in my system that I am struggling to enjoy. They do some things really well but I am coming to the conclusion that the new D series simply does not have the midrange magic of the models they replaced. While the D38 is considerably better than the D25--I compared the two head to head--neither has the warmth and naturalness of the older series. I auditioned the 3.8 some time ago and really enjoyed the sound. The new series is good--and with really high quality tubes may be very, very good--but with my solid state gear and other lesser electronics I think the 3.8 provides a better sound. Best of luck with them and enjoy.

Sorry for the late response. I really wanted to like the D38's but just didn't have enough time with them for full break in so I should be more fair in my evaluation. I'm hoping soon to hear them again at my local retailer.
There is definately a warmth to the 3.8's that me or my wife find hard to give up. My room is a tad on the bright side and too much of the analytical sound is just, well, too much!
I have heard the D80's and D100's on numerous occasions and I love their ability to throw that massive soundstage in big rooms. A freind of mine uses D100's with the Krell 450 mono blocks, the slam is phenomenal and the sound is clean, fast and articulate. I pesonally would use tubes but thats my soft spot (and opinion)
Good luck