B&W PM1

@Photonman

:) You are right with what you said.

I first heard the PM1s at a high end shop annual open house in Feb. 2012. They were mated to B&W's PV1D subwoofer and powered by Classe, which is part of the B&W group now. Previously that night I had heard Wilson's magnificent Alexandria XLFs followed by a $99K 2.1 system of Wisdom Audio wall-mounted panels and sub. The XLFs were best of show, the Wisdoms were a disappointment (too artificial-sounding in that demo), but the PM1/PV1D combo grabbed my attention. This $5.6K combo had far more in common with the Wilsons regarding transparency, dynamics, realistic tonal balance, and most of all, musical satisfaction than the Wisdoms did.

They're gorgeous, and with the sub I estimate they can fill up to about a 400 sq. ft. space.

I've never been all that impressed with B&Ws. They have excellent tonal balance, clarity, dynamics, and all that, and perhaps it's a setup problem, but I never lose myself in the music with them. These PM1s are a big departure from that. They completely disappear into the imaging and soundstage. I heard no suckouts or peaks that took me out of the music. Combined with the PV1D sub I consider them the near-invisible gem of the B&W lineup.

If you want *excellent* sound reproduction from gorgeous yet non-intrusive speakers, these are the poster girls.

I imagine the PM1 is a much better speaker than the CM5 but I don't know why B&W didn't stick a 6.5" woofer in the PM1s!

@Mkash3,
My guess is that with a 6.5 inch woofer the PM1's would need a slightly bigger cabinet and sound quality wise they would have been getting a little too close to B&W's 805 model for half the price.

05-12-13: Mkash3
I imagine the PM1 is a much better speaker than the CM5 but I don't know why B&W didn't stick a 6.5" woofer in the PM1s!

The bigger the woofer, the lower the frequency at which the driver stops dispersing and "beams" instead. A 6.5" piston starts beaming at about 2100 Hz. Yet the CM5's crossover frequency is listed as 4 Khz, which has a wavelength of 3.39".

The PM1's 5" mid/woof (with a piston diameter more like 4.25") beams at a much narrower frequency range, and blends seamlessly with the tweeter, making for a very uniform in-room power response.

A larger woofer also requires a wider baffle (possibly less precise imaging) and a larger cabinet (higher price). If there's a speaker in B&W's lineup that hits several sweet spots at once--dispersion, power response, imaging, soundstage, tonal balance, compactness, gorgeous design and finish, price point--it's definitely the PM1.