Typical Characteristics of a McIntosh / B&W system

I really don't like B&W, but I have heard them with McIntosh many times. I thought it was one of the better sounding combos for B&W. For me, I've always found the highs too bright/harsh.

I'm sure you already know this but you have to make sure everything is broken in. That could very well be the problem.

The typical listening environment is not conducive for critical listening. For general music, yes; however, if you want to obtain absolute clarity without speaker-room interaction anomalies, then you must treat the room. Unless you treat the room, your apt not to hear the true benefits of your system, no matter what the components are. Having experienced a fair share of speakers and amps over 35 plus years; I learned from trial and error that most of the time the smallest amount of room treatment and proper placement of speakers allowed for an ideal listening session. Of course, some components will consistently portray a unique trait that is hard to mitigate due to individual sensitivities and listening tastes.

I have used B&W's for the last 15 years and have not had the purported listening anomalies that some people claim due to me using proper speaker placement and using room treatment. The new P1's due to their smaller size and accurate tweeter are apt to beam, that is why you are hearing the sound portrayed the way you describe. It is possible that the listening room at the demonstration studio was treated or had furnishing, carpet, curtains, etc., that may have influenced the sound.

I personally believe that once you do at least minimal room treatments, you will find almost any speaker to sound better, pending your own personal listening tastes.

Ciao,
Audioquest4life

You have nice components. They sounded great when you auditioned them but in the showroom. So time to explore your room. And experiment with placement of your speakers relative to your listening chair.

You already said the room is not treated. Its impossible for us to know what this means but I am guessing you have hardwood floors along with windows and a lot of highly reflective surfaces. If so, add some throw rugs, heavier furniture, drapes, etc.

Finally as Audioquest4life points out, the design of the PM1 would make the speaker prone to beaming. So take a serious look at how they are positioned. Forming an isosceles triangle, where the distance the speakers are from each other is less than the distance of the speakers to the listening chair is a good place to start. Set them up in this arrangement and start making minute adjustments, a inch or so at a time. You'll be surprised how critical placement is with good 2 channel like what you have. Good luck.