New twenty series from PMC celebrates 20 years of world class loudspeaker manufacturing

The British Music Experience, The O2, London. At a conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the company, PMC is introducing a new range of loudspeakers, the twenty series, which offer the music lover unparalled performance and set a new benchmark for speakers of the size and price.

Designed to satisfy the desires of end users, the twenty series was conceived following three years of research among the company’s customers, retailers and distributors. With a series of six key product features identified from the customers’ responses, the designers, led by company founder Peter Thomas, began the process of marrying this wish list with their own key requirements.

The result of this blank canvas exercise is the four strong line-up of the twenty series. Two stand mount models, the twenty.21, twenty.22 and two floor-standers, the twenty.23 and twenty.24. All of which incorporate a contemporary design with high-end audio performance that borrows from the renowned fact™ series.

Peter Thomas, said of the twenty series “Starting with a blank sheet of paper and the brief to produce a new range that can do justice to the reputation that the iSeries has gained since it was introduced was a tough challenge. Our team has worked very hard to produce the four new models and I am extremely pleased with the results.” He added “I am particularly happy with the developments we have made in our Advanced Transmission Line technology and the incredible bass performance that this has enabled us to produce from the modestly sized twenty.21 model. Music lovers are going to be very pleased with the results from this and all the models in the range.”

Utilising PMC’s Advanced Transmission Line (ATL™) technology, the cabinet construction and design in the twenty series serves to enhance the performance of the ATL and offer dynamic, contemporary aesthetics which indicate a progression from the company’s previous design, without losing the signature PMC identity.

Crucial to the audio performance of the new products is the development of an entirely new set of components; including drive units, crossovers, binding posts, cabinets, plinths and spikes. No components used in the twenty series feature in any other PMC loudspeaker and the major elements have been designed exclusively for the new models.

A new Sonolex™ fabric dome tweeter, developed in conjunction with Seas® of Norway, provides a phenomenal off-axis response thanks to the new dispersion grille; a technology previously used on the company’s flagship studio monitors and more recently in the fact series. The addition of a resonance chamber enables the crossover point to be lowered to just 1.8kHz, which further enhances the dispersion characteristics of the speakers.

The tweeter is matched to the new twenty M13 and M17 bass/mid drive units, developed by PMC. Lightweight and stiff paper cones, with a matt finish doping, are built into cast alloy chassis to provide a rigid and stable environment and offer high sensitivity and low colouration.

Both drive units are mounted in a wholly new design of cabinet, with 5∘ sloping front and rear baffles to lend a contemporary aesthetic to the classic PMC design. Manufactured from 18mm Medite HDF, the cabinets are inherently high in rigidity and low in resonance, which serves to greatly reduce cabinet induced distortions. The internal baffles, which make up the Advanced Transmission Line, add further stiffness to the structure. The top panel of the cabinet, which endures the greatest pressures and stresses, is further stiffened with carefully positioned 18mm bracing. In a response to the customer feedback, all models feature a front venting ATL to aid room positioning.

Each speaker within the range is available in a choice of three real wood veneers, Oak, Walnut and Amarone and a new high gloss finish, Diamond Black. Every model comes with an invisible magnet-fixing grille, finished in an exclusive warm black textured PMC cloth.

24dB filtering, a result of the drive unit and crossover circuit design, ensures a smooth transition from tweeter to bass/mid driver. Short signal paths, ultra thick pure copper tracks, gold through plating and a military grade board, plus audiophile capacitors and laminate cored inductors, further provide extremely low distortion and high power handling.

No amount of detail was left unturned during the design phase, with such features as decoupled plinths, easy clean finishes, double ended spike/ball fixings and an in-built lifting handle in the plinth, guarantee that the twenty series is much more than the sum of its parts.

The twenty series is available now at UK retail prices between £1,375 and £3,410.