"What a refreshingly honest blog about listening to music through hi-fi. So happy to see views based upon the enjoyment of music rather than so-called sound 'quality'." - Peter Comeau, Director of Acoustic Design at Mission / Wharfedale

Friday 24 March 2023

Bristol Hifi Show 2023 - Sound of the Show Award - AVM and PMC

 PMC had a good approach to letting showgoers know what's going on - a timetable posted just outside the room. Essentially, this year, they demonstrated a gradual progression up their mainstay Twenty5i series speakers - changing from the smallest Twenty5.21i upto the largest Twenty5.26i in hourly increments, then ending the day with fact.12 Signature. All day these speakers were driven by the £18k all-in-one CS8.3 Black Edition from the German brand, distributed by PMC in the UK.

Having owned predecessor Twenty.26 and currently owning fact.12 Signature speakers, I chose to join the room at the time they were playing the Twenty5.26i and then transitioning to the fact.12s. And here's the thing - if PMC hadn't brought the facts, there's a good chance that Twenty5.26i would've been in with a chance of Sound of the Show. They're good, very good - well balanced, fantastic imaging, tuneful, easy to enjoy.

But fact.12 Signature is in a different league.  Its the kind of speaker (when driven by the obviously excellent AVM and by other suitable high performance equipment) that just simply sounds right. Within a minute or two of the first track being played you could hear people in the room murmuring to each other about what they were hearing and how much they enjoyed the music. Pace, timing, musicality, stunningly stable images, clear nuanced vocals, no harshness, stunning clarity and, above all, believability. Superb.

   
AVM and Twenty5.26i
fact.12 Signature


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