PMC Twenty5.26i Speakers

Specifications:

Available Finishes:

• Walnut, Diamond Black, Oak, White Silk

Crossover Frequency:

• 400Hz, 4kHz

Dimensions:

• H 1040mm (40.9”) (+20mm spikes) x W 192mm (7.6”) (275mm incl. plinth bars) x D 439mm (17.3”) (+15mm grille)

Drive Units:

• LF PMC 6.5”/170mm long-throw g-weave™ cone with cast alloy chassis
• MF PMC 50mm chambered soft dome mid-range
• HF PMC/SEAS®, 19mm twenty5i series, SONOMEX™ fabric soft dome, Ferrofluid cooled, with 34mm surround and dispersion grille

Effective ATL™ Length:

• 3.3m (11ft)

Frequency Response:

• 27Hz – 25kHz

Impedance:

• 8 Ohm

Input Connectors:

• One pair 4mm binding posts

Sensitivity:

• 86dB 1W 1m

Weight:

• 25kg (55.1 lbs ea.)

Leminair

PMC’s Laminair™ aerodynamic vent takes audio performance to the next level, by applying ATL aerodynamic principles from high-performance engineering used from F1 to Le Mans and creating an even smoother, laminar air flow at the exit from the transmission line.

ATL designs involve air moving at high speeds and under pressure.Reducing turbulence and drag at the ATL vent reduces resistance, increases efficiency, eliminates air noise and provides bass with supreme timing and the widest possible dynamic range.The combination of ATL and Laminair takes audio quality to unparalleled new heights:

• Faster, cleaner bass and higher definition sound throughout
• Turbulence is eliminated, increasing the efficiency of the ATL
• Removes air noise — only the music remains
• Higher maximum output and bass with supreme timing and dynamics

Drive Units

Many speaker manufacturers start with a driver — someone else’s driver, an OEM design — and go from there. That approach is not an option at PMC. Our Advanced Transmission Line™ designs require a driver specifically tailored to its parent cabinet to produce the high-resolution, ultra-low-distortion performance our customers expect of us. As a result, our drivers yield a natural, pure, uncoloured sound which you can trust as a true audio reference. Why would you want anything else?

Cabinets

To create the perfect cabinet, one that pleases both the eye and the ear, requires a partnership forged from cutting-edge, computer-controlled machining and an intimate knowledge of traditional craftsmanship and materials.

Structural integrity and accuracy are the most crucial elements when making any loudspeaker enclosure, and with PMC’s holistic design approach every element has been considered to enhance performance. Forming both the cabinet and housing the sophisticated ATL™(Advanced Transmission Line) are precision machined panels of highly specified HDF material, some as much as 40mm thick. With the consumer veneered models, they are prepared both inside and out with veneer that guarantees their stability and long life. 

The accuracy of the joints, together with modern bonding agents creates one homogeneous, flawless structure that acts as the ideal, inert platform for the drive units to deliver pure, uncoloured audio.

Leaves of the world’s premium veneers, all sourced from sustainable forests, are hand-selected and matched so that each cabinet face appears as a perfect mirror image. They are finished with a delicate lacquer to give a faultless, deep and lustrous sheen that will compliment both modern décor and fine, classical furniture.

Advanced Transmission Line (ATL)

DEEPER, CLEARER, CLEANER BASS & MORE

The Unique Benefits:

• More detailed, more natural
• Full, rich sound at any volume level
• Deeper bass from a smaller cabinet

The source of PMC’s legendary natural, realistic sound is the Advanced Transmission Line (ATL) bass-loading technology, professionally proven all around the world.

ATL uses energy generated by the bass unit in a much more intelligent, efficient way than speaker designs based on ported or sealed boxes.  In ATL loudspeakers, the highly braced cabinet is lined with a multitude of custom-designed acoustic materials that absorb all but the very lowest frequencies. These exit from a front-panel vent, extending the low-frequency response, and creating the impression of a far larger speaker with an extra, ultra-high-quality bass unit.

ATL improves more than just the bass response: because the low end is clean and clear, it doesn’t mask the rest of the music. Vocals, in particular, are beautifully projected and ultra-vivid.

ATL loudspeakers offer another benefit. The ATL bass extension does not change with volume level — so even when listening quietly, the bass sounds balanced and well defined.

Crossovers

When designing the new crossover, the value of the capacitors was first calculated, and then the best-sounding example – chosen from many different manufacturers – was selected.

Upon delivery, each capacitor is tested to ensure it matches the required specifications and a record of the measurement results are kept. Pairs of capacitors with identical specifications are used in each pair of loudspeakers, ensuring that their characteristics are indistinguishable.

The capacitors are then soldered, bonded and anchored by hand onto the military-grade crossover circuit board, which is also individually inspected and tested.

The crossover can then be considered for installation, but only after its performance characteristics are approved following both critical listening tests and exacting computerised measurements.

But it’s not just capacitors and crossovers; every single component of PMC’s fact loudspeakers is subject to the same rigorous test procedures, ensuring that each loudspeaker is a precise replica of our reference.

This holistic approach, where all design elements are treated with the same significance, is a signature of the fact’s design excellence. This guarantees supreme power handling and ultra-low distortion, both of which play a major role in the exceptional clarity and wide, three-dimensional soundstage to be enjoyed across a wide listening area.

Press Release Feb 2020

PMC is launching the twenty5i series, following a substantial re-engineering of the multi-award winning twenty5 series, to benefit from the research carried out while developing the company’s flagship loudspeakers. The result is the removal of anything that detracts from the music, providing greater realism, transparency and musicality.

The six strong twenty5i range consists of four two-way designs: the compact twenty5.21i, with its 130mm bass driver, the slightly larger twenty5.22i with a 165mm driver and the corresponding floor-standers, the twenty5.23i and twenty5.24i.The range is completed with the three-way twenty5.26iand a dedicated centre channel.

The speakers benefit from the company’s extensive recent research into improving high-frequency definition, crossover design and identifying and reducing unwanted vibration, which can colour the sound, making it less realistic and causing blurred imaging. The twenty5i series are not only technically superior, they are audibly superior compared to their predecessors.

The twenty5i series features a new high-frequency drive unit which is a 19mm SONOMEX™soft-dome design, derived from PMC’s premium fact speaker range. Re-engineering has enabled this unit to work down to a lower frequency and widen the optimum listening position, to enable the listeners to enjoy a consistent, ultra-detailed sound with razor-sharp imaging throughout the room.

Maintaining the accurate and smooth response across the drive units are the sophisticated crossovers mounted on military-grade fibre-glass boards. Thick, pure copper tracks are used to connect the hand-selected components to optimise signal delivery and ensure that the ideal frequency range is precisely routed to the correct driver. New for the twenty5i series is a lowering of the crossover point in the two-way models, allowing the LF driver to focus more efficiently on its core frequency range.

For added midrange accuracy, the top of the range three-way twenty5.26i features a third driver dedicated to the mid frequencies, where the critical information is to be found. This 50mm soft dome midrange is developed from the drivers found in the company’s world-respected monitors and brings the clarity of studio sound right into the home of the audiophile and music lover.

Oliver Thomas, head of design, comments, “The twenty5 series was a phenomenally hard act to follow, winning awards and plaudits around the world. We knew from our recent research and development that there were a number of areas we could improve, including the design of the tweeter, the crossover tuning and isolation from vibration.

“Having developed innovative ways to analyse vibration and how it affects loudspeakers during the creation of the fenestriaflagship, we wanted to apply this to the twenty5 series and bring the benefits to the wider market. We found that if we cancel or absorb very specific frequencies, we can dramatically enhance the performance and provide much greater realism. In the twenty5i series we have applied these technologies by adding precision-engineered plinth bars and carefully specified damping materials, that isolate the speakers from the floor. This prevents unwanted energy being transmitted back to the drive units, so they remain completely focused. The audio definition is truly astounding or, put simply, you hear less loudspeaker and more music.”

The bass drivers are the same high-specification units from the twenty5 series and remain unchanged but are utilised more effectively in conjunction with the new tuned crossover and lower crossover point.

In keeping with all PMC products, the foundation of the twenty5i series is the Advanced Transmission Line bass loading. The ATL™features the aerodynamically designed Laminair vent, originally developed for PMC’s flagship QB1studio monitors – the reference at Capitol Studios, LA – and subsequently used in the twenty5 series.

PMC is the world-leader in studio monitor speakers and employs exactly the same philosophy and design approach to its hi-fi speakers such as the twenty5i series. As Oliver Thomas explains, “Our core belief is that the same ultra-high-resolution loudspeaker can be used throughout the entire recording and playback process – from studio to home. That’s why our designs are employed at every stage of music-making, from film composers’ rooms to recording studios, through to the home, preserving the essence of the original performance exactly as the artist intended.

“To sum up the sonic improvements, the twenty5i series has a greater transparency in the high frequency and midrange, a wider, deeper soundstage and is ultimately considerably more involving for the listener.”

The new twenty5i series looks as elegant as it sounds, in a choice of diamond black and a variety of silk finishes, including white and two different natural timbers, oak and walnut, each of which is hand-selected from sustainable sources.

The twenty5.sub remains the optimum partner for a twenty5i series surround system to create an immersive audio experience, or in sub-sat combination with the compact twenty5.21i or 22i speakers.