The Sound
Contents
In the review of the Yeti NextGen, the PMC Prophecy1 has already been mentioned. In it we also mentioned that the NextGen and PMC work nicely together. Both have a huge open midrange where timing is key.
And that actually gets right to the heart of this speaker if you ask us. The PMC Prophecy1 is a speaker with an unprecedented open and fast midrange (within its price range). Vocals stand firmly and you really hear everything that happens in that nice, clean midrange.
On the other hand, this speaker gives the music a wonderful energy. Timing is very correct which also makes the various layers in the spectrum “click” very nicely. To explain a little: when we put on the song Goodnight by The Boxer Rebellion, the acoustic guitar coincides beautifully with Nathan Nicholson’s ‘pained’ vocals and later in the song the subtle drum and bass guitar. This little song sounds so much better on a system that is correct in terms of timing and phase than on a set that doesn’t have that….
Actually, that’s true of all the music we play on this speaker; it just adds up. Everything hooks together more beautifully. We can look very deep into the tracks without having to make an effort. That gives peace of mind.
Imaging
We can only describe the imaging of this PMC Prophecy1 as very correct. It doesn’t feel too big, but rather very much in proportion. Vocals are not oversized in front of you. Also, a room is not placed hugely in scale. If it’s big on the record, it’s big. If a recording is intimate, it stays intimate.
And we see and hear this more often with studio brands. It’s true to life. It’s all not bigger, but neither is it smaller. It is simply as it is on the recording. And quite honestly: that’s what your author likes!
Everything great?
So is everything great about this speaker? Well… yes…within the working range of the speaker it is! PMC puts out a very nice speaker for the money. But we have to be realistic. This PMC Prophecy1 does not go very deep. It stops at 50 Hz. And that is audible and palpable. The oomph stops from about 60 Hz. And not much happens below 50 Hz. You can move the speaker closer to the wall for some extra ‘oomph’, but that comes at the expense of imaging. A shame, because that also adds to the experience. Our advice: don’t use this Prophecy1 in too large a room and put a PMC sub next to it. The twenty5 sub, for example. Not cheap, but that will be an insane combination and matches well with the ‘ATL sound’ of PMC.
You advice to not use the Prophecy1 in too large a room; would you also caution against that when using a sub? Wouldn’t standmounters plus sub in general be able to fill a room with sound just as well as floorstanders without a sub?
Transmission line is all about timing coherency of the bass. I don’t think adding a sub works. That’s why there’s a line of floor standers as well.
Very interesting speaker for me and thank you for a great review!
This is a very specific use-case that you might not have tried… but let me ask anyway since its very important for my own use-case.
Does this one work in a near field setup, where I am only aprox 130cm from the speakers?
I ask since i have auditioned a few speakers on that distance and sometimes the soundstage doesn´t come together that close, i have noticed.
I can see that the distance between the tweeter and the midrange woofer is relatively big, which worries me a bit.
If that actually matters is only my own amateur guesses… 😀
Thanks again for great work for the audio community!
You might want to take a look at the Dynaudio LYD series : https://dynaudio.com/professional-audio/lyd
In case of near field speakers: the pro audio speakers made for this use case are unbeatable. Most of them are active. For good reasons: better control on the phase accuracy, which makes or breaks the soundstage, especially in near field use.
PMC, obviously, has a series of their own for near field use: https://pmc-speakers.com/studio/nearfield/
Thank you so much. Will have a closer look at active studio monitors then instead, and try to audition them.