Review PMC Twenty5 22i monitor speaker – Professional

Intro

No idea why, but until recently we at Alpha Audio had not tested any loudspeakers from the British PMC (Professional Monitor Company). We have since more than made up for this and today we also have a speaker from this pro manufacturer on the menu: the PMC Twenty5 22i to be exact!
This reviewer had wanted to get ‘hands on’ acquainted with this illustrious brand for some time now. And so importer Terrason Audio sent us a dazzling pair of PMC Twenty5 22i monitors.

PMC is used worldwide in numerous recording studios and has become a fixture among hi-fi enthusiasts over the years. A while ago, they even won an Emmy for their recording work. But what we want to know today is whether they can live up to their slogan “The Music Makers”.

Construction and appearance

From the very beginning, PMC has had a clear vision that is mainly put forth by founders Peter Thomas (former BBC) and Adrian Loader. They have been in the business since 1991 and over the years have built a stable and well-respected company. The firm’s hi-fi segment is clear and uncluttered.

There are three series, each targeting a different part of the market. You have the budget-friendly Prodigy series, the Twenty5i series representing the mid-range segment and the Fact series serving the high-end customer. The DB1 Gold is the outlier in the range.

All PMC loudspeakers are handmade at the factory in Biggleswade and come with a whopping 20-year warranty. That is impressive.

Once out of the box, besides the beautiful paintwork, what catches the eye is the anomalous shape. It is a sort of trapezoid that slopes backwards. The shape looks pretty futuristic. Add to that the bizarre bass ports and you get a speaker that deviates from the norm. And we love that.

The Twenty5 22i comes in high gloss black, high gloss white, oak and walnut. So there’s something for everyone. The matching stands come to 499 euros the pair.

Transmission line

The Twenty5 22i is made of HDF, a material that not only has a higher density than MDF, but can also be processed more precisely. You can see that in this speaker as well. The seams and lines look very clean.

The i in the 22i stands of course for ‘improved’ and that improvement refers to the new tweeter. It comes from the much more expensive Fact series. It is a 19mm patented silk dome SONOMEX tweeter that is ferrofluid cooled. On the one hand to dampen unwanted resonances and on the other to keep the coil cooled at all times.

Below the tweeter is a 17cm woven G-Weave mid-driver. This patented material is a blend of polyethylene, fiberglass and kevlar and should ensure minimal distortion.

The distinctive, again patented, Laminary grille at the bass port exit has several functions. It provides an even distribution of air, eliminates turbulence and should ensure a tighter, noise-free bass.

At the back, we see a pair of solid speaker terminals and that’s about it for the outside. Inside, however, is the most distinctive element of this speaker. A 1.72-meter-long transmission line, a sort of corridor system full of acoustic foam, that phases out unwanted bass resonances from the speaker. How this all happens while keeping everything in phase is a mystery to us, but PMC has been swearing by it for years and keeps refining the system.