PMC EB1I vs others
 

Hi guys,

I 'm just coming back from a high end show in Paris.
PMC was not there.
I listened to many speakers and gear : Proac, BW, Verity Audio, Magico, JBL, Nagra, Fisher and Fisher, Vyger, Naim, Goldmund, SIM AUDIO....
I was shocked to hear the sound of speakers costing between 20000 and 110000 euros a pair ( the big Magico ). ( The only speakers I heard that were clearly superior to the EB1i were the Wilson Alexandria ).
Believe it or not, no speaker was better to my ears than the EB1i !! Even the big Magico driven by Ayre top of the line electronics. Their bass was not at the level of the EB1i.
The EB1i smokes for example the 38000 euros a pair for the new Proac Carbon 8, which is the summit of the Proac line. They are also much better to my ears to a big pair of Verity Audio costing about 80000 euros a pair ( cant' remember their ref...)
The new JBL K2 S9900 were impressive, driven by Esoteric electronics, but the soul and emotion of the music was not at the level of my PMC driven by Mc.
Maybe a lot of these speakers would have sounded better to my ears with Mc electronics, and of course a decent room treatment as the Lyngdorf.
Hi-Fi shows are not always the best place to demonstrate speakers.

Could the EB1i be the best "value for money" component of hi-fi history : I'm not far to believe it. Then would come the Lyngdorf RP1.

Cheers,
Jérôme

Jérôme,
Thanks for sharing. I'd love to listen to PMCs, but there doesn't seem to be a dealer within several hours' drive of here. It is interesting to compare prices across countries.

80B,

When I said to Mike at AC that I would have to try to listen to them, he told me : " you owe it to yourself ". That's exactly what I think now : you owe to yourself to listen to these speakers !!
They were not available on demo at Paris. I called the importer and he sent a pair to a dealer so I could listen to it. Maybe you could do the same ?
Anyway, if you come to Paris you're warmly invited to stay home and sleep in my listening room. You will have the opportunity to spend some time with them to relax in the evenings after visiting Paris all day long !

It' s always amazing when you hear systems costing a fortune and you don't feel you're missing something compared to your own system.
I'm quite sure that many great speakers that were displayed at this show would have sounded better with McIntosh electronics. Usually I like Proac speakers a lot for example, but today they were driven by SIMAUDIO electronics and an other high end brand I don't remember the name, and they sounded awful.


PMC and McIntosh are a match made in heaven and I will never be enough grateful towards Dan ( jdandy ) and Mike Sastra from AC who made me discover this wonderful line of speakers.

Cheers,

Jérôme

Jérôme.......Thank you for the compliment. I am a believer, too. I have auditioned many top speakers, both before and after my PMC EB1i purchase. I have not found myself lusting for any of the speakers I auditioned. There have been some very fine speakers auditioned, often with McIntosh amplifiers, but my PMC's are still thrilling me every single time I press the play button on the MCD500. I agree with you, the PMC EB1i speakers are an incredible value, and effortlessly outperform speakers at twice their price. Their performance is amazing, and in my opinion the PMC EB1i's represent a true bargain in the audio world. If you are considering a speaker purchase, you truly owe it to yourself to audition these speakers. :yes:


http://www.pmc-speakers.com/images/p...07aaa4_eb3.jpg

Jérôme,
I'll make it a point to listen to them next time I'm traveling somewhere near a dealer. Thanks for the kind words and offer next time I'm in Paris. We seem to get there every few years, which is always a treat, even driving around la place d'Etoile! :eek:

Jérôme,

Thanks for the review.

Have you had a chance to listen to the new PB1i from PMC?

Or, has anyone else that has had a chance to compare the EB to the PB?

Thanks,

No Stephen,

PMC was not at the show. Too bad !
But I can tell you that to my ears, the EB1 i are better than the top of the line Magico ( retail price in France is 108000 euros a pair ! ) which are great speakers but don't justify such a price tag.


Cheers,

Jérôme

Dan, you are very DIPLOMATIC. I would go far beyond twice the price....

Just goes to show why there are so many speakers out there. Opinions vary widely.

There's a perfect name for a brand new line of speakers: Opinion 1, Opinion 2, and the top of the line Opinion 3. :D