First Look!! PMC DB1i Loudspeaker
The smallest entry in PMC’s eight model i Series, the two-way DB1i is also affectionately known as the “dinky box”. I’ve heard a great many petite speakers over the years from the original Proac Tablettes, and Rogers LS3/5A right on out but this lil’ Brit is quite a sensation in my view. It’s got a combination of big speaker virtues, like dynamics and believe it or not, slam along with more traditional small speaker attributes like imaging and dimensionality. The sonics are never smothered nor does the speaker turn screamer at higher outputs. It also takes a very shrewd approach in terms of the way it applies its compromises. The roll-offs are gentle, the sonic subtractions almost incidental.
At only 11.4 inches tall dinky it is. It sports a 5.5 inch doped paper woofer and a slightly oversize 27mm SONOLEX soft dome tweeter. Sensitivity is 87dBThe crossover point is 2kHz. Easily the key feature of the i Series are its ATL enclosures. That’s ATL for Advanced Transmission Line meaning that the bass driver is placed at one end of what is essentially a heavily-damped tunnel labyrinth. The damping absorbs frequencies from the upper bass on up while the lowest frequencies emerge in phase from the rear port. It’s a complex, expensive construction compared to the more typical bass reflex enclosure and is usually restricted to larger enclosures. But with the early returns in, PMC has made it work with the DB1i–the reason why over 9 inches of cabinet depth are required. Not only is the DB1i the smallest speaker in this series but it may also surpass the Guiness World Record for smallest ever transmission line applied to a cabinet.
But just like little dogs don’t really know they’re little so it goes with the dinky box. Certainly I’ve still got a ways to go in the critical listening department but if my early impressions hold this little beasty deserves to really shake up the small speaker segment. Review to come.
Price: $1929/pr. pmc-speakers.com
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Comments
I'm a recording engineer specializing mostly in classical and jazz on location. Consequently I am more often than not toting a fair amount of gear around to set up in varying spaces. I don't particulaly like using headphones (I have several sets) and finding a space to use real monitors, is often not easy. But when I do, it means yet another piece of, potentially heavy gear, to carry. My goal was to find a small monitor with enough meat to give me a realistic picture of what I'm recording, and that's where PMC comes into the picture.
After one AES a distributer for PMC, here in the US ,turned me on to the little DB1 professional version (same speaker, different box). He sent me a pair..., and first sight caused me some doubt as to how these little things would ever do what I needed. I broke them in for a few hours and toted them off to a session involving a quartet of classical guitarist, one using a bass instrument to fill out the groups, otherwise, big warm sound. First play back startled me..., what came through these DB1s was pretty damn close to what I heard standing in front of the group out in the hall. All of the midrange was there, and not fractionally presented like other small monitors, but full and rich. I can only attribute this to their exceptional bass reponse which, due to the characteristics of the Transmission Line loading, was surprisingly deep, clean and fast, and didn't cloud or mask the mids. I've used the DB1s for everything from soloists to full orchestral recordings and have yet to be dissapointed. What you hear is pretty much what you got. I now use a pair of the powered model, DB1S-A, which further cuts down my load by not having to tote an amplifier.