PMC 26 v Sonus Faber Olympica 2

Womaz

Womaz

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Ok this is a long shot, has anyone compared the two speakers above?




At present I have the SFs at home and they are excellent, very smooth, but dare I say it lack a bit of excitement. Hard to describe what I am missing but I think it's that in your face presentation.


I love the treble in the SFs but I miss the pace and excitement of my PMCs. The logical thing would be to home demo the 26s but this may not be possible .


I have a lively room and my present speakers can be a tad too bright at times. I am hoping the 26s would give the full sound I am getting with the SFs, but maybe with a touch more punch


Am I expecting too much to have a sweet smooth sound with that in your face excitement as well?


The SFs are excellent don't get me wrong and leave my existing speakers standing, but so they should at treble the price.


Any guidance as always appreciated
 
Hello,

I never listen SF, but I listen PMC 26 at home.
I love the medium in the PMC, better than my infinity but lack bass and voices are beautiful. But after few hours, I find voices are not natural.
PMC has more accuracy than my Infinity, and the sound is in 3 dimensions, but this is strange because I find music are not natural.
I don't have the word in english, sorry.
The sound of PMC are : I'm listenning live.

CD for listenning :
- Groover Washington Junior : Wineligt
- Mariah Carey : I'm
- Ed SHEERAN : X
- Sam Smith : ? (The last CD)
- Dire Straits : Money for nothing, On every street

The best is listenning at home.

Hope than it helps you.
My advice, for the same price, try DALI EPICON 6 ( 9000 euros in France, PMC 26 are 8000 Euros in France ) or DALI RUBICON 8 (4800 Euros in France), you will surprise....
 
Thank you for the reply. I will have a look at the Dali speakers but in my mnd I have sort of narrowed it down to the SFs or the PMCs
 
Sonus Faber and PMC are more different than alike. I've got the SF Olympica II and PMC twenty.26 at hand here in Stockholm on permanent demonstration. The Sonus Faber's are sweeter, more laid back and full sounding, where the PMC's are more accurate, balanced, open and dynamic. Some prefer the more seductive and forgiving nature of the SF's but also the design and appearance. That said, the PMC's are certainly the more honest, linear and neutral of the two.

Hope that helps.

/ Marcus
 
Hyperion said:
Sonus Faber and PMC are more different than alike. I've got the SF Olympica II and PMC twenty.26 at hand here in Stockholm on permanent demonstration. The Sonus Faber's are sweeter, more laid back and full sounding, where the PMC's are more accurate, balanced, open and dynamic. Some prefer the more seductive and forgiving nature of the SF's but also the design and appearance. That said, the PMC's are certainly the more honest, linear and neutral of the two.

Hope that helps.

/ Marcus
Click to expand...

Great reply arms thank you very much. That would explain what I feel I am missing with the Olympicas although they do sound excellent. I love the full sound and the treble is excellent, sweet and smooth IMO.
However I am wondering if the 26 will give me a little more punch and excitement. I find the bass in the SFs a little dull at times , however last night I put some reggae music on and they sounded amazing.

i may have to try and get a home demo of the 26.
 
Hyperion said:
Some prefer the more seductive and forgiving nature of the SF's but also the design and appearance. That said, the PMC's are certainly the more honest, linear and neutral of the two.

Hope that helps.

/ Marcus
Click to expand...

You nailed it. If you want romance, get Sonus Faber. If you want realism, get PMC. (You will not see Sonus Faber in leading recording studios in Europe, just PMC.)
 
CDLehner said:
So...you have 23s, as well at the SFs now? I'm planning to do a 26 (current) v. 23 (on slow boat from UK) A/B myself!
Click to expand...

Yes I have both at home at present. The SF is the better speaker IMO but I guess I was expecting a bigger step up. That makes me want to hear the 26 in my room.

Why do you want to compare the 23 with the 26?

i like the nice full sound from the SF and I guess I am hoping the 26 may give me that also , but add a little bit of excitement back.
 
Hiker said:
You nailed it. If you want romance, get Sonus Faber. If you want realism, get PMC. (You will not see Sonus Faber in leading recording studios in Europe, just PMC.)
Click to expand...

Yes I get that PMC are very accurate and it may be that I am missing. I do find it difficult when listening to speakers with a view to buying some.
i think I expected a massive improvement on my 23s and I am not sure the SFs have quite done that. When I upgraded my amp to the Devialet I was genuinely in awe of how much better it was than my MFM6 amp. There was no way I was ever letting it go out of my set up. So I guess I was hoping for a similar reaction.

i guess I will know more when I put my 23s back in
 
Womaz said:
Why do you want to compare the 23 with the 26?
Click to expand...

Because I'm dumb :bonkers:

I love, love, love my 26s; and I'm proud to say...I'm a PMC guy. Owned FB1i, OB1i, and FACT 3s prior to these. Like any good box-swapping, never-satisfied audiophile...I've thrown competition at them; damn good competition. IMO...there's no perfect speaker; almost as defined by the laws of physics...if a speaker excels in one area, it may come at the cost of another. So sure...there have been speakers, that might have wowed me, with various this and thats. But in the end...the Twenty 26s stayed!

The idea behind trying 23s? What if...in my room, which is small-ish; I could get "95%" of the 26s sound, for ~half the price? I could live with the 23s, move the 26s...and pocket a few bucks. In other words...I'm dumb; but...I'd have to stick it to my dealer, to back-out now.

If you can wait a week...or two (BETTER not, being any longer than that!); I can give you an idea, of how 23s and 26s compare. I'll literally, have them side-by-side...and will temporarily, use a Luxman L-550AX to audition; because I can easily, A/B switch them, on the fly.

My experience; with PMC, a dedicated mid makes all the difference in the world. Did I mention, how dumb I was?
 
Womaz said:
Yes I get that PMC are very accurate and it may be that I am missing. I do find it difficult when listening to speakers with a view to buying some.
i think I expected a massive improvement on my 23s and I am not sure the SFs have quite done that. When I upgraded my amp to the Devialet I was genuinely in awe of how much better it was than my MFM6 amp. There was no way I was ever letting it go out of my set up. So I guess I was hoping for a similar reaction.

i guess I will know more when I put my 23s back in
Click to expand...

Not sure why you would expect a massive improvement. I guess it's the price difference. Anyway, the 23s do so much right that most speakers anywhere near the price are going to be a let down in detail, clarity, and presence when compared to the 23s. Even in the bass department the 23s are superb. But they have more of a punchy bass than a deep slam. I'm obviously very biased on this subject, but once I heard PMC Fact 8s, I knew I was done with most other brands anywhere near the price. They may not be for everyone, but they tick all my boxes better than everything else I've tried. For me to justify the price of high end speakers, I have to be able to put on a well recorded album and be blown away by the realism. PMC does that better than the rest IMO without fatigue or glare. I know of few speakers anywhere near the price that can combine clarity and detail with long term listenability like PMC can.
 
CDLehner said:
Because I'm dumb :bonkers:

I love, love, love my 26s; and I'm proud to say...I'm a PMC guy. Owned FB1i, OB1i, and FACT 3s prior to these. Like any good box-swapping, never-satisfied audiophile...I've thrown competition at them; damn good competition. IMO...there's no perfect speaker; almost as defined by the laws of physics...if a speaker excels in one area, it may come at the cost of another. So sure...there have been speakers, that might have wowed me, with various this and thats. But in the end...the Twenty 26s stayed!

The idea behind trying 23s? What if...in my room, which is small-ish; I could get "95%" of the 26s sound, for ~half the price? I could live with the 23s, move the 26s...and pocket a few bucks. In other words...I'm dumb; but...I'd have to stick it to my dealer, to back-out now.

If you can wait a week...or two (BETTER not, being any longer than that!); I can give you an idea, of how 23s and 26s compare. I'll literally, have them side-by-side...and will temporarily, use a Luxman L-550AX to audition; because I can easily, A/B switch them, on the fly.

My experience; with PMC, a dedicated mid makes all the difference in the world. Did I mention, how dumb I was?
Click to expand...


I do not believe you are dumb so you will have to prove that :D
I am hoping to get some 26s in my home to demo them, but I will keep an eye out for your comparison. I have a smallish room at 14ft by 23ft and the 23s do a great job.
Thanks for your post very helpful
 
jaxwired said:
Not sure why you would expect a massive improvement. I guess it's the price difference. Anyway, the 23s do so much right that most speakers anywhere near the price are going to be a let down in detail, clarity, and presence when compared to the 23s. Even in the bass department the 23s are superb. But they have more of a punchy bass than a deep slam. I'm obviously very biased on this subject, but once I heard PMC Fact 8s, I knew I was done with most other brands anywhere near the price. They may not be for everyone, but they tick all my boxes better than everything else I've tried. For me to justify the price of high end speakers, I have to be able to put on a well recorded album and be blown away by the realism. PMC does that better than the rest IMO without fatigue or glare. I know of few speakers anywhere near the price that can combine clarity and detail with long term listenability like PMC can.
Click to expand...

yes I guess I was looking for a massive improvement as the cost is so much more. Proves that the 23s really do punch above their weight.
I actually prefer the bass in the 23s to the Olympicas but the Olympicas do have a fuller sound and a sweeter treble. I will have to hear the 26s before I decide I think.
Thanks for the post
 
Womaz said:
I guess I was looking for a massive improvement as the cost is so much more.
Click to expand...

If I already owned 23 I would get the new twenty.sub rather than spending a lot more on 26. The sub will integrate perfectly with the 23 and provide deep and clean bass, same effective cone area as a 12" long throw woofer with a dedicated 400 watt amp.
 
Hiker said:
If I already owned 23 I would get the new twenty.sub rather than spending a lot more on 26. The sub will integrate perfectly with the 23 and provide deep and clean bass, same effective cone area as a 12" long throw woofer with a dedicated 400 watt amp.
Click to expand...

Unfortunatley my Hifi is in the living room and a sub is not an option. Thanks for the suggestion though
 
Another week listening exclusively to the Olympicas, so I decided to put the 23s back in to the system and see how it sounded.
Now I know the Olympicas are a big step up from the 23s. The 23s now sound thin and a little “tinny” a word my girlfriend uses. They sound boxy and lack the soundstage I have now got used to.
The Olympicas have a much fuller sound and they really fill the room. One downside for me is the bass can still sometimes overpower my room. The bass can be a bit dull.
I think I actually prefer the tighter bass of the 23, but it does lack the impact the Olympicas bass has.
I guess what would be idea l now was if the 26 kept a lot of the 23s characteristics, like the tight bass, but also gave me the soundstage and full sound I get from the Olympicas.
 
You should also consider the current ATC SCM40s which are a similar design to the PMC 26, closed box vs TL of the PMCs though. They have very tight, taut bass, but with impact, very transparent, featuring ATCs great dome midrange and their new tweeter.

http://atcloudspeakers.co.uk/hi-fi/loudspeakers/hifi-entry-series/scm40/

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