The Professional Monitor Company Limited, better known as PMC, is a
British loudspeaker manufacturer, established in 1991. The company's products are widely used within domestic settings, professional
studios and other
hi-fi applications.
The company is one of a handful to have won an
Emmy
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
award in recognition of its "contribution to recording excellence".
History
PMC was formed by Peter Thomas (previously of the
BBC) and Adrian Loader (previously of FWO Bauch, an audio distributor) in 1990.
They produced their first loudspeaker, the BB5-A, which was a large
studio monitor. The first production versions were sold to the BBC and
Metropolis Studios
Metropolis Studios is a music production and entertainment industry company established in 1989 by Gary Langan, Carey Taylor and Karin Clayton.Donald Brackett It is located in the Powerhouse, a Grade II listed building, at 70 Chiswick High Roa ...
. The BBC still use the BB5 at the
Maida Vale studios, and use other PMC speakers in other locations as well. Metropolis now has around fifteen of them installed at its recording and
mastering facility in
West London. Notable users of the BB5 include
Prince and
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...
's Wonderland Studio.
PMC was awarded an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
for their recording work.
Technology
PMC uses "Advanced
Transmission Line" technology in all of their loudspeakers. This is a means of loading a drive unit in a
cabinet
Cabinet or The Cabinet may refer to:
Furniture
* Cabinetry, a box-shaped piece of furniture with doors and/or drawers
* Display cabinet, a piece of furniture with one or more transparent glass sheets or transparent polycarbonate sheets
* Filing ...
in such a way as to absorb the unwanted
frequencies
Frequency is the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit of time. It is also occasionally referred to as ''temporal frequency'' for clarity, and is distinct from ''angular frequency''. Frequency is measured in hertz (Hz) which is eq ...
that radiate from the rear of the
speaker driver. The speaker is mounted at the end of a folded line within the cabinet, which is lined with foam of varying absorbency. The lowest frequencies are allowed to pass through the line and emerge
in phase from a vent on the front or rear face of the cabinet, in effect acting as a second bass
driver. By absorbing the unwanted bass frequencies, the upper bass and midrange are not masked by
harmonic distortion.
The ATL design enables the speakers to produce higher
sound pressure
Sound pressure or acoustic pressure is the local pressure deviation from the ambient (average or equilibrium) atmospheric pressure, caused by a sound wave. In air, sound pressure can be measured using a microphone, and in water with a hydrophone ...
levels and deeper bass extension than is possible with similar sized speakers using either
ported or
sealed
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
cabinets. The speakers can also be played at lower volumes without any loss of
frequency response.
Products
PMC manufactures products for both hi-fi and studio use. The hi-fi products originally grew out of the studio designs. The company also makes a range of on-wall speakers called the Wafer series. These also use the folded transmission line and are voiced identically to the traditional box speakers.
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pmc Speakers
Audio equipment manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Loudspeaker manufacturers