Напольная акустика — PMC ACTIVE twenty5.24i

The Active twenty5.24i is a floorstanding model in the Active twenty5i series from PMC, the British maker of studio and domestic loudspeakers based in Biggleswade. The series was introduced in February 2024 as four two-way models that take the passive twenty5i range and build amplification and an analogue active crossover into each cabinet, an approach PMC has used in its professional monitors for over 30 years. It is intended for owners who want a complete system with nothing between source and speaker except a preamplifier.

Key specs that matter

Each speaker carries 200 W of Class-D power - 100 W for the tweeter and 100 W for the bass unit. The drivers are a 170 mm long-throw g-weave cone on a cast alloy chassis and a 19 mm SONOMEX fabric soft dome made with SEAS, cooled by ferrofluid and fitted with a 34 mm surround and a dispersion grille. The crossover point is 1.9 kHz. PMC quotes 27 Hz to 25 kHz, horizontal directivity of 90 degrees and vertical directivity of 100 degrees. The effective ATL length is 3 m. The cabinet stands 1,015 mm tall plus 20 mm spikes, 192 mm wide (275 mm across the plinth bars) and 419 mm deep plus 9 mm for the grille, and weighs 23.15 kg.

Engineering and use context

The input signal passes through RFI and EMI filtering, a dual-band power limiter and a 24 dB-per-octave analogue crossover before reaching the two amplifiers, and a non-invasive sensor watches each driver for protection. PMC states that the amplifier design compensates for impedance changes of the drivers with frequency. Inside, the braced ATL cabinet is lined with acoustic materials that absorb all but the lowest frequencies, which leave through a front-panel vent shaped with Laminair fins. A rear LED glows green in normal use and flashes red when the protection system is active. Power enters through an IEC C14 socket and the electronics accept mains from 90 to 260 V. Plinth bars with isolator rings and spikes come with the speaker, and cover lasts 20 years when the owner signs the pair up with PMC in the first 10 days after buying.

Pairing

Both balanced XLR and unbalanced RCA inputs are provided, with only one to be connected at a time, and input impedance is above 14 kohm. At 1 Vrms the speaker reaches 109 dB SPL at 1 m on the default high gain setting, and a rear switch drops gain by 10 dB to 99 dB for sources with a hot output. A preamplifier or a network player with its own volume control completes the system.

Alternatives

The PMC Active twenty5.23i is the smaller floorstander in the same active series, based on the twenty5.23, which PMC describes as long its most popular model.