Tannoy's new, compact monitor combines low cost with a lively performance, but does it have what it takes to topple the industry standard near-fields? Paul White finds out.

Tannoy's PBM 6.5, and its slightly larger brother, the PBM 8, comprise an updated range of bookshelf speakers suitable for home music listening, home recording or near field monitoring in commercial studios. The original on which the PBM 6.5 is based was identical in size, but the new Medite cabinet design features improved styling, including radiused front edges which help minimise cabinet-edge diffraction. The cabinet finish is contemporary grey vinyl and the grilles clip off to reveal the drivers. Connection is via conventional terminals (bi-wiring not supported) which also accept banana plugs, and the cabinet reflex port is also rear-facing, which reduces wind noise from the port and prevents your hair getting messed up during loud sessions!

As the name PBM 6.5 implies, the bass/mid is handled by a 6.5-inch driver, a synthetic coned device with a roll suspension, driven by a voice coil that appears to be around one inch in diameter. Taking care of the top end is a fluid-cooled, soft dome tweeter of around three-quarters of an inch in diameter. Overall system impedance is a nominal 8 ohms, but drops to nearer 6 ohms at various points throughout the frequency range. The passive crossover operates at 2.6kHz, and though the quoted frequency response extends from 57Hz to 20kHz, the bass roll-off starts at approximately 120Hz and falls steadily at around 6dB per octave. The response itself is not the ruler-flat line of theoretical dreamland, but instead resembles a ripple with three main peaks at around 120Hz, 1.5kHz and 8kHz. As these coincide with the impedance curve dips, I assume that they are resonance related. The troughs are up to 5dB below the peaks, resulting in a slightly coloured sound, but because the peaks are wide, the subjective effect isn't nearly so serious as it looks on paper. In context, this type of response is to be expected in a speaker measuring only 12.5 x 8.5 x 8 3/8 inches, especially as Tannoy have striven to maintain a reasonable sensitivity, which is quoted at 90dB for 1 watt at 1 metre in a domestic environment and 87dB in an anechoic room. The stated maximum power handling is 100 watts peak, but in practice an amplifier rated at 40-50 watts per channel is satisfactory for most purposes.

SOUND CHECK

As usual, the speakers were set up in my standard test room and subjected to my set of test CDs. It is important to be familiar with the CDs used, as balance and tonality can vary alarmingly, and what you might attribute to a rough tweeter may turn out to be nothing more than a very nasty mix!

These particular speakers produce a lively and punchy sound despite the fact that there is very little real low bass. Because soft-dome tweeters are used, the high end is not as aggressive as on some speakers, but I found that there was a hint of high-frequency edginess that added a hint of unnatural sizzle to some sounds and tended to emphasise vocal sibilance. The mid-range peak also adds a little hardness to the overall sound while causing the mid-range detail to become slightly overpowered and confused. It has to be stressed that these effects are relatively minor, and more expensive near-field monitors often exhibit one or more of them to a far worse degree.

SUMMARY

I have a feeling that these speakers were designed primarily for the hi-fi market, as the low and high end peaks in the response tend to emphasise the low end thump and high end sizzle of recorded pop music in a superficially flattering way. By way of mitigation, many of the other monitors that have proved popular for near-field work also have a background in hi-fi — for example, the Acoustic Research AR18s, Yamaha's NS10s and JBL's Control 1s — and few, if any, of these qualify as accurate reference monitors either. The inaccuracies aren't so serious that you can't adapt to them, but you have to be aware that they exist, and it is imperative that you familiarise yourself with any monitoring system by playing a few well-mixed CDs over them. Amongst my test CDs are Tina Turner's Foreign Affair album, Tears for Fears Seeds Of Love, Pink Floyd's Momentary Lapse Of Reason and — OK, I confess — Madonna's Immaculate Collection, where the Q-Sound mix is fun to listen to when checking out stereo imaging.

Given that these are small and relatively inexpensive speakers, they are perfectly usable as near-field monitors and don't require a huge power amplifier to make them work properly. Though they are slightly bright, they are not unduly fatiguing and present a credible stereo image, even when used close up. Similarly, don't be put off by the 'on-paper' bass performance because there's more there than you might imagine, especially at higher listening levels, though the cabinet tuning may have been designed to make the bass more subjectively appealing than accurate. There are several choices of loudspeaker in this price range, which means Tannoy don't have a clear field with the PBM 6.5, but in all, I feel they have a competitive product that deserves consideration.

Further Information

£258.50 inc VAT (per pair).

Tannoy Ltd, (Contact Details).