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series
series
TM
Advanced Transmission Line
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WHAT DRIVES US
At PMC, we believe that music is what really matters; it’s what moves us
and gives us the passion for what we do. The company was founded
because there wasn’t a loudspeaker that was transparent enough to
convey all of music’s expressive power — and we knew we could remedy
this.
One of our core beliefs has always been that the same loudspeaker can
be used throughout the entire audio chain, from composer to studio or
lm stage, through post-production and mastering, right to the listener
at home. Discerning listeners all over the world agree. Our designs are
involved in every link of the music-making chain, from the recording studio
to listening at home, which means we know exactly how to present music
as transparently as possible, just as the artist intended. This knowledge,
combined with our love for music, drives us to create products that you
listen through rather than to. We want you to share the thrill of the original
recording because there is nothing like the emotional impact of true
musical communication.
Loudspeakers are where science meets art; we understand the science so
that you can connect with the art.
Peter Thomas, Owner &
Oliver Thomas, Head of Design
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THE LINE WE TAKE
It’s easy and tempting to create products that colour, atter or diminish
music. It’s far harder to present the music exactly as the artist intended
it, with nothing added or taken away. We do this by combining designs
offering the highest possible sonic resolution with solid engineering
principles.
When it comes to speaker design, this can’t be done by following the
herd. In today’s world, you can buy off-the-shelf drivers and loudspeaker
components at the click of a mouse – but our designs cannot be realised
with parts of this quality. The only way we can meet our own exacting
standards, and maintain our reputation, is to custom-design and build
everything ourselves. So we consider every element and its audible effect
on the overall design, hand-select every component, hand-build every
speaker, and test and listen to every nished product. Where appropriate,
we apply innovations from other industries to push the boundaries of what
was thought possible, forging partnerships with other pioneers.
“With PMC, nothing is standard, as standard is just not good enough.”
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Our partnership with the UK’s NPL (National Physical Laboratory) resulted in the pioneering acousto-optic mapping process
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CELEBRATED IN STUDIOS,
LOVED IN LIVING ROOMS
— WORLDWIDE
In keeping with our philosophy, PMC loudspeakers utilising our core design
principles can be found all over the globe, from domestic living rooms
to world-class recording, mastering, broadcast and lm post-production
studios. Our Emmy-award-winning systems — the professional versions of our
se (special edition) models — are used to create everything from smash
Hollywood soundtracks to hit albums by artists including Coldplay, Kraftwerk,
Elton John and Adele, as well as audiophile jazz and classical recordings on
Deutsche Grammophon, Decca, Philips and Harmonia Mundi.
Whether you listen to our speakers in Los Angeles’ Capitol Studios or your
favourite listening room at home, you will hear the music exactly as the
artist intended it.
“Only PMC can get you so close to the original sound.”
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Together with the instantly recognisable, world-famous Capitol Tower to
which it is attached, Capitol Studios, Los Angeles, is one of the world’s
most iconic and best-known recording facilities, in continuous use since
1956. Since its opening, it has been recording home to Frank Sinatra, the
Beach Boys, Nat King Cole, Elliott Smith, Ray Charles, Arcade Fire and
Muse, amongst many others. Following a major refurbishment in 2014,
the control room in Studio A, the largest of Capitol’s recording studios,
has featured PMC QB1-A reference monitors and twotwo.8 nearelds
(pictured). Additionally, Capitol’s world-renowned mastering studios also
feature PMC loudspeakers as their reference.
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PURE AUDIO INDULGENCE
PMC’s se range has its roots in the company’s high-end three-way
reference monitors, the IB2, MB2, BB5, and the awesome twin-cabinet XBD
versions, found in premier studios all over the world. Combining the nest
traditions of British cabinet-making and cutting-edge acoustic research
and development techniques, the se models achieve new standards
in audiophile reproduction and musicality. The range, now available in
a variety of passive and active congurations, incorporates meticulously
designed internal bracing, computer-modeled driver dispersion surrounds,
and custom-created, carefully tuned stands, all bringing listeners closer to
the original performance, free from unnatural colouration.
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PMC’s MB2se passive loudspeakers in Amarone and
IB2se passive loudspeakers in Grand Walnut
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QUALITY WITHOUT
COMPROMISE
As anyone who has experienced PMC products in the past will expect,
the build quality of the se range is without compromise. The carefully
crafted, colouration-free cabinets, nished in a choice of four sumptuous,
hand-selected veneers (Grand Walnut, Amarone, Natural Oak or Jet
Black), integrate perfectly with the high-performance, custom-designed,
specially tuned stands. The drivers all feature a soft-feel Nextel™ coating,
providing a awless nish for each of the units. The proprietary 75mm MF
driver additionally benets from a proled dispersion ange, hewn from a
solid aluminium billet, which transparently projects the delicate mid-range
frequencies, including vocals, across an even greater area. At the rear
of the se passive models, even the binding posts and linking bars, which
are custom-designed and British-built, have beneted from our obsessive
attention to engineering detail.
Completing the aesthetic, the custom-designed se stands are nished in
the same choice of four veneers as the cabinets, and are tted with large-
spun precision spikes, providing a rm foundation for the speakers to work
at their optimum performance.
AmaroneGrand Walnut
Natural Oak
Jet Black
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OUR ATTENTION TO DETAIL
Our loudspeakers are designed and hand-built with care and attention by
people who are fastidious about quality. All of our products are designed
and built at the PMC facility in the UK where every single component is
measured and graded. Every detail, from the individual elements on the
crossover and in the drive units right up to the cabinet, is tested to ensure it
meets our exacting standards for performance and reliability. This ensures
each new model is a duplicate of the reference design.
A full computer analysis is taken for each completed loudspeaker, so we
know it is technically perfect — but we go one step further. Computers
don’t tell the full story, and our customers listen with their ears — so we
do too. We run a benchmark BBC speech test and play an extensive
array of music (including classical, pop and rock) on each loudspeaker
we produce. Every one is compared with its reference model and both
speakers in each pair are cross-checked to ensure a perfect match.
For over 25 years, PMC has built a reputation for making the nest
loudspeakers by maintaining this degree of attention to detail at every
stage of production.
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Handcrafted in the UK
“Computers don’t tell the
full story. As well as a full
frequency analysis, we listen to
each speaker we make — and
run a benchmark BBC speech
and musical test on every
single one”
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THE POWER OF CHOICE
Many of the se series loudspeakers are now manufactured in active and
passive versions. The IB2se is exclusively passive, and the enormous power
output of the BB5 XBDse can only be delivered in an active conguration.
With all other models, the choice is yours.
PASSIVE SYSTEMS
With passive loudspeakers, the choice of amplication is left up to the
end user. If you already have a favoured amplier, this may be the route
to take; with a supreme-quality amplier, you are guaranteed superb
performance. Much of this is due to the careful design of our speakers’
passive crossovers, which divide the incoming audio signal into the
frequency bands best suited to each driver with absolute precision and
transparency. The calibre of a crossover has a powerful inuence on
the overall sound quality of a loudspeaker; unsurprisingly, we allow no
compromises in either our design or construction standards.
The passive crossover’s foundation is its military-grade, glass-bre board
with the thickest possible conductive copper tracks, which keep resistance
low and maximise power delivery to the drive units. Components are
matched and selected following careful listening tests, and hand-soldered
to guarantee the best possible sound quality and reliability. The layout of
the board is carefully chosen to prevent unwanted interactions between
components.
Source Amplier
Schematic layout showing a passive loudspeaker system
HF
MF
LF
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MB2se passive in Grand Walnut
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ACTIVE SYSTEMS
PMC’s active designs take our loudspeakers to another level. In our
active se systems, the loudspeakers are matched with Bryston-built
PMC audiophile amplication and active crossovers, custom-tailored to
the precise designs and power requirements of the loudspeakers; the
amplication is also directly coupled to the drive units for superior control
and a more efcient transfer of energy.
Each piece of electronics is hand-crafted according to purist analogue
principles, ensuring quality, neutrality and transparency; the result is a
natural-sounding, lifelike speaker with unmatched headroom, resolution
and dynamics.
The active crossovers used with our se systems also feature in-room tuning
controls to allow the speakers to be adjusted to perfectly suit individual
tastes and room acoustics; to guarantee optimum performance in situ, they
are always tuned by our factory-trained installation engineers.
A distinguishing feature of our active range, developed especially for
its high power handling requirements, is the 34mm tweeter. The highly
engineered design delivers HF sound with vastly enhanced detail and
wider imaging thanks to its ‘acoustic lens’, which alone took 18 months
of development.
Source Active crossover HF Amplier HF
MF Amplier MF
LF Amplier LF
Schematic layout showing an active
se loudspeaker system, with amplication and an active crossover
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Twin active BB5 XBD-Ase loudspeakers, with their
accompanying stand-alone amplication (2400W
per channel) and twin 10B active crossover units.
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THE BEATING HEART
All of our loudspeakers offer ATL™ bass-loading technology,
which provides the following advantages over ported speakers:
• More detailed, more natural
• Full, rich sound at any volume level
• Deeper bass from a smaller cabinet
• Easy to drive with all ampliers
ATL is an ingenious design and uses energy generated by the bass unit
in a much more intelligent, efcient way than speaker designs based on
ported or sealed boxes. In ATL loudspeakers, the highly braced cabinet is
lined with a multitude of custom-designed acoustic materials that absorb
all but the very lowest frequencies. This bass energy exits from a front-panel
vent, extending the low-frequency response, and creating the impression
of a far larger speaker with an extra, ultra-high quality bass unit.
ATL improves more than just the bass response: because the low end is
clean and clear, it doesn’t mask the rest of the music. Vocals, in particular,
are beautifully projected and ultra-vivid.
ATL loudspeakers offer another benet. The AT L bass extension does not
change with volume level — so even when listening quietly, the bass
sounds balanced and well dened.
“No other bass-loading technology can touch this level of performance.”
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BB5 se in cross-section showing ATL™
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IB2 se
No other loudspeaker of the IB2’s size can compete with its dynamics
or transparency; it produces exhilarating, emotional performances that
will satisfy the most discerning audiophile and music lover, thanks to the
combination of its legendary PMC75 mid-range unit and mighty at-piston
bass unit. This highly engineered carbon-bre/Nomex™ LF driver, together
with its massive magnet assembly, is light and ultra-rigid, ensuring a highly
accurate, near-instantaneous response and providing the sheer power
required to drive the compact, high-compression transmission line without
deformation.
The IB2’s roots lie in the professional studio realm, where it has become the
reference for the world’s leading music-makers and producers, including
Kraftwerk, Japan’s premier studio JVC, and Teldex of Berlin, who record for
the premier classical label Deutsche Grammophon.
Passive
IB2 - C se
IB2 se
The Carbon-bre/Nomex™ at piston driver is light and responsive,
and delivers serious bass energy to the transmission line.
Both the binding posts and linking bars are
custom designed and manufactured in the UK
with the purest of metals for the purest of sound.
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IB2se in Grand Walnut
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MB2 se
The MB is the mid-sized model in the se range and delivers all the emotion
and clarity of the IB2, with the ability to resolve even greater bass depth
and detail; it can produce low-frequency audio down to a staggering
20Hz with ease. The radically engineered 12-inch Radial™ bass unit, with
its massive magnet assembly and immense exo-skeleton, offers excellent
physical and thermal stability; the cone has a perfect rigid structure,
permitting enormous excursions, and the design not only vents hot air
through the back of the assembly, its exposed ns also act as a heat sink,
keeping the coil cool at all times. Consequently, the heat-related effects
that plague the efciency, reliability and performance of lesser designs
are eliminated.
The MB2se is available in passive or active versions, with a Centre speaker
if required.
Passive
MB2 seMB2-C se
The Radial™ driver, custom-manufactured for the se range to
PMC’s exacting specications.
Active
MB2-A seMB2-A-C se
With their matching veneer and innovative design the se stands
enhance appearance as well as performance.
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MB2se passive in Grand Walnut
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MB2 XBDse
For those who crave greater depth and the feeling of limitless scale, the
MB2 XBDse is the solution, with an additional cabinet sporting a 12-inch
driver devoted exclusively to bass. Offering even greater headroom and
slam than the single-cabinet MB, the MB2 XBD cabinets can be placed
side by side, but work best mounted as a freestanding tower, keeping
the bafe width to a minimum. In this conguration, with the bass output
emanating from oor to ceiling, they can uniformly drive the room from
top to bottom, producing a at frequency response like no other speakers
in their class.
Also available as an optional mounting extra for the MB2 XBDse is the
Seismic Isolation Podium (see below). It prevents the passage of unwanted
vibrations to and from your cabinets via the oor, and provides greater
high- and mid-range focus, with improved bass denition and timing.
The MB2 XBDse is available in passive or active versions, with a Centre
speaker if required.
Passive
MB2 XBD seMB2 XBD-C se
Every element of an se is measured, recorded and then lovingly
hand assembled in the UK.
Active
MB2 XBD-A-C se
The optional Seismic Isolation Podium.
MB2 XBD-A se
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MB2 XBDse passive in Grand Walnut
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BB5se
The BB5se is the largest single-cabinet model in the se range and,
with its striking 15-inch Radial™ LF driver, is based upon the original PMC
BB5 professional loudspeaker, which has now been in continuous use in
the world’s nest recording, mastering and broadcast studios for over
a quarter of a century. Capable of reproducing bass tones down to a
truly profound 17Hz, and across a massive dynamic range from whisper-
quiet to emotional levels of energy, the BB5se can handle everything
from expansive electronic lm soundtracks at full tilt to the subtlest of
ligree acoustic performances with dexterity, delicacy, consistency and
condence.
The BB5se is available in passive or active versions, with a Centre speaker
if required.
Passive
BB5 seBB5-C se
The terminal panel is typical of the very careful attention to
engineering detail which has gone into the se range.
Active
BB5-A seBB5-C-A se
The innovative proled dispersion ange for the PMC75 MF driver,
milled from solid aluminium, enhances the critical reproduction of
mid-range frequencies
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BB5se passive in Grand Walnut
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BB5 XBD-Ase
Available exclusively in an active conguration, the twin-cabinet, BB5 XBDAse reaches nearly seven feet when tower-mounted, and is an imposing
loudspeaker in every sense, like the professional BB5 XBD-A from which it
is derived. For over 25 years, we’ve heard the same message, over and
over again, from internationally renowned studios the world over: the
BB5 XBD-A allows you to hear the subtlest audio details with unequalled
clarity. The twin-cabinet design is driven by over 2400W of pure analogue
amplication, and covers the same massive range of frequencies as the
BB5se, from 17Hz to well beyond the upper limits of audibility, but with
even greater headroom than the single-cabinet BB5se thanks to its twin
15-inch Radial™ bass drivers (no fewer than four per speaker pair). No other
loudspeaker offers this level of resolution, near-instantaneous dynamic
response and feeling of inexhaustible headroom.
Once heard, this loudspeaker system resets your expectations of what is
sonically possible.
Active
The professional Neutrik coupling on the active models provides
the ideal low-loss, high-current connection.
BB5 XBD-A seBB5 XBD-C-A se
PMC’s pure analogue, Bryston-built amplication is custom-tailored to
the precise designs and power requirements of the active loudspeakers
se range.
in the
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BB5 XBD-Ase active in Grand Walnut
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BB5 se
MB2 XBD se
driver
™
soft dome
™
se
Ferrouid cooled
17Hz-25kHz
92dB 1w 1m
4m 13ft
4 Ohm
™
20Hz-25kHz
93dB 1w 1m
2 x 3m 10ft
4 Ohm
™
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
LF - PMC 15” 380mm Radial
HF - 27mm SONOLEX
driver
soft dome
™
Ferrouid cooled
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
HF - 27mm SONOLEX
LF - 2 x PMC 12” 310mm Radial
driver
380Hz & 3.8kHz
3 pairs 4mm sockets
(tri-amp or tri-wire)
H 1040mm 41”
380Hz & 3.8kHz
3 pairs 4mm sockets
(tri-amp or tri-wire)
H 1740mm 68.5”
W 432mm 17”
D 790mm 31”
H 500mm 19.7” + 50mm spikes
W 430mm 16.9”
D 518mm 20.3”
W 380mm 14.96”
D 535mm 21”
H 35mm 1.3” + 50mm spikes
W 380mm 14.96”
D 535mm 21”
BB5-C
H 432mm 17”
W 1040mm 41”
D 790mm 31”
87kg 191.8lbs
116kg 255.7lbs —
19kg 41.9lbs
MB2 se
IB2 se
soft dome
™
se
Ferrouid cooled
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
380Hz & 3.8kHz
3 pairs 4mm sockets
(tri-amp or tri-wire)
H 870mm 34.25”
W 380mm 14.96”
D 535mm 21”
H 377mm 14.8” + 50mm spikes
W 374mm 14.7”
D 502mm 19.8”
MB2-C
H 380mm 14.96”
W 870mm 34.25”
D 535mm 21”
58kg 127.9lbs
20Hz-25kHz
90dB 1w 1m
3m 10ft
8 Ohm
LF - PMC 12” 310mm Radial
HF - 27mm SONOLEX
soft dome
™
Piston
™
17kg 37.5lbs
se
Sensitivity 89dB 1w 1m
SPECIFICATIONS
Freq response 25Hz-25kHz
Effective ATL™ 2.4m 8ft
(Advanced Transmission Line)
Fibre & Nomex
HF - 27mm SONOLEX
Ferrouid cooled
Impedance 4 Ohm
Drive units LF - PMC 10” 250mm Carbon
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
Crossover freq 380Hz & 3.8kHz
Input connectors 3 pairs 4mm sockets
(tri-amp or tri-wire)
D 465mm 18.3”
Dimensions H 740mm 29.1”
W 330mm 13”
Stand / plinth dimensions H 486mm 19.1” + 50mm spikes
W 326mm 12.8”
H 330mm 13”
W 740mm 29.1”
IB2-C
D 465mm 18.3”
D 438mm 17.2”
Centre dimensions
Stand weight 13kg 28.7lbs
Weight 49kg 108lbs
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driver
™
se
380Hz & 3.8kHz
Neutrik NL8, NL4 (Cabinet)
Balanced Analogue XLR (Electronics)
H 2080mm 81.9”
W 432mm 17”
HF - PMC34 1.3” 34mm soft dome
17Hz-25kHz
—
2 x 4m 13ft
—
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
LF - 2 x PMC 15” 380mm Radial
driver
™
D 790mm 31”
BB5 XBD-A-C
H 864mm 34”
W 2080mm 81.9”
D 790mm 31”
136kg 299.2lbs— LF 2 x 900W, HF 300W, MF 300W
BB5-A se
MB2 XBD -Ase BB5 XBD-A se
MB2-A se
17Hz-25kHz
—
4m 13ft
—
LF - PMC 15” 380mm Radial
HF - PMC34 1.3” 34mm soft dome
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
driver
™
380Hz & 3.8kHz
Neutrik NL8, NL4 (Cabinet)
Balanced Analogue XLR (Electronics)
H 1040mm 41”
W 432mm 17”
D 790mm 31”
H 500mm 19.7” + 50mm spikes
W 430mm 16.9”
D 518mm 20.3”
BB5-A-CseH 432mm 17”
W 1040mm 41”
D 790mm 31”
87kg 191.8lbs
19kg 41.9lbs
LF 900W, HF 300W, MF 300W
se
20Hz-25kHz
—
2 x 3m 10ft
—
LF - 2 x PMC 12” 310mm Radial
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
380Hz & 3.8kHz
Neutrik NL8, NL4 (Cabinet)
Balanced Analogue XLR (Electronics)
H 1740mm 68.5”
W 380mm 14.96”
D 535mm 21”
H 35mm 1.3” + 50mm spikes
W 380mm 14.96”
D 535mm 21”
MB2 XBD-A-C
H 760mm 29.9”
W 1740mm 68.5”
HF - PMC34 1.3” 34mm soft dome
driver
™
D 535mm 21”
116kg 255.7lbs— LF 900W, HF 200W, MF 200W
se
H 380mm 14.96”
W 870mm 34.25”
D 535mm 21”
58kg 127.9lbs
17kg 37.5lbs
20Hz-25kHz
—
3m 10ft
—
LF - PMC 12” 310mm Radial
HF - PMC34 1.3” 34mm soft dome
MF - PMC75 SE 3” 75mm soft dome
380Hz & 3.8kHz
Neutrik NL8, NL4 (Cabinet)
Balanced Analogue XLR (Electronics)
H 870mm 34.25”
W 380mm 14.96”
D 535mm 21”
H 377mm 14.8” + 50mm spikes
W 374mm 14.7”
D 502mm 19.8”
MB2-A-C
LF 300W, HF 200W, MF 200W
Freq response
Sensitivity
SPECIFICATIONS
Effective ATL™
(Advanced Transmission Line)
Impedance
Drive units
Crossover freq
Input connectors
Dimensions
Stand / plinth dimensions
Centre dimensions
Weight
Stand weight
Amplier power
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se PASSIVE LINE-UP
IB2 - C se
IB2 se
MB2 XBD seMB2 XBD-C se BB5 seBB5-C se
MB2 seMB2-C se
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se ACTIVE LINE-UP
MB2-A seMB2-A-C se
BB5-A seBB5-C-A se
MB2 XBD-A-C se
BB5 XBD-A seBB5 XBD-C-A se
MB2 XBD-A se
2m
1.5m
1m
0.5m
0m
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This document should not be construed as a commitment on the part of The Professional Monitor Company Limited. The Professional Monitor Company Limited will not assume
responsibility for errors that may appear in this document. Information may be subject to change.
Copyright ® 2017. All rights reserved
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THE PROFESSIONAL MONITOR COMPANY LIMITED
Holme Court Biggleswade SG18 9ST UK
T +44 (0)17670 686300 F +44 (0)870 4441045
E sales@pmc-speakers.com W www.pmc-speakers.com
Reg No: 3328009
Item no. 371v3/PMC stock code 14563/April©2017
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