Spendor ST vs. B&W 803d vs. PMC PB1i ???

Just a word of caution - you are looking at a fairly big investment in the PMC PB1i - I would check carefully the mid range driver. Just what is it???

If it is VIFA D75MX-41-08 3" dome which it sure looks like it is! Then my advice would to be get the next PMC model up such as the PMC IB2i (which has a pro quality mid range driver)

The 3" VIFA D75MX-41-08 has a woefully small drive motor - If this is indeed what PMC have used then I suspect that it is out of place with such a powerful bass response and will be easily compressed and distorted as you push the speaker SPL's and exceed the small 3 mm XMax of this driver - particularly in the lower mids but the IMD from over driving this mid range will also affect the entire midrange.

For example - this is what the small and the big ATC 3" mid range dome look like. The cone or dome piece of the ATC driver is the same size as the Vifa 3" but there is a world of difference in the driver motor behind it...of course there is well over $1000 difference in the price of these drivers

My logic is that you can add more bass with a good subwoofer but you can't fix the midrange...and you are paying a lot of dough for this speaker. Try to find out what mid range driver they used before writing a large check.

I would add that I made a mistake above - the Xmax of the Vifa driver appears to be a mere 1 mm not 3 mm. This performance is similar to most small dome tweeters that have a similar magnet size ...so you get the idea or why I would be concerned about spending so much on this speakers IF and it is a big IF they used the Vifa driver that I mentioned above.

I would also suggest the IB2i. There is a favorable review of them in the current HIFICRITIC. They said in part" It delivers a muscular , authoritative and fundamentally accurate sound which makes many domestic speakers sound like wimps". I am also an admirer of the ATC midrange, which I had in my Nelson Reed 804s. If I wanted this kind of sound I would look at ATC speakers, several of which are currently available used on Agon at a favorable price. The review pointed out that the ATC SCM50SL is the closest competition on the British market. The IB2s are speakers that like a large room and lots of power, they estimated it could handle 400 watts. I have 6 pair of Spendor currently but their new range does not appeal to me.