PMC Prophecy 7

Exceptional clarity and seamless presentation from compact high-end floorstanders

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Ask any enthusiast to describe their perfect pair of high-end floorstanding speakers and the chances are that excellent detail resolution, balanced tonality and strong dynamics would make everyone's list.

It is almost certain that first-class build quality would also be on there, and - despite the generous budget - we reckon more than a few would want something compact and unobtrusive. If that sounds about right, PMC may have the ideal premium towers for you.

The PMC Prophecy 7 are the middle floorstander in the company's new premium Prophecy range, which also features a standmounter, a dedicated centre, a small two-way tower and a larger three-way design that packs twin bass units. Prophecy replaces the long-running Twenty 5i series that has formed the core of PMC's home speaker output for years.

By general price standards, the Prophecy 7 are small. At less than a metre high and barely wider than a CD, these are about as unobtrusive a pair of high-end floorstanders as we have come across. They look right at home in the kind of modest listening spaces that many, particularly in the UK, use.

But don't take their lack of stature to mean a lack of ambition on PMC's part. These speakers, like the rest of the range, are packed with clever technology and the kind of thorough engineering the company has become famed for.

These are a three-way design, with a woofer augmented by one of the brand's highly developed transmission line systems. What is a transmission line? It is a folded, damped path inside the speaker cabinet that takes the rear-firing sound from the bass driver and absorbs all but the lowest frequencies, which then exit through a vent at the base of the front panel.