Go big or go home is the name of the game for PMC at High End Munich 2024. The show is, predictably and rightly, full to the rafters with rooms playing two-channel stereo speakers. There are plenty of new speakers, some old ones, lots of big ones and the occasional small one, but nothing quite like what PMC has built in a cavernous room tucked into one corner of the Event Center Messe Munich.
Hosting a Dolby Atmos Music explainer and album playback by renowned spatial audio musician Steven Wilson, PMC has hauled together 21 speakers in an epic 11.4.6 configuration, plus the necessary lumps of metal to hold it all together.
The system will deliver 48,000 watts of power – if that sounds excessive for a demo room that's because it is (in a good way) – and promises frequencies down to 15hz, which is probably why they've been told to do their thing a long way away from everybody else.
At the front of the room are the monstrous, flagship PMC BB6-XBD-A floorstanders as left, centre and right channels, alongside BST subwoofers (just the four) and Ci Series surrounds. The complete system, should you have a spare barn awaiting conversion into a mini concert hall, can be yours for €300,000. And it's all being fed the original source material, for the highest quality audio in Dolby Atmos.
But if the system is otherworldly, the real point is to remind hi-fi fans (and loyalists) that spatial audio is very much here and available, and well worth giving more than a passing glance. As Steven Wilson points out, all of this year's Grammy-winning records and the vast majority of the top-selling albums at any given time, are also available in spatial audio. While this isn't news to anyone with their ear to the ground, it's a necessary reminder for purists who resist attempts to be guided away from two-channel music. Maybe you should give it a try (again)?
Interestingly, Wilson is adamant that Blu-ray is the best way to experience spatial audio, though we'd imagine most people are more likely to be tempted by seeing the offerings on streaming services such as Tidal or Apple Music. As he remarks, while it isn't the real deal, you can get increasingly impressive renditions from the best Dolby Atmos soundbars and even headphones, so it can be within reach of all of us.
But back in fantasy land, we're treated to a couple of all-too-brief renditions of what this system can do (PMC is also running feature-length demonstrations throughout the show). And first, comes the conflict. While I wouldn't classify myself as a purist, it is fair to say I've settled in my preference for two-channel music to be delivered in, well, two channels. Wilson plays us Sinead O'Conner's Nothing Compares 2 U, first in its original form, before it seamlessly merges into multichannel and appears all around us, using all of those 21 speakers.
It's easy to resist change and my instinct, while being impressed by the technical aspect of what I was hearing from the system, was to think, "Actually I was quite enjoying it in stereo, thank you very much". And this is the time-honoured response from many music lovers. But the extent to which voices and instruments surround you, immersing you in the middle of the action, is unarguable, not to mention the level of detail, power and emotion conveyed by the system. If I'd had a warm, overpriced beer in my hand, I really could have been at a live music venue.
Next up was Wilson's piece, Staircase, and... wow. Sounding utterly at home on this system, the track easily moved around the room, finding every frequency on offer and entertaining our ears from all angles. As I let Peak Prog wash all over me, it dawned on me it would be extremely easy to convince someone that this is the future of music. And maybe, it is? But of course, the €300,000 system was helping; clarity, agility and power in spades.
Wilson was an eloquent and honest advocate for spatial audio. And, a testament to his demonstration and this staggering system, the main thought in my mind as I left the demo was: I must listen to some more Dolby Atmos Music (even if I stick to the new releases rather than the remasters). Take this as your reminder to do the same.
MORE:
12 of the best Dolby Atmos tracks on Tidal, Amazon and Apple Music (and 5 to avoid)
