PMC studio monitors have been installed at Radio 2’s new studio in Broadcasting House, the headquarters of the BBC in London. Radio 2 recently moved back to Broadcasting House after 18 years housed in Wogan House, an adjacent rented building at the corner of Great Portland Street.
The new Radio 2 studio is located in the PMC-equipped Popular Music Hub, which has been expanded with the addition of four new studios, bringing the number up to 10. They provide facilities for the UK’s most listened to radio stations – Radio 2, Radio 1, 1Xtra and 6 Music and are equipped with PMC6 active two-way monitors matched with a PMC8 Sub as the main studio loudspeakers.
PMC’s history with the BBC dates back 30 years, but the company’s founder and chairman, Peter Thomas, has an even longer history with the corporation, having joined as an engineer in 1977.
He eventually became engineering manager, a role that involved developing new products and providing technical and support for BBC Radio’s Music Studios.
In the early 1990s, Thomas and PMC’s co-founder Adrian Loader, then working at FWO Bauch, were asked to design a full range loudspeaker capable of handling very high SPLs for live music performances taking place at Maida Vale. The result was the BB (Big Box) series of transmission line prototypes.
Thomas said: “It took five prototypes before the studio was happy. By the time we got to the BB5 we had something they really liked, and they decided to buy two pairs. However, I couldn’t sell them and remain an employee because it was deemed a conflict of interest, so I left my job and set up PMC with Adrian. That was in 1991 and the BB5 became the industry’s first large active speaker with genuine resolution and accuracy. Their design is still in use in studios globally, with the BB6 Active being the latest evolution of the model in production today.”
Thomas added: “Our professional studio products are world-renowned for their clarity, resolution and neutrality, especially at the low end of the frequency spectrum. Our designs really do pass the test of time – the original BB5s that we built are still in use at Maida Vale.”
