PBN Audio M2!5
The PBN Audio M2!5 brings concert-scale dynamics, deep controlled bass and an unusually coherent voice to big-room listening. Twin 15-inch woofers deliver clean physical authority, while the compression driver preserves natural harmonic bloom without glare. Gregory Petan found its rounded, tangible stage exceptionally lifelike; Audiophiliac praised its effortless scale and musical versatility.
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
Deliciously Crispy
Sound Quality
96/100
Build Quality
95/100
Value for Money
89/100
Pros
Twin 15-inch woofers produce exceptionally powerful, controlled bass that stays clean and free of boom, compression, or distortion at high levels.
Explosive dynamics preserve the individual swell and impact of instruments rather than flattening busy recordings.
Dual-diaphragm compression driver integrates smoothly, avoiding brightness or hardness while allowing piano harmonics and decays to bloom naturally.
Superb cabinet workmanship and visible crossover execution reinforce its premium, purpose-built character.
Cons
Its rounded, weighty images are less suited to listeners who prioritize ultra-pinpoint imaging and sharply delineated outlines.
At $30,000 per pair, it remains a major premium-audio investment.
WATT RECOMMENDS
Save your favorites. Compare them anytime.
Create a free HiFi Hub account to save products to your Wishlist and compare your favorites side by side.
What Reviewers Are Saying
SOUND QUALITY PERFORMANCE 96/100
Reviewers describe an unusually lifelike, large-scale presentation combining tonal honesty, physical presence and freedom at high volume. The M2!5 appears especially suited to listeners with larger rooms who want concert-like scale, powerful low frequencies and an immersive sense of musicians occupying the room.
Bass
97/100
The twin 15-inch woofers are praised for combining very substantial output with control: the reviewer reports no boom, compression or distortion even when pushed hard. Low-frequency power is described as realistic and clean at high levels, with the speaker continuing to get louder without losing composure.
Mid
95/100
Piano reproduction receives particularly strong praise, with complex harmonics allowed to decay naturally even amid busy musical passages. Reviewers hear tonal honesty and a tangible, coherent presentation rather than a flattened or congested midband.
Treble
94/100
The compression-driver implementation is described as integrated rather than obviously horn-like, avoiding brightness, brittleness and hardening at higher levels. Upper piano harmonics are said to remain audible as they trail away naturally, helping recordings retain their air and decay.
Soundstage Imaging
94/100
Reviewers repeatedly highlight the speaker's convincing scale, including the uncanny impression of an orchestra spread across the room. Images are portrayed as rounded, weighty and physically present rather than ultra-pinpoint in outline, a presentation some listeners may need time to appreciate.
Dynamics
97/100
Dynamic expression is a major strength. Drum-kit impact was compared with hearing a real kit being struck, while another reviewer praised the way individual instruments can expand and contract dynamically without being flattened by the surrounding mix.
Assessments of Build Quality, Usability, and Overall Propositions.
Build Quality
95/100
The cabinet workmanship, satin veneer and visible crossover assembly earn emphatic praise for craftsmanship and attention to detail. Reviewers describe the enclosure as beautifully made, while its approximately 280-pound mass and substantial construction reinforce its serious physical execution.
Value for Money
89/100
At $30,000 per pair, the M2!5 is plainly a premium purchase, and reviewers acknowledge that its apparently traditional approach may initially invite skepticism. After listening, however, the reviewer found its construction and musical performance persuasive, while Audiophiliac noted that a pair of speakers with two 15-inch woofers per side is unusual at this price.
Reviews & Sources
Professional reviews and sources for this product's Watt'n Potatoes analysis.
Online Reviews & Mentions
YouTube Reviews
Forum Mentions
No forum mentions found yet
Specifications
- Specification
- Precision-made cabinet with a faceplate of 1.75 in. Layered MDF. Highly engineered inner chambers designed to produce the most accurate measurable audio reproduction in the world.
- Specification
- Twin 15 in. woofers with with a low-loss magnetic structure and Symmetrical Field Geometry matched to internal enclosures for producing accurate mid-bass.
- Specification
- Mid-range/tweeter compression driver with dual-diaphragms. The drivers are aligned “in time” via their amazing 900 Hz charge-coupled crossovers, profiling the exquisite precision of their design.
- Specification
- Comes complete with PBN’s proprietary 30 db per octave acoustical crossover slopes. Plus, there are five precision hand-wound inductors.
- Specification
- 12 High-Voltage Metalized Polypropylene Capacitors
- Specification
- Driver Complement:
- LF
- 2 each 15” Woofers
- MF/HF
- 1 each Dual Diaphragm Compression Driver mounted on Wave Guide
- Crossover
- 5th Order Charge coupled with 3 x 9V (27V) @ 900 Hz
- Crossover Capacitors
- High Voltage (400 VDC) Metalized Polypropylene
- Sensitivity
- 95dB / 2.83V /1M
- Frequency Response
- 25Hz to 20k Hz +/- 2dB
- Impedance Nominal
- 4 Ohms (min. 3.5 Ohms, max. 9 Ohms)
- Specification
- Dimensions 53″H x 18″W x 23″D
- Weight
- 280 lbs
- Finish
- Custom order (See Wood Finishes)
Manufacturer's Description — PBN Audio
M2!5 – The Essence of “Thereness”
Sometimes magic happens – when you blend the finest technologies with a consummate design
Peter Noerbaek’s home theater and listening room was the setting, and one of America’s most discerning and technically proficient experts in sound reproduction was the auditioner. Noerbaek was providing a unique first-listen to his new M2!5 speakers, and the anticipation level was palpable.
Within moments of the opening vinyl track, played through Peter’s masterfully precise PBN GrooveMaster Vintage Direct DN 308 Professional turntable and two PBN EBSA3 amplifiers, the listener nodded and smiled. This was it. Simply, emphatically, this was the one. Many other sound systems create full, nuanced, even extraordinary sound. But what is it that the best sound engineers seek? “Presence.” “Weight.” “Thereness.” Beyond a “being-in-the-room” sense of space, an extra dimension emerges that captures the uncapturable – the electricity of a live performance where the performers embody the music, where it lives and breathes through them. The equipment and room setting fade into the background. You are no longer “playing” a “recording”. You are there.
Noerbaek’s long-invoked mantra is a simple one – hearing is believing. Of all the superb systems he has developed over decades of intensely focused creativity, this is the one he now points to as the new benchmark. The M2!5 is a hefty speaker, standing just under five feet and weighing in at 280 pounds each. It features rock-solid construction, internally reinforced to provide a vibration-free, silent soundstage. The steel spike feet provide even more stability. Custom hardwood veneers complete the understated elegance.
Two state-of-the-art drivers are the heart of the system: First, twin 15” woofer classics, with a low-loss magnetic structure and Symmetrical Field Geometry, which reduces harmonic distortions to near zero. The second is an inimitable mid-range/tweeter compression driver, with dual-diaphragms. The drivers are aligned “in time” via their amazing 900 Hz charge-coupled crossovers. Together they profile the exquisite precision of the system’s design. In sum, it produces a significantly heightened array of both power and reduced distortion – with twice the number of voice coils and more than double the power handling. The dramatic “horn” seems a throwback to earlier times, and certainly gives an aesthetic focus to the speaker. Its contribution to the channeling of sound, however, is far from cosmetic.
Verified Dealers
Online Dealers
All Dealers
Zoom out the map to see more dealers
Authorized dealers for PBN Audio M2!5
- HIFI SOLUTION — in-store — Chandon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France (website)
- Parmenter Sound — in-store — Waimauku, Auckland, New Zealand (website)
- Silver Audio — in-store — Winter Springs, Florida, United States (website)
- Valhalla Hifi — online and in-store — Santa Rosa, California, United States (website)