New generation PSB's question.

[Dovetails]

Has anyone here gone directly from a 4T or T45 to the new T5 or T6? If so, can you give your review of the noticeable differences? I currently own a pair of 4Ts and have thouroughly enjoyed them. These speakers can sound amazing, especially if one takes the time and effort to possition them correctly in the listening environment! This can take quite a while and plenty of patience, (1/4" movements can have profound effect) but man, when you get it right it can be magical (especially at this price level)

With that said, however, I can't help but be drawn to the 'newer' PSB products and the glowing reviews they are gathering. I just recently brought home the Imagine T's to audition. Very good speaker. Did not embarrass my 4T's by any stretch, but yes an easily noticeable 'refinement' in the overall sound i'm listening to now. It's basically like removing a slight veil over the entire presentation. Slightly better detail / dynamics / definition. Vocals sounded more relaxed and natural. I did not notice much difference in soundstage depth or with, which is already good with earlier generations. Definately more 'air' around solo performers voice along with various instrumental sounds scattered around the soundstage. Layers of backup vocals were a little more defined and isolated. My overall feeling from the start was a feeling that the drivers in the new series just sounded 'faster' , which would attribute to the perception of better dynamics, a kind of effortless ability to reproduce a paticular note leadind to a more natural sound. Going back to my 4T's only reinforced that feeling. But don't get me wrong, the earlier generations sound plenty dynamic and fast, and the good thing is, if you would never be able to directly compare the two you would never know anything was missing. They are still that close

Now, back to my original question, I've heard the Imagines but not the new Image series. Unfortunately, my local PSB dealer does not do a lot of sales in the floor standing speaker market today (primarily custom whole house / wall installations) so the Imagines are the ONLY PSB models he has in stock and it's not likely he wants to bring in the Image series I certainly have not ruled out purchasing the Imagines, they are truly wonderful speakers , but I would hate to learn I could have gotten 80 -90% of the performance of the Imagines from the new Image series for roughly half the cost. So, i'm hoping to gather feedback from those here that have actually made a leap from the earlier generations directly to the latest and can accurately sum up the differences they hear.

 

[manlystanley]

Has anyone here gone directly from a 4T or T45 to the new T5 or T6? If so, can you give your review of the noticeable differences?

.....

So, i'm hoping to gather feedback from those here that have actually made a leap from the earlier generations directly to the latest and can accurately sum up the differences they hear.

To each his own. I went "check book in hand" to buy a pair of T6's. They had great reviews and are from a great company. I really wasn't going to listen to them, after all isn't PSB a great company, that has great deals?

We'll, I sat down, listened to them for 30 seconds and was in shock. Very little detail. I subsequently sat there for another 30 minutes trying to like them, but still no luck. I went to another store and tried out the Synchrony One's. All I can say is wow, wow , wow! Great speaker! But, cost to much for me. I ended up with Jamo C809's and am very pleased.

Best Regards,
Stan

 

[3db]

Has anyone here gone directly from a 4T or T45 to the new T5 or T6? If so, can you give your review of the noticeable differences? I currently own a pair of 4Ts and have thouroughly enjoyed them. These speakers can sound amazing, especially if one takes the time and effort to possition them correctly in the listening environment! This can take quite a while and plenty of patience, (1/4" movements can have profound effect) but man, when you get it right it can be magical (especially at this price level)

With that said, however, I can't help but be drawn to the 'newer' PSB products and the glowing reviews they are gathering. I just recently brought home the Imagine T's to audition. Very good speaker. Did not embarrass my 4T's by any stretch, but yes an easily noticeable 'refinement' in the overall sound i'm listening to now. It's basically like removing a slight veil over the entire presentation. Slightly better detail / dynamics / definition. Vocals sounded more relaxed and natural. I did not notice much difference in soundstage depth or with, which is already good with earlier generations. Definately more 'air' around solo performers voice along with various instrumental sounds scattered around the soundstage. Layers of backup vocals were a little more defined and isolated. My overall feeling from the start was a feeling that the drivers in the new series just sounded 'faster' , which would attribute to the perception of better dynamics, a kind of effortless ability to reproduce a paticular note leadind to a more natural sound. Going back to my 4T's only reinforced that feeling. But don't get me wrong, the earlier generations sound plenty dynamic and fast, and the good thing is, if you would never be able to directly compare the two you would never know anything was missing. They are still that close

Now, back to my original question, I've heard the Imagines but not the new Image series. Unfortunately, my local PSB dealer does not do a lot of sales in the floor standing speaker market today (primarily custom whole house / wall installations) so the Imagines are the ONLY PSB models he has in stock and it's not likely he wants to bring in the Image series I certainly have not ruled out purchasing the Imagines, they are truly wonderful speakers , but I would hate to learn I could have gotten 80 -90% of the performance of the Imagines from the new Image series for roughly half the cost. So, i'm hoping to gather feedback from those here that have actually made a leap from the earlier generations directly to the latest and can accurately sum up the differences they hear.

The Imagine are the next price bracket up from the Image series so they should sound better than the older Image series. Wether or not the new Image series sounds better than your older models depends on your ears. I haven't auditioned the new Image series yet but I don't think I will. If and when I upgrade my older T45s, I will most likely look at least the Imagine if not the Synchrony series.

 

[Dovetails]

We'll, I sat down, listened to them for 30 seconds and was in shock. Very little detail. I subsequently sat there for another 30 minutes trying to like them, but still no luck.

Best Regards,
Stan

Yeah, 'showrooms' can be very tricky sometimes trying to get a feel for a product. Case in point, when I visited my local PSB dealer to audition the ImagineT's and it took all of about 30 seconds for me to realize that the speaker in their environment was not even remotely performing up to it's capability. It simply sounded terrible. I had the advantage of being very familiar with prior generation PSB models properly set up in an dedicated, accoustically treated listening room, I knew 99% of the blame was the dealer's room. So I asked to take them home for an audition and they very accommodating. Once in my listening room ...... they were magic It's a little extra work, but if you have a good local dealer to work with (and not all are ) a home audition is the only way one will truly know how a product will sound in their environment.

 

[Dovetails]

The Imagine are the next price bracket up from the Image series so they should sound better than the older Image series. .

Agreed most of the time but not 'always'. I have many times in the past auditioned higher priced products at home only to either reject the way they sounded in my room, or felt that the cost did not justfy the percentage of upgrade. This is the only reason I am not automatically pulling the trigger on the ImagineT's 'before' listening to the Image series if possible. The Imagines were wonderful sounding speakers and certainly worthy of an up grade over my 4T's. But, for me, that's not the whole story.

For me, I've found that over the years of experimentation with various systems in different listening room environments / and numerous gear (at all price points) that the single most influencial factor on ANY system is the relationship between the speakers AND the room itself. I feel nothing more in the chain of upgrading can have a bigger and more (cost effective) reward. I've listened to many systems that when properly set up, can take a relatively 'inexpensive' speaker such as the 4t / T45, along with some good equipment in front of them and absolutely embarrass a 100k system in a poor environment. I also understand that the majority of audio enthusiast don't always have the luxury of being able to set up a dedicated listening environment .... geeee ..... things like having extra 'unused' space / kids /WAF ... have a tendency to trump one's hobby hopes and push it down the priorty chain

Now that i'm heading down the back slope of 'prime' and having no kids around and a very understanding wife, I do have a small dedicated listening room that enables no restraints on equipment placement and room treatment. By having that to work with i've been able to extract very impressive performance out of my 4t's. So much so that as good as the Imagines were, it left me wondering whether they were in fact worth the 2k upgrade. Better? ..... yes. But .... ?
Now I certainly don't have deep enough pockets for the 'sky's the limit' kind of equipment, but I can comfortably make changes to my system with what most would call 'sane' levels of equipment, so that's not the issue with the Imagines, I have always been the kind of guy that enjoys setting up a great performing system based on percentage of gain vrs. dollar spent. Maybe that's against most normal philosophy, but it's kind of a fun, rewarding challenge. Plus ..... it allows me to be able to keep 'playing' around with different gear more frequently

So, this all comes back to my original remark that if I can obtain 80% of the performance out of a product (albeit speakers / amps or anything else in the chain) at half the cost (in the case of the Images) the challenge becons me, lol...... that's just me. That's just my logic and i'm certainly not trying to project that on anyone. That's what makes this hobby fun ..... everybody perceives and attacks it differently. Besides, it's a win - win , if the Images don't pan out then I will buy the ImagineT's. I'm in no hurry.

Good listening & enjoy your T45's 3db ..... they can be truly remarkable speakers!

 

[audiok]

I'm sure the T6's themselves are not lacking details, whatever that means. It's the room that destroyed the sound. I love the T5's in the store, and love them even more in my living space, with the help of Audyssey MultEQ to balance out the response.

 

[3db]

Agreed most of the time but not 'always'. I have many times in the past auditioned higher priced products at home only to either reject the way they sounded in my room, or felt that the cost did not justfy the percentage of upgrade. This is the only reason I am not automatically pulling the trigger on the ImagineT's 'before' listening to the Image series if possible. The Imagines were wonderful sounding speakers and certainly worthy of an up grade over my 4T's. But, for me, that's not the whole story.

For me, I've found that over the years of experimentation with various systems in different listening room environments / and numerous gear (at all price points) that the single most influencial factor on ANY system is the relationship between the speakers AND the room itself. I feel nothing more in the chain of upgrading can have a bigger and more (cost effective) reward. I've listened to many systems that when properly set up, can take a relatively 'inexpensive' speaker such as the 4t / T45, along with some good equipment in front of them and absolutely embarrass a 100k system in a poor environment. I also understand that the majority of audio enthusiast don't always have the luxury of being able to set up a dedicated listening environment .... geeee ..... things like having extra 'unused' space / kids /WAF ... have a tendency to trump one's hobby hopes and push it down the priorty chain

Now that i'm heading down the back slope of 'prime' and having no kids around and a very understanding wife, I do have a small dedicated listening room that enables no restraints on equipment placement and room treatment. By having that to work with i've been able to extract very impressive performance out of my 4t's. So much so that as good as the Imagines were, it left me wondering whether they were in fact worth the 2k upgrade. Better? ..... yes. But .... ?
Now I certainly don't have deep enough pockets for the 'sky's the limit' kind of equipment, but I can comfortably make changes to my system with what most would call 'sane' levels of equipment, so that's not the issue with the Imagines, I have always been the kind of guy that enjoys setting up a great performing system based on percentage of gain vrs. dollar spent. Maybe that's against most normal philosophy, but it's kind of a fun, rewarding challenge. Plus ..... it allows me to be able to keep 'playing' around with different gear more frequently

So, this all comes back to my original remark that if I can obtain 80% of the performance out of a product (albeit speakers / amps or anything else in the chain) at half the cost (in the case of the Images) the challenge becons me, lol...... that's just me. That's just my logic and i'm certainly not trying to project that on anyone. That's what makes this hobby fun ..... everybody perceives and attacks it differently. Besides, it's a win - win , if the Images don't pan out then I will buy the ImagineT's. I'm in no hurry.

Good listening & enjoy your T45's 3db ..... they can be truly remarkable speakers!

I'm the first to agree with you in room treatments. That is the biggest single factor assuming one's speakers are of a decent quality. I've built some acoutsic panels fro my HT room as well and it has improved the sound.

Since you're an empty nester now why don't you look at the Synchrony series. They've had nothing but stellar reviews from all the audio rags & mags. Instead of moving up incrementally like you would with the Image series, move up big. I also know its easier spending someone elses money than it is your own.

 

[3db]

To each his own. I went "check book in hand" to buy a pair of T6's. They had great reviews and are from a great company. I really wasn't going to listen to them, after all isn't PSB a great company, that has great deals?

We'll, I sat down, listened to them for 30 seconds and was in shock. Very little detail. I subsequently sat there for another 30 minutes trying to like them, but still no luck. I went to another store and tried out the Synchrony One's. All I can say is wow, wow , wow! Great speaker! But, cost to much for me. I ended up with Jamo C809's and am very pleased.

Best Regards,
Stan

I'm just wondering if you entertained the thought that the listening environent you were in was bad?

 

[Ares]

When I was in the market for a complete system setup not to long ago, I auditioned the T45's, T5's, T6's and just for kicks the Synchrony One's I was impressed with three out of the four. The T5's didn't have the clarity as the others did IMO. The T6's are nice but was out of my range at the time along with the Synchrony One's which IMO are on a whole other level. If I had the cash on hand to buy the T6's at that time I would have.

Also before I forget, thanks 3db for giving some great advice that steered me to the PSB Image line.

 

[manlystanley]

I'm just wondering if you entertained the thought that the listening environent you were in was bad?

That's a good question. It was not the best. However, what I heard could not totally be blamed on the setup. They ran NAD CD player and a NAD integrated amp. Maybe not the best, but certainly not low end. The room was smallish and the speakers much too close to the walls. But, even though, IMHO it should have sounded better.

Best Regards,
Stan

 

[Dovetails]

: gotta agree, sure is easy to spend someone elses money, I do it all the time Synchrony would be wonderful, but considering my system also includes my H/T 5.1 ...... the Synchrony's (for all channels) would really start to add up, but there is always the thought of dropping back to the Synchrony One B's for the L/R fronts , slip in a great sub like a REL and wow, great 2ch listening .......... hmmmmmmm