Opinions on PSB speakers

[MaestroHC]

Anyone have any experience/opinions on the PSB speakers? I'm particularily interested in the Image 2B. Thanks for your help.

 

[annunaki]

PSB's are excellent speakers, especially for the money. Audiophiles appreciate their neutrality while movie lovers crave their dynamic capability. Sorry if it sounds like I am biased.

Realistically, they are very nice speakers. The Image 2b in particular is a great bookshelf. The Image line as a whole is very neutral and detailed. It is a larger bookshelf, and the bass response proves it. The Image 2b can play very low for a bookshelf. Avoid corner placements as the bass can actually become too much. The tweeter is very relaxed. It is not edgy or overly bright, but is highly detailed. I have done much listening on the Image 2B and I have to say it is now one of my favorite bookshelves, along with the B&W DM 601 S3, 602 S3, (if it can be called a bookshelf speaker) and PSB Alpha. it is a very dynamic speaker, with better low end output than the B&W. The transparency is not quite as good as with the B&W, but it makes up for it with the smooth bass response and a not so bright presentation overall. not to mention being less money. I hope this helps you out a little. let me know if I can be of further help.

 

[cornelius]

Since it's always good to get different viewpoints, here goes.

I found them far from neutral, and not the least bit refined in the higher frequencies. The mid-range was sucked in, and overly bright in the hi-mid areas. Drums often felt compressed and vocals were overly pronounced. At first, this seems like "detail" but after a while ends in false information and fatigue. There was a lot of bass, but it sounded rather hyped and soft to me.

By all means, go demo some psbs. They do make some nice speakers, and the new Image line may be better than the first generation. I had the 4t model and a friend has the 2b, which does sound better. It's just really difficult to make a cheap floor-stander. It also could be component mis-matching, I was using a McIntosh Integrated and my friend is using an NAD integrated (which is probably a more realistic match).

When demo-ing speakers, just be weary of the showroom wow factor. Sometimes it's the ones that don't shout out at you that you end up taking home and listening to for years.

Just another view. Neither one of us is right or wrong, it's just what our ears are telling us.