PSB stands for Paul and Sue Barton, the founders of PSB Loudspeakers, now owned by Lenbrook Industries Limited, based in Pickering, Ontario. (…
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If you have more than six or seven bucks to spend, you might consider the Imagine T floorstanding speaker from PSB Loudspeakers ($2000/pair). A year ago, John Atkinson reviewed PSB's Synchrony One speaker ($4500/pair; Stereophile, April 2008, Vol.31 No.4). The Imagine series is the next line down, and also includes center, surround, and bookshelf models. John Marks flipped over the Imagine B minimonitor in his column in the February 2009 issue.
Kalman Rubinson reviewed the PSB Imagine T in June 2009 (Vol.32 No.6):
My first intimate experience with PSB loudspeakers was back in the mid-1990s, when I'd just began writing for Stereophile and found myself "between speakers." I'd sold off my Apogee Duettas and was not yet fully committed to something new. PSB designer Paul Barton graciously let me hang on to a pair of PSB Stratus Gold i speakers, which John Atkinson and Thomas J. Norton had reviewed in April 1997. With a smooth but somewhat recessed midrange, powerful and extended bass, but trebles that lacked sparkle, they sounded…
Sidebar 1: Playing With Ports
In the images of the rear of the Imagine T in PSB's literature and on their website, the upper port is shown stopped with a removable plug. Sure enough, the review samples arrived so plugged, along with a brief note explaining the situation: "the port cover can be used to adjust the bass tuning of the Imagine models where room problems at low frequencies (in the 100Hz region) occur....We invite the listener to try plugging any one or multiple ports to better integrate the system in their room.... Please experiment....Additional Port Covers can be acquired…
Sidebar 2: Specifications
Description: 2.5-way reflex-loaded, floor-standing loudspeaker. Drive-units: 1" titanium-dome, ferrofluid-cooled tweeter; two 5.25" polypropylene-cone woofers (lower woofer rolls off above 800Hz). Crossover frequency: 1.8kHz. Frequency responses: 38Hz–23kHz, ±3dB (on axis); 42Hz–20kHz, ±1.5dB (on axis); 42Hz–10kHz, ±1.5dB (30° off axis). Low-frequency extension: –10dB at 35Hz. Nominal impedance: 4 ohms. Sensitivity: 88dB/2.8V/m anechoic, 90dB/2.8V/m in room.
Dimensions: 36.9" (945mm) H by 8.2" (210mm) W by 13.5" (346mm) D. Weight: 40.7 lbs (18.5kg) net, 52…
Sidebar 3: Associated Equipment
Digital Sources: Sony XA-5400ES SACD/CD player, Oppo DV-983H universal player.
Preamplification: Integra DTC-9.8 preamplifier-processor.
Power Amplifier: Bryston 9B-STT.
Loudspeakers: Paradigm Studio/60 v3, Paradigm Servo-15 subwoofer.
Cables: Interconnect: Kubala-Sosna Fascination (balanced). Speaker: Kubala-Sosna Fascination. AC: Kubala-Sosna Emotion.
Accessories: XTZ Room Analyzer, APC S-15 power conditioner.—Kalman Rubinson
Sidebar 4: Measurements
The PSB Imagine T's voltage sensitivity was to specification, at 88dB(B)/2.83V/m. Its impedance with both ports open (fig.1) dropped to just below 5 ohms in the lower midrange, but averaged 8 ohms at higher frequencies with, as usual, the larger electrical phase angle occurring when the magnitude was high, which will ameliorate the drive difficulty this might otherwise have caused. The saddle centered on 56Hz in the magnitude trace in this graph suggests that this is the tuning frequency of the twin ports. With both ports plugged, which is what Kal Rubinson found…
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Designed by Lars Engström and manufactured in Sweden by E & E Ingenjörsbyrå (footnote 1), the Lars Type 1 is supplied in two halves, each of which comprises a single, monophonic integrated amplifier. But they're not identical: One chassis has…
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So, this knocks me out, too. However, my recommendation is mostly directed toward choral enthusiasts…