Stliong

Overall Rating
 2 of 5

Value Rating
 3 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
1.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00

Summary:
I auditioned this at my home for my HT system. Compared against some bookshelves and the cheaper B25 bookshelves. The B25 sounded much better on all accounts. Skip this one and just get those big bookshelves. Or just get the Alpha B and a sub.

Strengths:
For HT has enough bass for fronts and surrounds.

Weaknesses:
Muddied midrange due to overemphasized bass. Unbalanced sound.

Similar Products Used:
Mordaunt Short 906i

Letitroll98

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Visitors rate this review
5.00 of 5, 1.00 votes

Price Paid:  $189.00 from Stereo Trading Outle

Summary:
I bought these lightly used as a temporary replacement in my main 2-channel system for my Snell E Type IV's that had blown a woofer, with the thought of putting them in my HT setup later. Well, I may have to find a replacement for the HT instead. These are absolutely lovely little floorstanders, especially considering the price. (OK, not really, but they are impressive for the price)

Strengths are beautiful, clear vocals, especially female. Lovely string tone, woodwinds are off the hook. You have to spend some time with placement, as they are very sensitive to it. I would suggest the Audio Physic web site as the best tutorial on speaker placement. When so placed you get a very wide spread with good (not great) specificity. Imaging is very realistic with good placement; if you have adjustable spikes and can tilt them back a little they will melt the back wall. The Alpha T’s have an overall relaxed, musically accurate presentation that is wonderful on jazz, rock, country, solo singers, etc. Paul Simon, Rickie Lee Jones, Sara K, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Lyle Lovett, Shadowfax, Indigo Girls, etc. all sound fab. Detail is extraordinary for this price level. Microdynamics are all there in spades, yet the speaker never sounds harsh or bright. You can listen for hours without fatigue, hearing things you never heard before in your vinyl or CD collections.

Ok, so they're only $200 used, there must be something wrong. Bass is good for a small speaker, but just good, not great. Fairly tight, not loosey goosey, but far from the tightest, most dynamic bass I've heard. And of course they don't reach into the lowest octaves, but this can actually be a good thing if you don't employ a lot of low bass resonance control in your room, as they don't excite room modes as much as larger woofers do. You'll get some compression on loud and complex passages. Not the best speaker for classical music lovers who play lots of full orchestral works or Heavy Metal fans. Brass instruments can sometimes have a weird, unnatural tone, not at all in keeping with how nicely woodwinds and strings are reproduced. I don't know why this is. And finally, you can get an increase in image height when the sound volume increases, probably something to do with a phase inaccuracy somewhere.

With the above caveats, I highly recommend this wonderful budget speaker from Paul Barton's shop. I have thoroughly enjoyed my short time with these beauties. A wonderful speaker for small scale acoustic music, jazz, and rock if you don't need the lowest bass notes or have a sub woofer.

Strengths:
Vocals, woodwinds, low level dynamics.

Weaknesses:
Low bass, high level dynamics.

Price Paid:  $189.00 from Stereo Trading Outle

Summary:
I bought these lightly used as a temporary replacement in my main 2 channel system for my Snell E Type IV's that had blown a woofer, with the thought of putting them in my HT setup later. Well, I may have to find a replacement for the HT instead. These are absolutely lovely little floorstanders, especially considering the price.

Strengths are beautiful, clear vocals, especially female. Lovely string tone, woodwinds are off the hook. You have to spend some time with placement as they are very sensitive to it. I would suggest the Audio Physic web site as the best tutorial on speaker placement. When so placed you get a very wide spread with good (not great) image specificity. Overall relaxed, musical, accurate presentation that is wonderful on jazz, rock, country, solo singers, etc. Paul Simon's Graceland, Rickie Lee Jones, Sara K, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Lyle Lovett, The Replacements, Indigo Girls, etc. all sound fab. Detail is extraordinary for this price level. Microdynamics are all there in spades, yet the speaker never sounds harsh or bright. You can listen for hours without fatigue, hearing things you never heard before in your vinyl or CD collections.

Ok, so they're only $200 used, there must be something wrong. Image depth is not as good as the Snells, or even my Athena B1's. Imaging is very realistic with good placement, it just won't melt the back wall. Bass is good for a small speaker, but just good, not great. Fairly tight, not loosey goosey, but far from the tightest I've heard. And of course they don't reach into the lowest octave, but this can actually be a good thing if you don't employ a lot of low bass resonance control in your room as they don't excite room modes as much as larger woofers do. You'll get some compression on loud and complex passages. Not the best speaker for classical music fans who play lots of full orchestral works. Brass instruments can have a weird, unnatural tone, not at all in keeping with how nicely woodwinds and strings are reproduced. I don't know why this is. And finally, you can get an increase in image height when the sound volume increases, probably something to do with a phase inaccuracy somewhere.

With the above caveats, I highly recommend this wonderful budget speaker from Paul Barton's shop. (You wondered what PBS stands for, Paul Barton Speakers) I have thoroughly enjoyed my short time with these beauties. A wonderful speaker for small scale acoustic music, jazz, and rock if you don't need the lowest bass notes or have a sub woofer.

Strengths:
Sweet relaxed tone with natural detail.

Weaknesses:
Not the best for large orchestral works. Limited bas response.

Similar Products Used:
Snell E Type IV, Athena Technology B1, Allison 3