For years I've been thrilled with Speakerlab S.1cs, 1"soft domes & small around 5" woofers mated to a Cerwin-Vega 12" passive sub. Those babys really made pianos sound super and had a lot of detail.
Then I got a Yamaho RX-V595 receiver for DVD & DD., and an Audiosource 15" sub The highs got a little too high and sometimes just about hurt my ears. The sub has its own amp so one of the old Speakerlab little woofers started coming apart and I started speaker shopping.

When I auditioned them, the comparison was against some laid back English speakers, and I thought the PSBs had a "wider" sound if that makes sense so I broght them home.

In my home, they definitely tamed the highs coming out of the Yamaha amp. Compared to my previous speakers with the hot 1" domes the PSBs are a little on the tame side. However they do a good job at the lower end, and register a few decibels above the line in the upper bass, lower mid 250 - 1000 range. I was looking for a little help in the 55+ hz and these definitely help the lower and mids. Since I've got a subwoof I stuffed a sock in the porthole, and took th the front cover off and think I get a little more smoother spread out sound overall that way.

I'm very impressed with the PSB Cent 300Is and there wide reproduction range, though they lack a little on the very high end and maybe aren't as exciting as speakers with 1" nylon or aluminum tweets.

I just got them 2 weeks ago. They are my rear speakers hooked up to my Sony ES 50 reciever. Very good sound and I paid $50CDN (YES $50CDN or $30US. They had some scratches on them.

I purchased the PSB 300i speakers for $300 and couldn't be happier. I originally got the Bose 301's and took them back after only 7 days. For the same money the PSB's kick ass. The mids and highs are great and I was suprised how much response I got on the low end. I did have to re-arrange the room a bit to get the left speaker out of the corner to avoid the boom factor but after that they were awesome. I listened to the 400i's and they sounded good but were not as efficient and I am powering them with a sony. I listened to the B&W 302's and the sounded good but I thought the PSB's sounded better. Ialso liked the PSB mini's and think they would make good rear speakers in a surround situation. I think I am going to buy a PSB sub but that might be too much base for such a small room. I would recommend these speakers to anyone who loves clarity at a decent price.

Before I begin, I wish to point out that I have compared the PSB Century 300i to many other speakers in order to give you a better picture of its performance. Other speakers I made comparison include the Tannoy M1,M2,M2.5,R1, KEF Q15, Coda7, Coda9, AE aegis 1, AE100i, JPW ML510, Mordaunt Short MS202, MS10i Pearl, PSB Alpha, Chario Syntar, Tannoy 631SE, Mission 700,701,732, Castle Isis and Dynaudio Audience 50. The result...PSB SIMPLY OUTCLASS all of these. The closest compeition came from the 577 pounds Dynaudio Audience 50. This is how good the 300i is.
Treble is clean and crisp, smooth and expressive midband with a confident air that draws you into the music. Bass is more extended than most speaker of this size. Its musicality is simply spellbinding, providing a very good soundstage and effortless presentation. It is not laidback nor forward but has an overall coherence and balance that most speakers of this class fail to achieve. My reaction when I heard the PSB as compared to all the other speakers I mentioned..... the choice was simply too obvious. Partner them with smooth sounding equipment and you can't be more satisfied. Mount them on good stands and place them free.

My system consist of Marantz CD63SE, Marantz PM66SE, QED QNECT2 interconnect and Mission cable.

the smooth mids, open,airy, and come on guys, the price is a steal.

tend to break up as the spl's get up there but hey look at the size here. also the the highs could be more extended.

ok, first i have to congratulate everyone that purchased these little work horses. You have realized u don't have to spend alot for great sound. Some "so called" audiophiles can quible over speaker specs, magnet and voice coil sizes, driver excursion and the lot but what it really comes down to is the sound. Am i right here people?
PSB has never been about gimmicks, they've always been about the music presentation. From the very top of there line(the golds) to the very bottom(alpha minis)the one goal of the speakers has been about attaining flat, precise sound at a reasonable price. And i would challenge anyone to find a better bargain than these babies.

now the sound

First off these speakers excel in small invironments which suits me well since my listening room is small(12' by 10'). i have found through trial and error that they sound best about 7' apart and 2' from the back wall; toed in at about 10 degrees. don't be afraid to use high quality speaker cable either cause these speakers tend to bring out the cheapie stuffs flaws. and put them at ear level. believe me you'll hear the difference.
after over a year of owning them the sound seems only to have improved. i first noticed the magnificent soundstage these puppies threw out. its hard to believe the music is coming from such a relatively small speaker. the mids are also well defined with alot of definition. if i do have one qualm about them it would be the lack of punch at the upper registers. it seems to hold back at the higher frequencies. but a speaker at the cost of the 300's is gonna have flaws. the amazing thing really about the 300's is how little flaws they have for such an inexpensive speaker.
one more thing. i took a look inside and was amazed at how well it is internally braced. most speakers at this price(or even more) are just boxes with drivers in them. but these have the look of a high end job. congrats mr. barton for making such a quality product so affordable. the drivers are both off the shelf french-built designs from vifa; picked for their high sensitivity and musicalness.
well, i loved the 300's so much i matched it with a 200i center and the minis in the back with an atlantic technology subwofer put in for good measure. WOW!!! what a speaker system for way(i mean way) less than most similar offering products cost. right now i'm saving up for the psb silvers; i'll let u know how that works out!

like the midas ads say "you don't have to pay alot to get alot" psb owners know this all to well.

GOOD LISTENING

Similar Products Used:

NHT super ones, kef, codas, and other products that just don't get the job done like the 300's

I shopped and shopped until I found the 300's. Great pair for a small room.Clean and clear sound (like the alpha's) better bass. Tends to be somewhat
"boomy" for it's size, but nevertheless, an excellent pair.

I shopped and shopped until I found the 300's. Great pair for a small room.Clean and clear sound (like the alpha's) better bass. Tends to be somewhat
"boomy" for it's size, but nevertheless, an excellent pair.

Mid, and Hi's are clean, crisp and rich great bass for bookshelfs

bass rolloff is preaty bad (compared to floor standing speakers)

Well, I originaly got these speakers because they were on sale, that and word of mouth said they sounded preaty good. Well I got them + some very nice steel stands, so as to raise them to ear level, all for $400 cdn. Originally I though this was a bit steep but I was in for a surprise. After a bit of time finding good placement for them within my basement (a rather small room) I plugged them in to my Marantz 170DC and wow!. The sound was rich and clear. They are a great pair of speakers for classical and Jazz music, but thier downfall is the bass rolloff. Don't get me wrong, they have amazing bass for bookshelfs but to truly experience them you should pair them with a subwoofer. Many of my Hip-Hop and ambient tracks would have rather quiet bass lines (unless paired with a sub). Another thing I noticed was that at very high volume levels (I actually found out I was overdriving the speakers..they are recommended up to 80 watts and I was overshooting that a bit) the high's tend to get very harsh, but hey...you really shoulden't be pushing them that far in the first place.

Overall, an amazing bookshelf and its relatively low prise makes it even better. Great for a small room and a small budget. I highly recommend getting proper stands though.
If you have the money though, as always..you may want to go up a few notches in the PSB line. (but definately audition them at home if possible). Oh, one more thing, get a nice amp with them...if that means getting these instead of the 600i's so you can afford that NAD pre-amp/power amp combo, do it! :)

P.S I also have found that they have warmed up ALOT after bieng broken in. So don't take my gripes about the bass roll off with too much salt.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Alpha Mini's

Awesome mids and lows for their size.

Haven't found any

I bought these speakers after weeks of comparison. The only thing that even came close in my opinion were speaker costing hundreds of dollars more. I typically listen to music at a relatively low volume.... But at parties when I crank them up, no one can believe the amount of sound that comes out of these things. Even at higher volume they are crystal clear. Initially I was looking for satellite systems but was very disappointed at the dismal mid-range that most had to offer. These are a small speaker that rocks. Great for front channel in HT system.... What can I say.... I love them.

PSB is a well known Canadian speaker company that has recently introduced their new Century line of speakers. The Century 300i is a small bookshelf speaker aimed towards the value consciences buyer. It is a vented two-way design featuring a 6-1/2" polypropylene woofer, with a 3/4" soft dome tweeter directly above it. A medium-sized port occupies the top rear of the speaker. Below it are a pair of binding posts, a feature that is uncommon in this price range. Ithas a rated frequency response of 75Hz-20kHz +/- 2dB, an anechoic sensitivity of 89dB, and designed to take up to 80 watts of power.

The speakers were mounted on a pair of stands so that the tweeter was elevated to ear level, then slightly toed in. With such small speakers, placing them close to the rear and sides walls did not pose as great a problem as with larger speakers. Listening was done both with and without grilles at first; however, it was found that the grilles are simply there for cosmetic purposes and the speakers sounded much better without them.

The speakers presented an overall pleasing, and slightly bright sound. Informal measurements showed bass output to be good down to 50Hz (good for such a small speaker), but an upper bass peak gives certain instruments and vocals an added muddiness. Most of the midrange is smooth, especially in the crossover range. However, a forward-sounding upper midrange gives the speaker a harsh quality on brass instruments and poorly made recordings. Treble comes through clean, though it doesn't extend out to the frequency extremes. The tweeter in this
speaker is good, but it lacks the detail and refinement of other tweeters. Where the tweeter does shine is in imaging: once you remove the grilles, the soundstage is wide open, accurately placing instruments across the stage. The Century 300i's are sensitive enough so that even a small amp can drive them to more than sensible levels.

Overall, this is a versatile speaker. While best for a small, inexpensive system, it can also be used in home theatre systems with good results as main or surround speakers. While listening to pop recordings, the PSB's have an impact and snap that few small speakers can match. Alas, the bright sound may not lend itself too well on classical or jazz recordings, or on poor quality electronics that may drive this speaker. However, coupled with a smooth sounding amp and CD
player, this speaker may just be what you're looking for.