Speaker: PSB Century 500iAmp: NAD 304 Stereo Integrated Amplifier
Source: NAD 512 CD player
I've owned a pair of Century 500i speakers for nearly a year and I must say I'm very satisfied. I'm an orchestral musician and I tried to find a speaker that sounds the best for classical music. Of course, being a musician, I have very little money. ;-) I thought for sure I'd have to sacrifice musical quality because of my lack of funds, but I was wrong. After listening to several speakers in the 500's price range, I was sold on this speaker, and I didn't end up settling for mediocre musical reproduction! The 500s have a detailed and dynamic sound, and can realistically recreate the timbres any orchestral instrument or ensemble. These speakers, as a friend pointed out, are almost too revealing--if you aren't careful, you will find yourself listening to soloists breathing before coming in, harpsichordists changing manuals, string players adjusting intonation, pages being turned, and all other sorts of subtle nuances that go into performance.
Most importantly, you will hear glorious sound as it was meant to be heard. The highs are sweet and never overbearing or tinny sounding. The midrange is "just right" and, thankfully, at the forefront of the music. As for the low-end, I was impressed I got this much bass from a speaker this size. While it's not enough to really irritate my neighbors while listening to Metallica, gong and bass drum come through nicely in Mahler. Besides, who sets out to shake a room with a bookshelf speaker anyway??
All in all, it's a well-built speaker that's easily affordable. Try one out if you appreciate good sound.

Crisp clean highs, nice solid bass response. The ported enclosure is tuned very well for hard hitting bass, low soft bass and everything in between. They look nice and are understated and the shop I bought them from included the floor stands for free.

One PSB emblem fell off the left speaker grill and got lost. Other than that I would say they are close to perfect for my needs.

I spent some considerable time shopping around and listening to many speakers up to about $1100 for a pair. Many sounded nice but were too big, others didn't sound so good. This speaker is just so clear in the highs and tight sounding all around that I am completely sold on this brand. I plan on getting the rest of the equiptment for a home theatre setup, and I am positive that the PSB will be what I am looking for. All in all, I would reccomend this speaker maker for anyone looking for a high-quality sound.

Similar Products Used:

Vandersteen, Polk, B&W

You can't buy a better speaker for the money. I've listened many other speakers in the price range, and none of them sound as warm and natural as the PSBs. They
give you alot of bottom with a clean midrange and crisp highs. The vocals sound
great. There aren't many other speakers I would want to listen to.

I bought these speakers about 6 months ago, and have been waiting to see if I was still as excited about them now as I was when I first bought them. Well I have to say that.......YES I still think they are a FANTASTIC speaker!! I listened to the NHT super ones, and although I liked them they seemed too sterile and cold. The PSB 500i's on the other hand are so warm, with great smooth bottom end, excellent mids, and crisp highs. I agree with alot of the other people hear that they sound much better with the grills removed, and NOT toed in at all. You get much better imaging with them NOT toed in. I matched them with the PSB Subsonic 2 subwoofer, which is an amazing speaker! I listen to alot of music, but also use the speakers for home theatre. The subsonic 2 just kicks!! It seems to have unlimited power, with absolutely zero distortion of any kind. The whole living room shakes with this thing. It is fantastic! Most people tend to test speakers at high volume, which of course being a rock guitarist, I also do. Let me assure you that this system really kicks out. But just as important, these speakers sound so great at lower volumes. Giving you the entire frequency at all times. I couldn't be happier with these speakers, and HIGHLY recommend them to anyone. Of course they are made in Canada, so price wise for me they were an absolute steal. They are probably quite a bit more in the U.S., but no matter, for the money in my opinion, you CANNOT beat these speakers!!

I thought the speakers sounded very good in the showroom, and aftertaking them home, I was happy with them playing a variety of classic
music CDs. Then I tried the 1812 Overture (with digital cannons), which
I have used to test speakers for many years. I was dismayed to what sounded
like the woofers self-destructing during the cannon explosions. I then played
the opening song on Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon," and again, the
speakers distorted horribly. I returned them to the dealer and upgraded to
B&W 602s. Other than the collapse on the bottom end, though, the speakers
sounded very good. I advise potnetial buyers to test the speakers with
bass-heavy samples before buying. I would rate them three stars.

I purchased a pair of 500i speakers to upgrade from a pair of Venturi 820's and paired them with the AMC 3030 tube amp. They offer superior quality and imaging with better clarity and bass without any mush or distortion. The only reservation I have is that the woofer died on one of my speakers after only owning them for about a month and a half. The 3030 is only rated at 35 watts and I know I didn't overdrive the 500i's. I am going to take this up with the dealer, but I have not decided on whether or not to get another pair. My confidence in them is a bit shaken.

I listened to this speaker after having checked out the Paradigm Mini Monitor, a much-revered speaker in the $ 300-400 price range. I had originally intended to review the Century 300i and possibly the 400i, but with PSB slashing the prices on the series, I found I could afford the 500i- a very pleasant surprise.
When listening to the Paradigm speaker, I was moderately impressed, but was missing the bottom end a small cabinet can’t produce. The treble was clear and crisp, and midrange sounded accurate. On Sarah McLachlan’s “Adia” I felt her voice lacked richness and warmth, however. Oddly enough, that was the only material where I felt this was much of a problem. Robbie Robertson’s “Night Parade” sounded nice, with good vocal representation. Tori Amos’ voice on “Talula” did not feel cold lack richness, so I was surprised by my reaction to Sarah’s voice. Rickie Lee Jones’ “Gravity” had excellent clarity and dynamics, and I do not agree with those who claim this speaker sounds “cold” on classical music- at least not with the Henry V soundtrack I auditioned., though I realize that is a very narrow sampling.

The Mini Monitor has very clear and detailed treble, with fair imaging. The dynamics are good, and the midrange is detailed as well. However, I was a little disappointed- I simply wasn’t that excited about the sound, though it is certainly a very competent speaker, from my very limited experience. Kudos to Bradford’s Hi-Fi (Eugene, OR) for great service and honesty about the competition- they just want you to be a happy audiophile, even if it costs them a sale. I will continue to frequent their store whenever I am looking for equipment.

Then I walked into another hi-fi store to check out the 500I’s, as well as speakers by Mission (701’s) and Mirage (can’t remember the model). The sales person started me off with an easy listening-type jazz CD. I remember thinking “that sounds smooth- but that’s pretty smooth music to start with, pretty uninvolving”. Then again, it wasn’t my type of music. I asked to hear some of my own CDs, and started off with Rickie Lee Jones’ “Gravity”. I was amazed. The sound stage was wide and detailed, the treble was clear, the midrange rich and fluid- and the bass was warm, deep and solid. I thought I really might have come across something special. After hearing the same track on the Missions and the Mirages (the Missions weren’t bad at all- a bit anemic compared to the PSBs, but they are smaller as well, and were driven by a weaker receiver, which probably did not do them justice), I had to go back to the PSBs. I threw various CDs at them, and they thrived on them all. At one point, the salesman turned on an M&K subwoofer, and the difference was less than apparent. And Sarah McLachlan’s voice had the depth and richness I know it has (having heard her live), of course. My only knock is that the speakers are less than elegant, but the build and finish is fine- very solid, and my wife did not think they looked bad, so we’ll just relax and enjoy the music.

Thanks to Ronny’s Stereo in Eugene for fine service and help! At $350, these babies were a steal. I had originally intended to travel quite far to review other speakers (Tannoy Mercury M2, maybe the 2.5), but I knew the 500i’s were for me when I heard them.

The speakers will be connected to a NAD C340 amplifier, and a Sony Discman (I know, I know- just temporary- to be replaced by a “real” CD player as soon as I can afford it- probably a Marantz CD67SE, Rotel RCD951 or Cambridge Audio D300).

I'm fully aware there are speakers out there that will make the 500is shrivel, quake, and scream for mercy, but I doubt they cost under $1000. It is worth noting that Stereo Review pitted a 400i against a speaker "costing ten times as much and weighing five times as much", and the midrange compared very well.

In the price range, an enthusiastic 5 stars! I may post another review after I've spent a bit of time with them at home.

Beautiful music reproduction. Crisp highs, bold sound. Spectacular finish, obvious build quality.

Midrange still under review (see text). Slight issues with bass.

The 500i's were the result of a quest to replace an aging bookshelf system with something a touch more robust and capable. I stopped by a hifi shop in MD, as well as visiting a Circuit City (no, don't shoot me yet) to audition a handful of speakers there. Was looking at Polk, Infinity, Paradigm and PSB at the outset.

In the listening room at the hifi shop, I was mainly cycling through the various PSB speakers on hand, with a few other brands thrown in at the saleman's prompting (one being an in-house speaker brand). Trying to justify the cost from the smaller PSB's (similar to the Alpha line) to the 500i's was a matter of the bottom-end and midrange: the bigger cabinet seemed to yield a richer bottom end and outlining of the midrange. Sarah McLachlan was appropriately crisp and appropriately harsh when she needed to be. All the PSB's kept up with the intricacies of Jethro Tull, and the pace of earlier Tool, all pushed through a Newcastle R-725. The Polks (RT55 and up), in comparison, seemed a touch artifical, perhaps a bit too sharp and cold. Oh, and as always, keep a close eye on your salespeople: the Circuit City salesguy was trying to drive the Polks through an HK AVR7000 which I had no intention of buying. I abandoned the Paradigms early (was only looking at the Mini Monitors) as being outclassed for the price range against the PSB.

At home, Jewel's acoustic guitar was clear and twangy, underlined with a rich bass, her breath audible on every silable. R&B had appropriately punchy bass, with little to no boom. Purposefully undermastered tracks (Portished, Donnell Jones) sent the crackle and static stinging throughout the room. On lower volumes, the speakers are champs. At higher volumes, they really come alive, though the music seemed almost crowded at too loud a volume. Again, this I blame on the room and my fear of angry neighbors.

On a side note, the 500i's spoke to the quality of Newcastle amps. The R-725 was clear as a bell through the 500i's. I returned the R-725 and a Toshiba SD1200 (the hifi shop I was frequenting was a bit pricey) and swapped in an older Yamaha amp to fill the temporary void. The change was instantly noticeable, with the midrange muddied and the bass confused on some of the faster tracks. Highs were still high, but the lower end suffered for the change.

The short? Great speakers. Got 'em for $400/pr. Superb value, terrific sound. Push them with a *good* amp (the higher-end Yamaha should work just fine, this isn't a Yamaha bash), and they'll reward you. Look fantastic with the grills off. Yes, you can find better speakers, but PSB is showing it's a performer and it's *value* performer time and time again. If you don't believe me, keeping reading PSB reviews. I was not at all disappointed.

Final gear:
PSB Century 500i
Sherwood Newcastle R-945
Sony DVP-S360: hoping to replace this with a Denon DVM3700. The Sony sounds like a jet engine at take off.

Similar Products Used:

None.

Wow! Truly a fabulous speaker!
I went and found a local dealer after reading the PSB/JBL/Bose HT-in-a-box shootout in
Audiophile. Since Audiophile felt so strongly that the ALphas were lovely speakers, I
figured I could give a listen. I was amazed at how wonderfully these speakers performed.

I had previously auditioned models from Sonus-Faber, Phase Technologies, and B&W, but
these were my favorites.

Anyone seriously considering $600/pr speakers should give these a listen, preferably
with source material you already know well.

I think that the PSB 500s have the most even balance of any speaker in the PSB non-Stratus line. I've had these speakers for 2 years now and I'm very happy them. I don't think that the 500i model is any better than my 500 model. I've heard both side by side. The new 500i has a more rounded bass port which is supposed to cut down on wind noise. This doesn't bother me a bit - my ports are sealed with dense foam. It takes three times the power to run them but the bass is more tight and more accurate like this.

I found the build quality to be excellent because, with the ports sealed, there
is no air leakage or distortion. I give it a "5" for being the best in the PSB
*00 line-up and for the price.