PSB Speakers Stratus Bronze Floorstanding Speakers
PSB Speakers Stratus Bronze Floorstanding Speakers
[Dec 26, 1999]
Nick
Audio Enthusiast
Most reviews leave out what I feel is the most important crieria for speakers - the type of voicing: aggressive or laid back. |
[Jun 27, 2000]
Lythiana
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
open sound, smooth highs
Weakness:
lacks presence After numerous visits/listening sessions, we had decided on buying the Bronze's as our front speakers. For a speaker that retails around CDN$1300, they had a really open sound and *much* smoother and listenable highs than the PSB Image series. However, the last store that we were going to visit had some Mirage OM-series speakers, which we felt were better than the Bronze series (even the OM-14s, which go for about CDN$400 less retail), and they seemed to make up for what the Bronze's lacked in presence. Similar Products Used: Mirage OM-10s, OM-14s; PSB Image 4T/5Ts, and some Polk, Infinity, and JBLs |
[Jun 20, 2000]
darryl chan
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Great mids, warm, detailed.
Weakness:
Wasn't as boomy as some other floorstanding speakers...but I prefer it that way. Its interesting to note that out of the 20 reviews, there have been 1 2-star rating, 1 3-star rating, and 2 4-star ratings. The other 16 people have given it a 5-star rating. I'm also giving it 5 stars for value AND for overall rating as well. (For those who are into stats, if you take out the lower two ratings, you come up with a 4.89 score). These are overall excellent speakers for the price and if you are on a budget (and who of us isn't besides Bill Gates) these speakers are worthy of your consideration. Remember, your mileage may vary and that everyone hears things differently..so I would recommend that you listen to lots of speakers yourself rather than just going on someone else's reviews. Use these reviews to help narrow down your choice. Similar Products Used: Listened to Paradigm Monitor 7s and 9's, Paradigm Reference 60's, PSB Image 4T, 5T, and 6T. |
[Jun 13, 2000]
Bennett Rowe
Audiophile
Strength:
Superb transient response, tonal & timbre balance, image, and efficiency, along with phenomenal value. Detailed highs, plenty of good, clean, low bass. Small footprint.
Weakness:
possible set up, placement considerations (very minor)- but I needed to report something??? These speakers present the most fantastic value for quality sound. The Bronze just enter into the true high end, so for those of you without big bucks (like me), you can enter the Audiophile playground at about 1/3 the price, and play with the other audiomaniacs. Similar Products Used: Klipsch Heresy, AR 11, Paradigm 7. |
[Mar 31, 2000]
Dave
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
Very good low frequency response; excellent all-around sound; 2 pairs of binding posts per speaker for the truly ambitious
Weakness:
none I've owned these speakers for six months now and have given them a workout on three different amps, each progressively more powerful. I initially hooked them up to a 40wpc (into 8 ohms) Rotel 930AX, which made them sound pretty good, but a little thin. Subsequently I had them on a Yamaha DSP-A1, and the sound was, as I expected, quite bit less compressed than on the smaller Rotel amp. We recently hooked them up to an Aragon amp (100wpc into 8 ohms) and noticed a dramatic increase in bass output and bass control in general. The low frequency was good enough with the nicer amp that I kept checking to make sure the sub was turned off; not wall-rattling bass, but deep enough to impress me when listening to the likes of William Orbit, Garbage, The Future Sound of London, and other friends of low frequencies. Conclusion: not surprisingly, the more power you have, the better the bronzes sound. I'm still looking for the right amp to drive 'em. Similar Products Used: B&W DM603, PSB Stratus Silver |
[Oct 25, 1999]
John Rothford
Audiophile
Strength:
Sounstage
Weakness:
Cabinet finish (boring) Good solid speakers - excellent for the price (and you can get them for under retail - around $800 - check the Web). If you manage to get these under retail you should be very happy with the Sound Quality to Price ratio (thus the 5 stars in both) Should you pay retail - for whatever reason I still think you'll be very happy - read on. Similar Products Used: Reviewed: |
[Dec 21, 2000]
Rob Babcock
Audiophile
Strength:
Fine finish, slim looks. Decent efficiency and nicely constructed.
Weakness:
Hollowness to midrange, a little 'hooty.' Recessed vocals. Course on the treble, especially given the price. Lacks a "presence" or clarity of the better speakers in the price range. I've touched upon some of the performance aspects of the Bronze i in my review of the 5T, so I won't belabore it hear overmuch. I was quite disappointed with this speaker, more so that with the Image series because while they cost more, I don't feel they sound substantially better. By virtue of some positive early press I added these speakers to my "short list" of must-audtion speakers. But a cursory comparison to the B&W and Monitor Audio speakers the store also carried shot them down pretty quick. Similar Products Used: B&W 601/602; Monitor Audio 5i & 7i, as well as the Monitor Bronze 3; new Klipsch and Infinity lines. |
[Jul 21, 1999]
William Menchine
an Audiophile
I did a quite a bit of auditioning of speakers in the $1,000 to $1,800 range before settling on the PSB Bronze (B&W CDM 7SE, JM Lab Tantal, Vandersteen 2Ce, NHT 2.5i, etc.). I consider myself to be an "Audiophile" on a budget, and while price was a big consideration in my selection, I feel that the PSB Bronze out performed all of the speakers I auditioned, period. |
[Jan 27, 1999]
Jim
an Audio Enthusiast
Great sound! But i must say i prefer the silver or the 1000-series from PSB |
[Jan 29, 2001]
Ken
Audio Enthusiast
Rob Babcock,..... it seems to me that you have way too much time on your hands. Reviewing speakers you don't even actually own. Do you think people actually consider what you say to be accurate? |