Went for PSB demo along with my brother....
i had carried over my Yamaha RX V450 & my sub svs pc12 nsd for the demo.
i have about 2-3 standard movie scenes which i watch during demo for every speaker. This helps me do a as close a comparison to what i have heard before because the demo material is always the same. I had also requested Ashish to arrange a couple of discs which he dutifully did...
First up....
1. Alpha T1 + C1 + LR1 + pc12 nsd + Nad T 747
The sound was smooth with clarity. i could hear all the speakers very well. infact the slightly smaller LR1 were matching well & keeping up with larger T1 & C1 in the front.
They were so nice you have to wonder why do i need to spend more ? The sound was very balanced with all the details in chapter 7 of avatar coming through clearly and making you feel you are in the jungle with them. Once again i'd say the LR1 were doing a terrific job of creating a realistic environment behind me and the front speakers were creating a large sound stage with us not being able to pin-point were the sounds were coming from.
The dialogue from C1 were clear and all the conversation between the characters on screen could be heard & understood very well..!!
Like i said earlier at this point i was wondering i dont need to spend more than this.
At this price point out of all the speakers i have heard the Alpha setup according to me was the best. Since i had recently decided to double my budget from the initial 50-70k to upto 1.5 that allowed me to venture into the next range the Image series.
2. Image B6 + C5 + S5 + pc12 nsd + Nad T 747
Some things in life progress in a linear way.... You get what you pay for, but you have to pay for it. The Image series is priced slightly higher than the Alpha series and the jump in sound quality is quite noticeable...
The Sound Stage got even bigger with much more clarity. The dynamics increased a few notches and there was even more vibrancy in sound. The basics were the same i,e a very smooth and involving sound creating a vivid environment of the avatar jungle in the demo room.
This setup really made me feel i was there with the avatars and the creatures... The dialogue from C5 was exceptionally clear and each word was easily understood. the B6 is a bookshelf but was creating a very large immersive soundstage. The demo room is quite large approximately 17 by 20 feet. But the B6 was able to comfortably fill it up with tremendous output
The most impressive fact was the entire image setup remained exceptionally clear and distortion free even at very high volumes.
3. Image T5 + C5 + S5 + pc12 nsd + Nad T 747
The T5 is a tower/floor stander with 2 woofers and it was evident & mutaully agreed by myself, my brother & ashish that now with T5 in the front the dynamics/soundstage/slam increased by about 20-25 %. Everything else from above remains as good as the B6 setup.
4. Image T6 + C5 + S5 + pc12 nsd + Nad T 747
T6 is a tower & has a separate midrange driver. It's quite large and make even the T5 look very small. Now the difference was even more prominent. The dynamics/soundstage/slam increased by atleast 50% and as expected the midrange as more lush and clearer. As good as the B6 and T5 are the T6 took the whole experience to another level. Chapter 7 of Avatar has a lot of high energy action and the T6 created a exceptional soundstage and took us right into the action.
I can see T5 & specially T6 for people who need to fill large rooms.
After hearing all of them i focused my attention to the surrounds. I was figuring out whether i like the conventional direct radiating B5 or the Bipoles S5 which create a more diffuse surround sound.
We went back and forth on this we will need one more session to really be able to decide which one me & my brother liked more because certain times we liked the B5 more and other times we liked the S5 more.
Conclusion.
I'll try to describe the PSB sound here...
In my opinion PSB sound is not a very attacking, in your face sound. It's more of a sound which welcomes you into what it is doing. The result is that is creates a very easy on your ears kind of sound which you can listen effortlessly for hours and come out of the listening feeling refreshed and relaxed unlike some other speakers which are more attacking & have a brighter sound which leaves you fatigued after a listening session.
The PSB could be in my opinion classified as a smooth but at the same time energetic sound which has beautiful highs, a lush midrange and tight, deep & dynamic lows. I would call them close to neutral/warm.
The Nad T 747 Avr has a role in this too which i found to be very smooth and musical. I tried the Image setup with my Yamaha RX V450 in the end and the sound became slightly bright. So different avrs definitely produce different signature sound and we should consider what kind of sound we prefer before getting a AVR.
There's nothing a Demo.....
My sincere thanks to Ashish who i found to be very courteous & amiable. All My demo session was close to 5 hours and he was very patient and professional with his approach specially with someone like me who tends to go into a lot of detail and has a lot of questions. He and his staff was more than happy to keeping changing my the fronts and surrounds as many times i needed which helped me in reaching a conclusion as to what sounded best to my ears.
Cheers
hyeah:
