PSB Image B4 Issue at ~300Hz -10db and above

[ruenigma]

The honeymoon period with the Image seems to have ended. During a listening last weekend Flash mentioned some jarring in the speakers, the track itself was awash with jarring notes so I assured him there was nothing wrong. (American Beauty OST - #1 Dead Already). In hindsight what a sad coincidence with the brand new speaker jarring in a track called "Dead Already"

Right now I was listening with my better half our favorite disc (O Brother Where Art Thou OST) and happened to listen the jarring again. (The better halves undying love for the erstwhile AudioEngines didn't help the matters either.)

Upon further investigation its confirmed that the jarring is very specific between 300 - 350 Hz At anything exceeding -10dB. :sad:
No problem otherwise.

Now the question is, shall I return the Pair or just the erring speaker? I guess returning the pair would be practical as the pair would hopefully be timbre matched.

 

[mpw]

return the pair.. sometimes it may be a manf defect.. ask them for a new pair.. pls check serial nos..

 

[svenkateshsmart]

Returning the pair would be the ideal way to go, isnt it?

 

[ruenigma]

Returning the pair would be the ideal way to go, isnt it?

Yup doing it today. Thanks guys, will keep you posted here.

 

[Flash]

Damn - ruengima.
Once replaced the honeymoon period would continue

I was going to follow up with a review after the warm welcome and auditions at your house . However just did not find the time to get to it.



(Pic courtesy - runenigma Facebook)

They are really lovely little speakers and I would recommend them to anyone who is short on space and need a really small footprint in a smallish room

based on 1.5-2 hour audition in a (12x14 room) (12x12 free space)

They throw a nice wide soundstage and sound a lot bigger, In a blind test you could easily get fooled into thinking that a much larger BS speaker is at work
Very crisp highs and vocals are brilliant, "" very nice fluidic midrange""
I guess with most PSB speakers NAD seems to be the suitable mate.
(we had paired it with a Denon Stereo Integrated as well as NAD 326)
cons for me - although Soundstage width and center imaging was very good. Soundstage height was limited. It could be result of
Front to back presentation was again something I felt was lacking.
The B4 does sound strained when played full range at higher volumes

However at this price range and speaker size. - They are right up there

Now would I buy the B4 -
Well yes and no
Yes - If a diminutive size was a deciding factor aka a computer desk / 5.1 aesthetically pleasing rig / WAF / etc

No - If speaker size does not really matter. I would prefer something with larger - bigger drivers / cabinet after all push more air In the same price range the Aviano's 2, etc etc come to mind


Thank you once again Ruengima, for having us over and for being a warm host. I enjoyed every single minute of the auditions and your brilliant music tastes
Cheers and hope you get the little monsters replaced soon

 

[ruenigma]

Thank you for the kind words and nice crisp review Flash. It was fun to have you both around. Rohit of Rohit Enterprises the gentleman he is as given me a pair of Alpha B1s till the image B4s are replaced.

The Alpha B1 too is a great little speaker for the price. Will post a small review soon.

 

[Flash]

Thank you for the kind words and nice crisp review Flash. It was fun to have you both around. Rohit of Rohit Enterprises the gentleman he is as given me a pair of Alpha B1s till the image B4s are replaced.

The Alpha B1 too is a great little speaker for the price. Will post a small review soon.

Awesome - :clapping::clapping::clapping:
Rohit takes the cake for customer service.


What does the Alpha B1 retail for ?

 

[ruenigma]

Awesome - :clapping::clapping::clapping:
Rohit takes the cake for customer service.


What does the Alpha B1 retail for ?

18k And sounds terrific for the price. Over the weekend we had the whole home gear and had plenty of ABX. The gear tried were

Speaker: Paradigm Titan, Atom, PSB Alpha B1
Amp: NAD 315, 326, Denon PMA655R
Sources: Atom N270 based EEEBox, home grown HTPC. Maverick, HRT MSII, CA Azure 540 (bought used from Rohit at 10k)

It was awesome. Findings to be posted soon.

 

[Kittu]

Speaker: Paradigm Titan, Atom, PSB Alpha B1
Amp: NAD 315, 326, Denon PMA655R

If you have to pick a winner in the 3 speakers and amps , what would they be?

 

[ruenigma]

In terms of price to performance ratio it would have to be

Speaker: PSB Alpha B1 (18k)
Amp: NAD C326BEE (30k)
DAC: HRT MSII (10k ?)