Nice, clear mids and highs; match pretty well with Stratus family for (rear) surrounds.

Insufficient bass response for mains; not as lively/exciting as the Stratus, but you get what you pay for :-)

I picked up a pair of the Image 1B's just as soon as they were released. For me, they serve as the rears in my Dolby Digital 5.1 setup, and I have no regrets about this. While I, myself, would not be happy with these small bookshelf speakers as my mains --that is the job of my PSB Stratus Bronze's (see my review)-- I think they are a great value and they serve their purpose well. Even though I have the PSB Stratus Center and Stratus Bronze's up front, these Image 1B's do a fine job of balancing and blending with their higher-end siblings. I am very happy using them as my surround speakers, and they are significantly cheaper than anything in the Stratus family. For what I'm using them, I can highly recommend them.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Stratus Bronze & Center; PSB system replaced my Cerwin-Vega system, and good riddance!

Clean and clear accurate sound. Runs at 6 Ohms for extended efficiency

*NONE for the price*

I purchased these speakers a few nights ago. After sampling the local stores array of higher end speakers i new that this was the right speaker for me. I heard 3 thousand dollar speakers and then switched the 1B's on to compare (granted the 3k snell's sounded better), but the difference was minimul. I new I had to have the PSB Image 1b at that moment.

Break in time was fast and painless.
The Image 1B has a fabulous sound for a small bookshelf speaker. It is tight and clear. Wonderful mid's and high's. The Base/lower end is very good considering the size of the speaker and the price point. As long as you have a subwoofer you will be more then happy with the bass management of your system if you are using these speakers as your fronts in a home theater configuration. I am extremely happy with this purchase. These speakers add power to my system and clarity that would have otherwise have been lost.

I rate this speaker a 5 plus!

Similar Products Used:

MIssion, PSB Alpha Family, and IMage family, KEF Q15

Solid,firm, heavy cabinet construction. Modular design for easy driver replacements. Balanced tonal qualities.

Low frequency extension. But that's just a physics at work, not a problem with the loudspeaker. Not for big rooms.

As an audio enthusiast of over 20 years, an electrical engineer, and a musician with a ear for detail, I've got to say I'm quite happy with these PSB Image 1B loudspeakers.

Acoustical Situation:
I am using these speakers in a small room (12' x 12') so these speakers match my room acoustics well. The speakers are placed on the far sides of my desk, and are about 2'
out from the wall.

Electrical Situation:
I am driving them using decent equipment, namely a 1985 model JVC R-X330V Receiver, and I'm connecting it to the loudspeakers with 10-gauge stranded copper wire.

Music Auditioned:
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon (Progressive Rock)
Bill Evans Trio - Sunday at the Village Vanguard (Jazz)
and way more than this...

My hunt for speakers focused on 'bookshelf' models since I only needed them for a small room - but I wanted quality too. Having heard that Polk and others had gone 'mainstream' (i.e. FutureShop / Circuit City), I narrowed the search to serious stereo stores where I found the PSB Image 1B, the B&W 302, and the Boston Acoustics CR6. These were driven by a Rotel amplifier at the shop. The Boston Acoustics model sounded plain bad. The PSB's and the B&W's were comparable, but the PSB's had more solid construction, a 1" aluminum dome tweeter, and the benefits of being designed by a no-nonsense, no-hype Canadian with access to the world-class National Research Council's test facilities
[ http://www.psbspeakers.com/nrc.html ]
[ http://www.sao.nrc.ca/ims/asp/spktest-e.html ].
The B&W's had the novel wedge wave-dispersion cabinet, but had a completely different tonal balance to it.

I should say that the listening tests at the stereo shop were a bit flawed since the PSB's were placed closer together than the B&W's. The salesman (who obviously was not a loudspeaker guy) personally favored the B&W's, saying they were 'louder' and that you could hear 'more music'. I found that the PSB's sounded tight and responsive, maybe a bit reserved - nothing was in excess. The B&W's had a louder midrange tones, and while those tones sound punchy and impressive at first, they become annoying after a while. But it was a close match. I wasn't sure if the nominal impedances of the two speakers were different (causing one speaker to play more loudly than another, given the same volume from the amp) or if the speaker placement differences caused so much tonal difference. To my ears at least, the PSB's sounded great, and were worth the extra $25 over the B&W's.

By the way, before buying the PSB's, I was using top-notch 'reference-grade' Sennheiser HD580 Headphones which are known for how much musical detail they reveal. The PSB's were the most like those headphones. Enough said.

I'm giving it 5 stars because it's the best I know of in that price range.

If you need bookshelf speakers for a small listening room, check out the PSB Image 1B's and the B&W 302's. Hear it for yourself!

Similar Products Used:

B&W 302, Boston Acoustics CR6, Sennheiser HD580[Headphones..]