do not know where to start,owned the bronze for two days,speakers turned out to be internally defective and had to be returned to dealer. very brief listening session with new speakers and new jps superconductors,this is very unfair to the bronze but here goes.i find the bass very dry with not much mid bass punch.the ati-1505, jps,and double runs of audiotruth midnight 3 should have knocked me out of my chair. the mids are to me very very clinical. as for the highs, very edgy, this probably is result of new jps interconnects. soundstage, very small,my former beloved snell e-111s went out the door to the convience store. do not know what you guys have ,but the bronze i received will not take bannas, so much for FIVE way binding posts,also spikes are to short for my carpet, even fully extended.IMO other than wilson whamms, old infinity IRS 1V, and a few others, there is no such thing as a full range speaker. the second day i fired up the bag end, ahh, now the foundation of music is back. without the sub the speakers were in a word lifeless. i realize under above conditions it is a very unfair review, i guess i just expected more even with above conditions. very attractive speaker, build quality seems ok.i have not given up on psb, so next review will come when all equipment is broke in and after many days of serious listening.
thanks to all of you for your reviews
remember also opinions are like a-- h----
everyone has one
DENNIS

After a week of listening, this is my impression of PSB's best deal.
Aluminium tweeters are the best find since wood. these are exellent.
Bass is omnipresent, defined and warm. Voices are crisp and clear.
High are crystal clear with NO acidity, no harshness.

They fill the room with dynamic warm sounds with little care
to placement. A dynamic amp like a SimAudio 5080 make them shine.
Same overall qualitys as the Studio 60 from Paradigm.

One of my favorites.

The Stratus Bronzes are amazing. This is a class C speaker and it only cost me under a grand. It outbeats 4, 5, and even 6 thousand dollar speakers. For sure the best speaker available for under $2000 excluding the Silvers.

Clear highs, exceptional mids and incredible bass.

Finish is nothing to write home about, but it's not offensive (very, very minor niggle).

Incredible speakers for their performance and their price. I auditioned the Tannoy Revolution, Paradigm Reference, Vandersteen 2ce, Dynaudio and the PSB is the standout. Reference tracks were from Radiohead, dada, Cassandra Wilson, Creed and the PSB can play them all with flair. I bought in-store demos for $769, but would gladly have paid the list at $1099. Run, do not walk, and buy these speakers!

Similar Products Used:

B&W

Outstanding (wide) soundstage; excellent imaging; clear and open, but not piercing, highs & mids; deep, tight bass (not overpowering or muddy); excellent reproduction of voice, piano, and acoustic instruments, yet suitable for all sytles, including rock; nice, slim profile; relatively efficient (so not too hard to drive with any amp or receiver).

Tweeter is placed low, between 2 woofers; vinyl wrap, not wood veneer; plastic rather than aluminum bracings.

Like many "reviewers" here, I just purchased this product; thus, it is no great surprise that I give it 5 stars. But I did a fairly in-depth comparison with competitive models (including those listed above) before making my choice, so I am posting this to help those of you in the position I was just in. (By the way, this site rocks, and I learned a lot from others' reviews here!) I was unsatisfied with the limited bass response from mini-monitors from various companies, so I'll restrict this comparison to towers.

I was initially very impressed with the Paradigm Reference Studio 60 but not with Paradigm's muddier Monitor 9; the Studio 60 (and the Klipsch RF-3) has more bass than our beloved PSB Stratus Bronze, but that extra bass overwhelms the sound and comes across a bit muddy in the end, IMO. Both have excellent open highs, as do NHT's offerings (though I found their highs to be a little *overly* pronounced, making hi-hats piercing at loud volumes, despite their excellent reproduction of piano). (The Klipsch horn tweeter, as you probably know, is also piercing at loud volumes, though in a different fashion than NHT's SuperTwo, with its soft-dome tweeter.)

If you're looking for a pair of mains for around $750, I recommend auditioning PSB's new Image 5T and NHT's SuperTwo.
But if you want the best of both of these, and more (such as a dramatically improved soundstage), and you are willing to cough up $1100 then I heartily recommend the PSB Stratus Bronze. And at that price point, Paradigm's Reference Studio 60 probably deserves a listen as well. The Stratus Bronze appears to offer almost the same spec's as the Silver ($1800?), but at a dramatically lower price. The Stratus Gold is again pricier ($2400?), in addition to losing the slim profile of its little brothers. And if you're really on a budget, NHT's SuperOne bookshelf speakers are probably a good option, especially if you listen to acoustic (rather than rock) music. But PSB's new Image Series should also be auditioned, if saving money without sacrificing too much in sound quality, is your goal; note, however, that I found the Image Series to be a little "flatter" (less "lively" or engaging) than the Stratus series, personally.

Similar Products Used:

NHT SuperTwo and 2.5i, Paradigm Reference Studio 60, PSB Image 5T, Boston Acoustics Lynnfield VR 950, Energy xL:26, Klipsch RF-3, Polk Audio RT800.

Warmth, absolute lack of coloration

none given the price

I've owned the Stratus Bronze for just a little over a year, and I've had nothing but pleasure from them. They impress me with warmth, pretty amazing bass capability given the size of the drivers and tonal balance.
Like most everyone on here, I auditioned a LOT of speakers before buying these. It finally came down to B&W (at $600 more) and the Stratus Bronze. I would probably have been happy with either one, but I thought the Bronze had a less fatiguing sound, and I'm happy to say I was right. This is the first- or second-favorite pair of speakers I've ever owned. The other was the extremely underrated Boston Acoustics T-1030 towers. I'm powering these with a modest NHT amp, and they reproduce anything I throw at them with ease. Aaaaaah.

Similar Products Used:

NHT, Polk, Paradigm, Boston Acoustics

Over the period of about one month I auditioned speakers from Polk Audio, Boston Acoustics, B & W, and Phase Technology. I began by looking at bookshelf speakers, but quickly found that floor models would be required before music would sound satisfactory. For me, the PSB speakers clearly outperformed all other speakers I auditioned. I fell in love with the Stratus Silver speakers, but thought the best price/performance was achieved with the Stratus Bronze. Their overall performance is excellent. Bass is tight but not obtrusive. Mids and highs are clear. I really enjoy listening to these speakers. I find I am not fatigued after listening for prolonged periods of time, something I experienced with other speakers. The BPS Bronze are exceptional performers as home theater mains, but they really outperform the others when playing music.

Punchy, aggressive bass (my guests have commented on how the couch they're on thumps, even at low volumes).
Honest flat sounding speakers - what you're hearing is what's on the disc.

Adhesive foam used on plastic feet decays eventually. This affects the acoustic coupling to a hard-wood floor and (believe me) changes the sound. Suggest using the supplied spikes whether you're standing these on carpet or not.

Very happy with these.

Listened to a friends B&W 602's for some time (his driven by an Adcom 555 amp, mine by a NAD 2200)- the comparison:

B&W 602: Dreamy and airy (but NOT bright or harsh - I'm very sensitive to this). Laid back, relaxed sound that's great for low to mid level listening. Bass is very impressive for the speaker size. Attack on bass is soft and round. My final impression? The 602's aren't the most accurate, but these speakers have a surreal 'stardust' quality that sucks you in for hours of listening. The left side of my brain tells me what I'm hearing isn't true, the right says 'just keep enjoying this'.

PSB S-Bronze: B&W somehow goes as deep frequency-wise, but the bass attack on the Bronzes is more aggressive, visceral (as above, the couch thumps). I've been told this is a quality of older NAD amps as well, so maybe I'm hearing that. I found a huge mid-range clarity improvement when mounting these speakers on provided spikes over the original plastic/adhesive rubber feet. To keep the sound bright enough, I've had to keep wiring connections fresh by stripping & re-terminating every few months. Other than that, the mid to upper range of the PSB is flat, flat, flat. Complete honesty in a speaker is great, yet sometimes unimaginative; this is the debate I have between the PSB/B&W, and the winner depends on the mood. Imaging is more centered with the PSB.

Hope this helps if your making a choice between two similarly priced speakers.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Polk

WOW, bought mine for 900$ total authorized. There is no better deal out there. Imaging and depth are great, mids are nice and cleaer, bass is surely sufficient. Not intrusive but not missing, great speaker, but I have also come to learn that the speaker is only a chain of your total performance with other items in the mix like amps/pre's/cable/connects/source. Good Listening

size, midrange, highs, accurate bass, price

I purchased these speakers for a 50/50 split of home theater and music. I originally had my sights on Paradigm Reference 80's as I have owned the Reference 20's for 5 years. My nearest dealer was 2 hours from Erie in Washington, PA. I visited there to audition speakers, all they had were the studio 100's, I was very dissapointed with what I heard, I blame most of that on the system set up in their listening room, but it afforded me the opportunity to look for another speaker.

I found the PSB's at my local dealer, I auditioned the Stratus gold, silver and bronze. The Gold is definately a step up, but at three times the price. I listed to the silver and bronze and for the price, I am impressed with what is delivered from the little brother of the gold.

They are crisp and clear, not muddy, nice tight bass, and midrange and a non tinny sounding tweeter, smooth and warm total sound. I auditioned music from Bob Marley; Buffalo Soldier, Phantom Menace; Duel of Fates, Black Box; Everybody Everybody acoustic version, The Church; Under the Milky Way Tonight, AC/DC; Hells Bells, Eric Clapton; Accuse and Squeeze; Tempted and Muddy Waters, several selections which were live, I thought I was at Radio City Music hall where it was recorded. This gave me a wide variety of vocal, jazz, symphonic, aucoustic, hard rock and bass music. It really shows how diverse the speaker is for all music types. I do not enjoy deep pounding loud bass but tight fast accurate bass.

I highly recommend this speaker for anyone looking for a great sound around the $1000 dollar mark.

My current system is as follows in a 14 x 22 listening room.

Acurus ACT 3 pre-amplifier
Acurus 5 X 125 watt amplifier
PSB stratus Bronze Main speakers
PSB 5C center channel
PSB 7i sub 15 inch 330 watt amp
Paradigm studio 20's rear speakers
Toshiba 40x81 16:9 HDTV

Similar Products Used:

paradigm studio 100, 80, PSB stratus silver, gold