My sister was a voice major in college and teaches elementary music education. She has a wonderfully developed, mature soprano voice that can well tears in my eyes when she sings.(It doesn't get any better than that. . real live music). She will be the singer along with her husband at my wedding, if I ever get married.
Anyway, I too have a pair of Stratus Golds (mine the old version). Although my ancillary equipment is far more expensive than yours, I can say unequivicably that these babies have more potential than you can imagine. I am at the "Diminishing Returns point" in my audio system and I believe these speakers can still eek out even more. So, you have made one hell of a fine choice in loudspeakers and one you may very well have for a lifetime even if you stay with your modest system components. The idea here is for the music to make you feel and much as see and that they do very well indeed.

Enjoy your wonderful speakers Steve and wife!

sound stage, depth, clarity, palpability with acoustic instruments,

90 lbs. each

I am giving these things a 5 - i have the older version and i'd give them a six if i could - on quiet, acoustic guitar or piano they are unbeatable and yet i listen to all types of music - proof of realism: they scare my cat ! i am going to get the goldi's used, if i can find them locally - i really mean it - five for overall, six or seven for value.

Similar Products Used:

Dalquist D-20, Polk 11's (before Polk sold out and marketed to Walmart)

I think these speakers are great.

But Russell, what is the point of calling someone an ass? You have an opinion and so does everyone else. Your opinion is no less important than the next person.

You need to respect their opinion and show some respect for the people who review products on this list.

It is people like you that make services like this useless. I want to here thoughtful opinions about the products and not thoughtless opinions about the people who review them.

Excellent value, dynamics, exceptional low end if placed properly. Clear, crisp, clean sound. In my opinion, a very attractive speaker (apparently not everybody on this list shares that opinion, which I totally don't understand).

High end and midrange clarity could be a bit better, but still quite good. Can be bass heavy if not placed properly in the room. Can sound "thin", i.e. wimpy imaging, if speakers are not placed proper distance from one another. In other words, they're great if you're willing to tweak with them and adapt them to your room.

I really love these speakers. I found them for a serious deal at $1500 a pair, brand new, in unfinished oak. I finished them myself with a laminate and they look great. So for the price there's no better deal on Earth. However most folks won't find that price...

Overall these speakers are tough to beat. They have outstanding sound, and in order to top it you'll need to spend a good chunk more. As I said, for classical music only you may find more "suitable" speakers in other product lines. But for mixed listening this speaker is ideal. I listen to a lot of classical, jazz, pop, and also use these for home theater. I listen to a lot of vinyl and also CDs, DVDs, etc. They sound great with all that stuff. I will be keeping this speakers for a long time to come. In my opinion if you are looking for value and good sound at the high end of midrange audio, your best bet is the PSB Goldi.

Setup (all purchased with the Golds):

NAD T770 Receiver
NAD 550 CD Player
Toshiba SD-9000 DVD
Millenium Audio Silver Millenium DTS Decoder
Thorens TD 295 MK II Turntable w/Summiko Blue Point Cartridge and NAD PP-1 Phono Pre-Amp
PSB Stratus C5 Center
PSB Century 400s in Rear

Similar Products Used:

I demoed these guys on a new NAD Silver Series separate Pre and Power Amp. Boy did they sound nice with that setup.

Recently compared them to the Monitor Audio Silver series. Also connected those to the Silver Series separates. The PSBs compared very favorably but the Monitor's pricier models had slightly better high end and midrange. However the PSB has better bass (not just louder, but better). Overall for home theater or mixed listening the PSB is better. For purist or classical only listeners perhaps the Monitor is a better choice, particularly with tube amps or vinyl. The PSBs require a heftier amplifier so I discourage use of tubes and recommend a beefy solid state. The NAD Silver Series separates work very well and have more than adequate power while providing outstanding sonic clarity.

Excellent midrange clarity, smooth highs and good bass extension.

4 ohm speaker probably means I need a better amp.

I bought these last year as my first major step to building a good audiophile level stereo system. Currently I am using them in a home theater setup with the PSB C5 center channel and Jamo Surround 200's in the rear with an Audiosource SW-15 for the LFE channel on Dolby Digital. My other associated equipment (which still needs to be upgraded when I use the speakers in a dedicated 2-channel setup) is a Pioneer Elite SVX-14 receiver, Panasonic A120 DVD player and I'm using MIT Terminator Bi-Wire for the Golds and MIT Terminator 2 interconnects.
Even using this mid-fi equipment these speakers sing! The midrange and vocals just leap right out at you on good recordings and it never over-powers the music or sounds unnatural. Very smooth overall sound, the bass is tight and fast and produces deep notes strongly but without punchiness (that can be good or bad I guess). The highs are smooth, detailed and not overly bright like in many other speakers. I'd say I have never heard a speaker produce acoustic guitar better than these PSB's. On rock music that combination of solid mids producing vocals and guitar combined with the good bass extension and natural sounding highs make for a very good sound, at high or low volumes.
In comparing these to other speakers in this general price range there were a few reasons I went with these. I spent weeks auditoning speakers before I laid out the $1950 for these babies. All the other speakers I listened to, Paradigm, B&W, Mission, Boston Acoustics, Klipsch, etc couldn't match the overall combination that these had. The imaging was clearly the best on the PSB's and the other speakers had certain weaknesses that prevented me from choosing them. I liked the strong, tight bass in the Klipch's but couldn't tolerate the shrill sounding mids coming from the horn driver. The Mission FRx-7's were VERY good for the money (only $699) but were too small to really hit on louder rock passages. I also liked the Paradigm Studio 80's alot (more than the 100's even) but felt they were just a little less "involving" than the PSB's. They did everything well but seemed a little flatter.
I also liked the fact that the Stratus Golds came with a real wood finish. That was typically a substanstial "extra" on other speakers if it was available at all. I chose the cherry wood finish and the speakers really look great when the sun shines in on them.
Even though $2000 is a lot of money for speakers (for most people anyways) it is re-assuring to know that I have speakers that will sound better and better with every component upgrade that I make. I can't wait until I get some better amplification pumping into these babies!!!

clarity, highs and midrange accuracy, tight full bass, and excellent build

none so far, other than requiring large room

Simply put these are tremendous overall speakers. They perform better than any others I have owned, or auditioned in the demanding variety of music and movies I play. They simply can do it well. You could not expect anymore out of a speaker.

Positioning is important, but this is the case with any speaker. You must have a sizeable room allowing for flexible positioning and ample room behind them.

They particularly excel in the highs, with accurate uncolored voice reproduction, and the bass is extremely tight and not at all boomy. They have brought so much more out of CDs.

EQUIPMENT:
Parasound HCA-2205a AMPLIFIER
Parasound AVC-2500 PREAMP/PROCESSOR
Nordost Super Flatline Gold speaker cable (bi-wired)
Pinnacle Clasiic Gold Center Speaker
Mission 775 surrounds
PSB Subsonic 3i as subwoofer
If you want a serious speaker that you can purchase and keep for 10-15 years than audition these. They beat the pants of the Paradigm Studio 100s, a speaker they are often compared to.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference Studio 100s, Klipsch KSP 400s, Wharfedale Valdus Speakers, etc...

everything / impressive build quality heavy very nice lokking speaker and beautiful sound

none

amazing speaker thundering base crystal clean highs and smooth mid range.im bi amping mine with my 5/ch amp MARANTZ MM 9000 it is 150 watts at 8 ohms by 5ch the speakers are 4 ohm and the amp puts out 200 if not 225 watts into 4 ohm loads, so im pushing 400 + watts through thease babies per side and like i said they sound amazing in either home theater system or 2 ch stereo they have excellent imaging and a huge sound stage, with deep tight base , they love lots of current so if your amp has the juice let them have it.my system is as follows.

MARANTZ AV 9000 PRE/PRO
MARANTZ MM 9000 5 CH/AMP [FOUR CH/MAINS/ICH/CENTER]
MARANTZ DVD 7100
MARANTZ CD 65SE
NAD 214 2CH AMP [FOR THE REARS]
PSB STRATUS GOLDi'S mains
PSB STRATUS C6i' center
PSB STRATUS SBSONIC 7 SUB
PSB CENTURY 500i'S rears
HITACHI 50 inch rear projection tv
and xlo interconects pro 100's
xlo pro 600 speaker cable mains bi amped and wired
xlo speaker cable on the rest of the speakers as well.
buy thease speakers you will love them !!!

one last thing ive been watching this site for a whiel and i noticed that the psb goldi's have not changed there rating after getting 11 5 star reviews ?????they only changed from 4.49 to 4.50 i wonder why , i mean thats 11 reviews now mine will be 12 i wonder if it will change ?

Similar Products Used:

psb 800i's paradimg referance 100's

Powerfull fullrange sound. The gloss black finish on this speaker was so nice that my wife even likes them and she has never liked any of my speakers.

none

The other reviews say it all! These are great speakers for home theater too. You won't find a better speaker for less than 5-6k. I have a Parasound HCA-1000A connected to the Gold's now, but I plan on upgrading to an EAD PM 1000 in the near future so I can get all that the Gold's have to offer.

Similar Products Used:

Bronze,C6i(Gloss),Ambiant II

Very balanced. Midrange is very clear and natural without being too forward.

No significant weakness. Relatively low sensitivity.

An excellent overall speaker. No need for a subwoofer.
Big soundstage with very good imaging. Very natural sound. The bass is relatively fast and deep and the highs are smooth and accurate. I have no idea how anybody can give these 1 or 2 stars. I've auditioned dozens of top of the line speakers and these were definitely the best I heard. Definitely give these a listen before you buy any speakers near this price range.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm 80's and 100.

articulate base, Powerful ,beautiful sound and finish,

HMMMMM, NONE

I was forced to get a new set of speakers due the the Ice storm early this year. The power went on and off 3 or 4 times and pow!! There went my speakers. RIP.

I went to listen to the PSB's I have listended to many others as well. These were the best speakers for the money and the performance.

I was also thinking of a set of Thiels or Meadowlarks too.

It came down to value VS. performance.

I purchased the Psb-gold i's and now that it has been around 6 Mo. later I can tell you I don't regret a thing.

Highly recommended!!

Special note about the Evil BEE. This guy obviously is dolt.
Don't pay him any mind. Use you ears and decide for your self.
Bee has given false reviews on other quality stereo units as well. He is looking to piss us off and to push your buttons. look through him and see him for what he is.
A loud mouth idiot with nothing to back up his ridiculous
statements.