Soundstage, balance, timbre

Requires larger room

Great speaker. Not the very last word in high end sound but they do so many things right. Piano sounds accurate to my ears. Nice airy top end, natural midrange and good bass. Works best in large room pulled out away from rear and side walls. Sound stage is open, wide and deep. Not too tough a load for my 50 wpc int. amp, although @ 4 ohms a little more power would be nice. I am driving them with an Audio Refinement Complete. Definitely benefits from using good cables, especially speaker cables. I am using a pair of LAT Biwire which seem to be a good match. Have not heard the Silver "i" but from what I have read improvements are probably subtle. I go through a lot of speakers but I think I will be keeping these a while (JM Lab Daline 3.1 is a close second though). At $800 used they deserve 5 stars I think.

Similar Products Used:

JM Lab Daline 3.1, Dynaudio Gemini, Snell EIV, Monitor Audio Silver 5i, Mordaunt Short MS30i Classic

Smoothness, agility and great dynamic range. Amazing for the price range.

Spike mounting taps are awkward

No sense in repeating the many positive things said by other reviewers. I've had my Silvers for two years and have enjoyed every minute.

Several reviewers note weak bass response, and I would have agreed when I first bought them. I ran them with a BK ST140 for about 6 months and was considering a sub woofer. Then I shopped for amps and bought a Bryston 4B-ST paired with a Bryston BP-20 preamp. The change in the Silvers was amazing. Bass extension blossomed and the speakers smoothed out across the frequency range. They sound great at all volume levels, much better than with the BK, and they sounded good even then. They clearly like the Bryston's 500 damping factor and deep power reservoir.

If you feel a lack of low end, I suggest you try different amps before you go the sub route, with all it's integration difficulties. I highly recommend the Bryston 4B-ST/Stratus Silver combination.

Ancillary equipment:
ARCAM Alpha 7 (out now for upgrade to 8SE)
Audioquest Type 6 speaker cable, bi-wired
Cardas Crosslink RCA interconnects (CD to Preamp)
Cardas Crosslink balanced interconnects (Preamp to amp)
(by the way, the Bryston sounds best run with balanced interconnects)

Similar Products Used:

Morel model 2a, Vandersteen 2ce

Great value...midrange and high-end balanced and detailed

Low frequency response doesn't extend as low as I would like(rolls off sharply around 50 Hz to my ears)

Addendum to previous review: I have had my Silvers for almost a year now. I am still pleased at how much these speakers deliver for the $1200 I paid for them! Since I bought them, I have upgraded my preamp (to Denon AVR-2800), digital source (Sony DVP-650D, using dig. out), and speaker wire (Kimber 4PR). I am still driving the Silvers with a Hafler P3000 (200W/ch. into 4 Ohms). The upgrades have really brought out what these speakers are capable of, specifically in soundstage detail, and mid/high freq. response. These speakers are sounding better and better.

My only complaint (otherwise these speakers are fantastic, read 'fantastic') is the low end as it dips below 50 Hz. PSB's specs say the Silvers are 3 dB down at 45 Hz; perhaps I have a dip in my room around that region, but it seems they drop rather severely below 50 Hz. e.g. the lowest pitches of the electric bass seem to get lost and spread.

My point: I will need a sub to get full-range listening with the Silvers. I am not even talking home theater; the Silvers sound great as-is for home theater (obviously a sub would help in that department, too) but I need a sub with the Silvers to achieve accurate low-frequency response while listening to MUSIC.

I have heard floor-standing speakers of similar cabinet size to the Silvers that have better low-end, but they were considerably more expensive. Silvers with a decent sub might still be less $$ than, say, the flagship Paradigm's (which are wonderful speakers, and the only thing I've heard from Paradigm that I'd actually buy), or some Proacs, or even PSB's Stratus Gold's.

Anyway, more food for thought for the potential buyer, from someone whose lived with the Silvers for a while.



p.s.
Random Note:
Adding Kimber Kable (4PR) to my system was the cheapest (about $65 for a 10-foot pair including shipping), and perhaps the most significant tweak I've done to my system. And this is coming from someone who for a long time thought spending extra money for 'premium' wire was a sham.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Century, 300i, 500i, 800i, Paradigm Ref. 100's, B&W, Proac, KEF

natural bass and midrange, smooth highs. very nice to look at(with the grilles on anyway).

They took the time to veneer the rear panel, just wishing they did the front baffle too. The quality of the port doesnt match the workmanship of the rest of the speaker.

Owned these speakers for 2 years now. very pleased with their well balanced sound. Found the bass to be very natural and clear. They reproduce bass notes evenly down to thier rolloff point. Found the studio 60's would play some low frequencies louder than others....did give me the impression of more bass, but it was just muddier overall. The midrange is smooth and detailed, if a little forward, but the fact that mids are so natural it doesn't bother me. I find the highs to be quite detailed also without being bright.

I did find though with certain equipment a bit of upper midrange hardness or edge...but i only heard it on a couple discs. Using the setup i have now it seems to be gone.

I have done side by side comparison with the studio 60 and to my ears they seem to do everything a little better....mids more natural and not quite as bright...a friend just bought studio 60 v.2's and i find they are much better than the old 60's. Think a direct comparison between the v.2's and silvers would be quite interesting.

Anyway, I dont think you can do much better for the money.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm studio 60 and 60 v.2

First off, I have the "Silver-i" models, not the Silvers, but there isn't a catagory for the "Silver-i" models so I'm posting here.
Anyway, I received my Stratus Silver-i, Stratus Minis, and Stratus C6 center with a Yamaha RX-V995 the other day. I knew I was opening a great speaker when it took both hands and feet to manuever one of them out of the box. Uncle Stereo actually packed them quite nicely (same is true for the whole order).

I had ordered the "Black Ash" color, but they sent the "High Gloss Black" color by mistake on all 5 speakers! I couldn't believe it; they screwed up an extra $370 in MY favor! If I had known the High Gloss Black versions looked so beautiful, I would have ordered them in the first place. The whole set of speakers looks simply professional. The high gloss looks so sweet I'm afraid to touch them for fear of ever scratching them. I plan on having these for a LONG time.

I hooked up the Yamaha RX-V995 to the Silver-i fronts with some crappy 18 gauge lamp cord that I had sitting around in a junk drawer. I didn't want to cut up the 90' of 12 gauge that I bought yet ($3/foot) until I'm sure where they're all going.

I plopped in a Star Wars cd and sat in the sweet spot in my living room. "WOW WOW WOW YES YES" I kept saying to myself. The audio was beautiful and clean. This was with all effects OFF on the receiver, tones off, etc... This was an "out of the box" quick-hook-up test with only the fronts hooked up.

Part of the quality is mental because of how sweet the speakers LOOK. But legitimately, the quality is superb. I heard every squeak of the trumpets in the opening fanfare -- it was heaven. I used to listen to this cd in the sweet spot of an empty 1500 seat auditorium cranking with my old stuff when I did audio work for local dance studios. The quality then was unbelieveable.

When I hooked up the Stratus Minis and C6 center with the Silver-i fronts, and put the Yamaha on "Rock Concert" mode, I turned off all the lights and closed my eyes. Sitting in the sweet spot again (of course) and with that same Star Wars cd playing, I felt like I was in the middle of that 1500 seat auditorium again. I paid almost $2400 for the set (silver-i, minis, c6) and an extra $785 for the receiver -- but it was worth every penny to regain that impression.

I live in a basement apartment so I haven't cranked the speakers yet past "2" on the dial. But I'll post another review in a few years when I buy a house :) These speakers won't be replaced for a LONG time. I also didn't bother with the subwoofer yet. I really didn't feel the need yet. But if I do, it will be the matching "Subsonic 3i".

(sidenote: one of the Stratus Mini speakers had no bass response. It appeared that either the crossover inside was screwed up, or the woofer wasn't connected. Since both the Silver-i and Minis are bi-wire capable, I figured
it was that the woofer wasn't connected properly. I opened the back of Mini and I was correct. I hooked it back up and it runs beautifully now. When I was inside the speaker of the Mini I noticed all the damping material inside. The enclosure in general looked well-built from the inside, so I can only speculate that the Silver-i speakers are built as well or better.)

In fairness, I didn't demo a billion speakers before purchasing the PSBs. I bought them simply from reviews in here and the info on their website. The speakers seemed to fit my needs. I am giving them 5 stars because I believe they fit my needs perfectly. I actually would have been happy with a cheaper system because my apartment isn't big or private enough to fully enjoy it. However, I got the PSBs for the future.

Powerful yet clean, very lifelike

none

While I have not had the Silvers for very long (and they can only get better), I could not be more pleased. The sound quality is simply amazing. Reproduction of human voices is especially good. Unlike some other posters, I have found the Silvers to offer plenty of bass; these speakers are not top heavy at all. As for appearance, they are first-class: not flashy, just impressive. While I bought them to be used solely for music, I couldn't resist using them for home theater as well, and they have performed without flaw. I can't say enough about these speakers, and I highly recommend them!

Price/quality. Generous and fairly accurate bass. Ability to play loud. Good soundstaging.

Mid-range colouration (sic)

I've used Stratus Silvers in my system for about 5 years now. They have generous bottom-end, and a slightly bright top end, particularly while sitting in line with the tweeter. (This is cured somewhat by facing them towed in only slightly inward--roughly half-way between flat-to-the-wall and facing the listener.) Their biggest weakness overall is in their mids, which are forward in the mix (particularly lower mids,) and not extremely neutral. That being said, few speakers I've heard anywhere near their price can compete with them. They do go a bit below 4 ohms somewhere in the upper bass/lower mids range, so they can heat up some amps noticeably (like my Bryston B60.) My experiments with biwiring them didn't seem to make much difference; I imagine bi-amping would make more of a difference, but maybe at the cost of some of their good timing on complex music. They can play quite LOUD and they rarely distort or clip noticeably with this amp (which offers about 110 W into their 4 ohm nominal load.) I suspect their crossover (4th order, I think) is more designed to protect the tweeters, than to provide a neutral sound--just one of the trade-offs in speaker design--you can't have it all! I'm in the process of replacing them now and I'm having to look at about double the price to find a noticeable difference.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, ProAc, Royd.

Decent bottom end. Decent midrange. Decently open.

Tweeter

Recently had a chance to head to head the Sol 5.3 vs. the PSB Stratus Silver at home. The 5.3s had a superior tweeter. The biggest knock against the Silver is the tweeter. It is not that extended and not as sweet as the 5.3s. It was, in fact a little harsh. The upper mids are good with a nice transition to the lower mids. The upper mids were better on the 5.3s but the even ness to the lower mids were better on the Silvers. Both were punchy down low but the 5.3s gave out before the silvers.

Soundstage was deeper, higher and a bit wider (outside the edge of the speaker) on the 5.3 as well.

However, this is not to say, that the 5.3 blew the Silver away. No, it was more a matter of priorities. Overall, the 5.3s were more refined and detailed. The Silvers, with a soft dome tweeter and a smaller front baffle would be very close to the 5.3s in terms of trade-offs.

Associated Equipment:
Pioneer DV-606 feeding a custom made passive pre (20k input with caddocks on shunt configuration. Adcom amp. Wires were JPS Superconductor and DH Labs Silver Sonic interconnects with HT Truthlinks also available. Speaker wire were the excellent TG Audio Silver.

Similar Products Used:

Direct Head to Head with Soliloquy 5.3

Excellent value versus performance

None

Derek from San Jose and others like him, how can you give an accurate review of a speaker that you had in your home less than one month ? Dealer home auditions are usually of fairly short duration and I very strongly suspect the Stratus Silvers were not broken in. It takes considerable break-in time before most speakers will perform at their best. How then can you say you've done an accurate review of the Silvers in such a short period of time ? What you've submitted is not a "review" it is an "opinion"

Similar Products Used:

Stratus Gold i

I have the Stratus Silvers, Mini's and C5 Center. Love the sound. I listned to all the different makes and could not beat the sound for the price. I paid $3000 Cdn (US$2200) for the lot!
Can't go wrong with these!