These were my first "real" speakers, I droped $1500 for them in '95. I was very happy with them, sound seemed good and appearance very nice. My bubble was burst few months later. There was a Classe' amp for sale in Toronto paper, I went to pick it up, guy had little homebrew 2-ways.Eton drivers, solid enclosers but nothing much to look at. Sound was unbelivebl: crisp, opened, transparent. My PSBs sounded like there was some blanket thrown on them.(with different amps and sources, if it matters,cos every good amp<$1500 sounds the same and that is a fact)I still have the PSBs for sentimental reasons but that is it. Woofers cost $40 each, tweeters $30. There's your answer. Cant make bread from s... .

Some background: This review is made after listening to Legacy Focus and Whisper (Elite DVD and CD Player - forgot model #, with Legacy monoblocks), Martin-Logan Aerius and SL3 (Marantz Receiver and CD Player, forgot amp and DVD player), Hales Revelation 3 and Transcendence 3 (Rotel Amp and CD Player), NHT 2.5i (Rotel Amp and CD Player), 2.9, and 3.3 (Sony 355ES CD Player and Sony TA9000ES amplifier stereo mode), Definitive Technologies BP2000, and BP3000 (Sony 355ES CD Player and Sony TA9000ES amplifier stereo mode), PSB Stratus Silver-i (Rotel Receiver + Amp, Denon DVD Player, and another config which is Bryston amp + Rotel CD Player + forgot what preamp), DynAudio Audience 40 (Krell CD Player and Receiver), Snell (forgot what model, but it's $1400 a pair with McIntosh amp + Sony 5 CD changer player), McIntosh ML4C (Marantz DVD Player with all McIntosh amp/receivers). See my other reviews on these speakers for a perspective of what I want in sound.
All the speakers above I've heard in different places/room/situations/conditions and might affect the judgement of that particular speaker, so take this with a grain of salt, and more importantly, LISTEN to them if you are interested. This is just an OPINION of mine of those speakers I've heard. Full disclosure: I haven't bought any of these speakers, but right now I'm leaning toward the NHT 3.3, since I can buy them (1 year old) at around $2500. All the speakers I've heard will either get 3 to 5 stars, since I don't believe any speakers at this price range is capable of getting 1 star (If they do, how many star is my $10 computer speaker? If it's also 1, I'm sure the speaker reviewed will be a LOT better than my $10 computer speaker). A 5 can only be awarded to live performance, and so far I haven't heard anything that sounded like live performance (meaning you can't distinguish whether an instrument sound came out of a real instrument or a speaker).

I am talking about the Silver-i model. Very balanced speaker as far as mids to highs go. I can't say I found any shades of the music being forward. Everything seems to go along their merry way. The music it produces doesn't take you away very far tho. Like someone said, it's a BALANCED speaker, but have nothing extraordinary that can be said of it. I don't know if I like that though, I need more time to think it through. The base is a bit lacking, since it uses I believe only 6" drivers for the ported enclosure. The setup has the PSB sub (forgot what the model name is), but the sub adds a lot to the set when base-heavy materials are used. The sub sounded STRANGE though. I've heard my material so many times, and everytime, there is this one track that has a heavy drum beat, and on ANY OTHER speakers there is an accompanying base-pullback noise. The Silver produces that, but the sub does not. That said, I should say that the sub does not blend very well with Silvers. Need to hear the Gold-i, that is one thing I'm looking for.

A great speaker for all types of music

??

I have had my pair of Silvers ($1200)for about 3 months and have been nothing but pleased. I recently moved, and now am able to set them up properly...even before they were a joy, but since I have walked away thoroughly impressed...after every single listening session! Reproduction of instrumental and vocal timbres is excellent, due to a suberb overall frequency balance. High-end is wonderfully detailed, w/o brashness, and thus imaging is very very good. Mids great, crisp and uncolored.
Bass is plenty for me for almost all situations (even heavy classical music), and I listen to a huge variety of stuff. Overall quality of bass in Silvers is tight and quick. Those who want crazy, extended low bass will want a sub, but then again you would probably crave a sub with any speaker.

You will appreciate how much these speakers deliver for the price. As an audio engineer I have heard lots of speakers, including lots of B&W, Genelec, Tannoy, Paradigm, & Event studio monitors. Silvers are in the same ballpark in my opinion, for much less cost in most cases. Definitely give them a listen, especially if you are considering Paradigm.

This is my third pair of PSB speakers and I have been pleased with all of them. Props to PSB as a company for consistently delivering high quality.

My System for those who care:
-Old-ass Sony CD Changer
-NAD 312 Integrated, using Pre-outs
-Hafler P3000 Power Amp (200W@4Ohms)
-Apature 12-gauge wire w/gold bananas

Similar Products Used:

PSB Century 300i, 800i, B&W's, Paradigm

What do you expect from a guy who's email is punkboy@punkboys.com AKA viekko. I expect an idiot and Viekko delivered. I am suprised Muljadi Budiman gave them 4 stars, he has some pretty stupid reviews all over here in the last 2 weeks. He copies the first 2 or 3 paragraphs over and over and throws in a silly review as the last a paragraph.
First of all, listen to some speakers with out a sub. The sub can mess up the sound if not set-up right, and no, not all stereo shops know how to do it, so don't assume "this is a high end store, they know what they are doing". This Muljadi Budiman idiot rated these the same as Def tech (Yuk, high end stores carry these because they can't carry Bose). I narrowed the list down to the Paradigm 100's and Vandy 2ce's. I had never heard of PSB before. After hearing the Silvers imaging and soundtage I knew they were for me. Much better than the Paradigms, and the bass (not "base", idiots) is suprisingly good (it must be the 2 1/2 way design). It is not too bloated, has decent extension, and is very tight.

I have recently sold mine, I am getting the GOLDi's !!! Yeah (insurance settlement!)

If you have less than $1700 to spend on speakers, definately audition the Silvers, along with the 2ce ( if you are into chamber music and violin solo's they are very good) plus the Paradigm 100's ( if you listen to rock or pop exclusively they rock). But if you want it all, the Silvers are a good choice.

flat,natural sound.

none

very natural sound, combined with no mid bass hump and deep yet clean bass equals an outstanding value.i use them with a rega planet cd player , nice combo . an other plus is the way they look ,very classy . highly recommended.

accuracy, sensitivity, imaging

ultimate bass extension and impact

To my ears, PSB makes the best sounding speakers for the money, out of all the various Canadian and other brands.

The most important musical instrument, IMHO, is the human voice, because our ears are the most sensitive to it, and because it is the one instrument that all of us have heard live unamplified/unaided and know when it sounds "right" or not. It is this instrument that is rendered vividly with detail on PSB speakers, especially the Golds and the Silvers. (Mind you, voice on Magnepans sound positively heavenly, but that's another review altogether.) Getting the midrange frequencies right also helps getting a lot of other instruments right eg. strings, reeds, brass, piano, guitar, etc. Being limited by budget, space, and amp power, I have found that the Silvers are an excellent alternative to the Golds, especially considering that they go for around $1300 Canadian pesos (before tax) here in Canada.

Definitely put them on your short list if you live north of the 49th parallel. And no... I don't work for PSB... :)

Similar Products Used:

compared to similarly priced models from Energy, Paradigm, Snell, NHT, Mission, B&W, Def Tech

imaging, Canadian, Bass

As I said before, Iam upgrading to the PSB speaker line, from the Con-series. The silvers can replace the C-8's with no trouble,( I like the golds better). These speakers perform well in music and Hometheater, and if you are thinking of upgrading you current speakers, email me, I will put you in contact with a great Canadian suppler who will ship anywhere, duty free, and give you best pricing over the phone. The stratus line is hard to beat at these prices, you can email me at babar@uniserve.com.

Similar Products Used:

Energy C-8's

this is an update to my previous review. i took my rega planet and moved it upstairs with my magnapan mmg speakers and moved my rotel rcd971 to my main system with the silvers and can say that the rotel adds more life to the system.the rega also sounds great with the maggies , so alls well that ends well.

I listened to Polk Audios and then to the PSB Stratus Silvers. I liked the sound of the Silvers so much I bought them. They sound great! And I was able to pick them up for $1200 a pair. I have them connected to a Yamaha RX-V995 integrated receiver with 14 AWG Monster 4 conductor cables that I cut to length and connected to the speakers with monster banana connectors (bi-wired). I replaced an older pair of Kenwood towers with these and the difference is incredible. I've seen complaints about these speakers having too much bass and sounding boomy. In the little listening room in the store where I purchased them they definately had too much bass, but when we moved them into another, larger room they sounded great! In my home I also have them in a large living room and again they sound wonderful. The bi-wiring seemed to help too but that could just be in my mind (at 75 cents per foot does it matter whether the better sound is real or imagined? I think not!) The only thing that I don't like about the speakers is the way the carpet spikes are connected to the bottom of the speaker. It was difficult to get the spikes securely attached to the speakers. PSB does have a new Stratus Silver i that has a different bottom plate that may fix this problem. I was able to make it work it just could have been easier. Even with that I still give them 5 stars!

They should have some kind of minimal IQ requirement (at least the national average of 95) or some standard of education (5th or 6th grade would be nice) for people to post here.
Obviously Tony C. (From Philly or New Jersey, you pick) wouldn't qualify. Maybe that's why he won't post his e-mail like the rest of us. Too emabarrased, TonyC@XXXasylum or reform_school.com or something.

1 Star!?

Please.

Do your self a favor as any smart person would. Listen and Compare them yourselves.

Oh yeah, try the Dave's Ture Story "Sex Without Bodies" CD form Chesky (24 bit/ 96 kHz recording) on the Silver's or any other good speaker, simply awesome!!

Frank