Clarity and sound reproduction

Bass response

I have listened to a seemingly endless number of speakers and could not find a better speaker, dollar for dollar, than the PSB Stratus Silver's. I listened to speakers ranging from $750/pair to $23,999/pair and my choice was the Silver's.

I have listened to everything from Pink Floyd and Stevie Ray Vaughn to Tchaikovsky and was unbelievably pleased with the sound quality. My only recommendation would be to buy a subwoofer if you were putting together a home theater.

I bought them at Nicholsons HiFi in Nashville and was extremely pleased and surprised by the knowledge and helpfulness of the salesman I dealt with.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Boston Acoustics

Look Great-Cherry Finish
Sound Great
Very Clear
Tight fit of grill to prevent rattling

Grill is a little flimsy

I wanted quality speakers that would last me years to come. When I found these speakers at reliableaudiovideo.com for about $600 off list I couldn't resist. I looked at Paradigm Reference and Paradigm Monitors and B&W. The B&W have a different sound that is not something that is going to appeal to everyone. Plus they are pricey. I liked the Paradigms, but couldn't find them discounted and though the silveri's looked great. They are placed prominantely(sp?) in my family room so looks were important.

If you are into the no-grill look, I don't think these look that great. The pegs to attach the grill are on the speakers not the grill itself, so they are visible when the grill is removed.

The speakers look fantastic. They do not have a scratch on them. The packaging is very heavy to protect the speakers which were sent all the way from NY. The speakers sound great to me, but I have no reference to compare to. The metal edging on the 4 corners of the speaker give them a sturdy feel. The speakers aren't terribly heavy either. About 60 pounds. The comperable Paradigm Reference speakers were around 100. I don't think you can go wrong with these speakers. They don't deliver a ton of base unless I use the "loudness" button on my receiver to boost the base response. They can hit pretty good though for 6 inch speakers.

Similar Products Used:

None, first speakers

Soundstage, Flexibility

none

The PSB Silver i's are a very nice set of speakers. They have a nice soundstage to them. I do think they can play a little bright at times. I originally had them as my main front speakers, but I moved them to my rear speakers. The sound from this 2 1/2 way speaker is truly incredible at the price these are in. I am very pleased with the PSB line as a whole. I have the Sratus Silver i's, a C-6 center, a pair of Stratus Mini's and a PSB Subsonic 3i. All of these speakers are in the high gloss black.

Spatial imaging, nuetral deatailed midrange, tight bass response

Excellent all around performer that is still reasonably priced for average audiophile. Spatial imaging is the stand
out quality here, wide and deep with excellent detail, I
use near field position (equilateral triangle config) with
speakers 6ft apart toed in. Sound is nuetral to very slightly warm. Vocals are very natural without a trace of sibliance, highs are liquid and sweet. Bass response is fast and tight with good extension, however to get the visceral impact that will nail you to the wall you must go to Gold-i model, however many people will prefer the more limited extension of the Silver-i because of tightness and speed.

I recommend if possible listen with grill cloth removed, extra detail will be revealed, yet still retain nuetral/warm
sound. I think visual appearance is quite attactive even with grill cloth removed. So in summary this has to be on short list for any audiophile looking for new speaker in this price range, 6 stars for value (retail is $1799, but available many places on internet for @$1300-1400) My system:

Musical Fidelity X-Ray cdp
.5m SilverAudio Hyacinth
Musical Fidelity X-P100 preamp
.5m SilverAudio Hyacinth
Musical Fidelity X-AS100 amp x 2 (bi-amped)
6ft AudioQuest Argent speaker cables
PSB Silver-i speakers

Similar Products Used:

Spendor SP1

Tight bass, good soundstage

A tad bright in the treble and the mid-range

I did like these speakers though they were a little bright in the upper frequencies. A solid speaker but a little expensive when compared to other speakers that perform well in their price range. I actually prefered the Paradigms a little better.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Paradigm, JBL

Clarity,imaging, accuracy

none

First of all, my thanks to everone who posted at this site. The information posted here is invaluable.

At the end of my two-month long search for the "perfect" sound within my budget, I finally decided on Silver(i). Would have gone for the Gold, but my listening room and my receiver are probably not big enough.

The models I seriously looked at before making the final selection were Polk 2000, NHT 2.9, Paradigm Studio 80, B&W DM604, B&W Nautilus 804.The only speaker that sounded better to my ears are the Nautilus. They were about $1000 more expensive. Imaging of NHTs are fantastic, but they lack the bass.

Initially, the speakers sounded a little bright on the high end. Now they sound perfect. Either I am getting used to the sound or there is a break in period. Bass is very tight and sweet. I would have liked the bass to go little lower. That would be asking too much from 2 6.5-inch drivers.

The speakers are connected to Nakamichi AV-10 with Tara Lab biwire cables (btw, they sound much cleaner when biwired). I use them mostly for music. Cannot say much about HT performance. Great speakers ! Definitely worth the price.

Similar Products Used:

Pioneer old tower (forgot model No.)

I just received a PSB speaker system that I ordered less than a week ago from ReliableAudioVideoCom. I admit to being a little cautious ordering from these people after reading the bad review someone gave them back in July but a friend of mine who has ordered from them before assured me that he never had a problem with them and so I placed the order. I was not expecting much when I called but the guy on the phone was very courteous and seemed to know what he was talking about. I bought speaker cables from him also after realizing that it took a lot of cable to wire a surround sound system and the price he gave me was far below what I would have paid locally. All I can say is dealing with them was a huge relief after the negative experiences I've had with others and I'd definitely order from them again.

Large sweet spot, easy to drive, well built, elegant appearance (pedestal base more attractive than original Silvers)

Cherry is too dark to show off nice woodgrain

I have owned these speakers for nearly three years and they have never disappointed. The Silver i's have a very wide soundstage and a much bigger sweet spot than the Apogee Stages they replaced. They are a bit to the warm side of neutral, so you can get away with a brighter cable like the Nordosts. Also because of their warmer nature, they're not the best speaker for someone seeking detail above all else. Although you could run them with a 25 wpc amp, I've found that more powerful amplifiers make them sound much more open. Also, although they're not a speaker you need to rearrange the furniture for, they do reward you for giving them a couple feet of breathing room in back.

With jazz and intimate live music, they really draw me in. They're perfect for acoustic music and vocals (Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega, Joni Mitchell). With artists such as Moby and The Orb, I'm always surprised by the depth and quality of bass for a speaker that looks so unassuming. I haven't found a type of music yet where they just sound "wrong."

At $1800 list, they make the right compromises for me. You can find more detailed speakers for the price, but you'll likely need to give up bass extension, have the speaker wrapped in vinyl, or spend quite a bit on stands.

Associated equipment:
Plinius 8200 integrated amplifier
NAD C541 CD player
Wireworld Atlantis interconnect
Nordost Super Flatline Mark II bi-wire speaker cables

Similar Products Used:

Dynaudio Contour 1.3, Joseph Audio RM22si and RM7si, Vienna Acoustics Mozart, Magneplanar 1.6QR

I received my Stratus Silver-i, Stratus Minis, and Stratus C6 center with a Yamaha RX-V995 less than 2 months ago. 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's 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 have the Silver-I set as fronts with the minis for rears and the C6 as the center for DD and DTS DVDs. The metal spikes/levelers for the bottom of the enclosure are easy to handle. I didn't put them on 'til a month later, but when I did they were easy to adjust for proper balance/angle.

I plopped in a Star Wars cd and sat in the sweet spot in my living room (using just 2 channel audio with the Silver-Is). "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 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". The bass response from these fronts are phenomenal. I am extremely pleased with the whole spectrum so far.

(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.

setup:

Toshiba TP61H95 61" rptv
Toshiba SD-2109 dvd
Yamaha RX-V995 dd/dts receiver
PSB Stratus (all high-gloss black): Silver-I fronts, Minis rears, C6 center (all via 12 gauge)
misc: vcr/cd/effects processor/preamp/dolby-s tape deck

When the best piece of audio equipment you own is a 8 year old Sony boom box with a CD player, it's not hard to better that, and I wanted to do it right.
Building a stereo from the ground up turned out to be a lot more work than i thought it would be. However, with a little bit of research and some time listening and listening to what my ears told me, I found the PSB Silver I's are what I was looking for.

Hooked to:
nakamichi Av-10 receiver.
nakamichi Mb-10 cd player.
Connected via Crystaline monster cables w/ banana clips on the receiver end.

These speakers were tested with a variety of music on a concrete floor in a small music store. CD's listened to that really brough out the full resolution of sound included:

tool
David Palmer & the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra doing Pink Floyd (track #4 specifically)
NIN's broken

I'm very impressed with them, even more so since I brought them home and have about 50 hours on them so far. I'd recommend them to anyone who is interested in a bit more definition of sound vs. pure loudness.