Pickering, Ontario – PSB
Speakers replaced its Image series of in-room speakers, adopting some of the
industrial-design and technology elements of the company’s step-up Imagine and
Synchrony series.
The eight-speaker Image series is shipping and will be displayed
at the CEDIA Expo in September.
Speaker pairs in the series range in price from $299/pair to
$1,199/pair. The selection consists of two tower
speakers at $899/pair and
$1,199/pair, two bookshelf monitors at $399 and $499/pair, a subcompact
monitor/surround at $299/pair, two center channels at $275 and $375 each, and a
dedicated bipole surround at $799/pair.
The Image launch follows last year’s launch of the Imagine series,
whose speaker pairs range from about $1,000-$2,000/pair, and the 2007 launch of
the flagship Synchrony series, whose launch prices ranged from $1,499-$4,499/pair.
All three series share long-excursion,
very high-output woofers to deliver high output in compact enclosures. They
also share titanium-dome tweeter with ferrofluid and neodymium magnet to
deliver smooth, uncolored high-frequency response with high power handling, PSB said. Aluminum phase plus in the three series
to improve high-frequency linearity are featured. Borrowed design cues in the
Image series include slightly rounded edges to eliminate a boxy look.
The Image speakers
are available in black ash or dark cherry vinyl finishes. The step-up Image
series uses real-wood veneers, and the Synchrony series uses wood sidepanels
and aluminum front and back panels.
The $899/pair T5 and
$1,199/pair T6 are slim floorstanding models that are 37- and 41-inches-tall,
respectively. The T5 is a dual-woofer, 2.5-way design with two 5.25-inch woofers
and 1-inch titanium tweeter. The T6 is a three-way dual-cavity, dual-ported
design with dual 6.5-inch woofers, 5.25-inch midrange driver, and 1-inch
tweeter. The T5 and T6 are rated up to 175 and 200 watts, respectively, at 6
ohms, respectively.
The woofers feature injection-molded
diaphragms with a proprietary, clay/ceramic-filled polypropylene cone to
deliver stiffness, internal damping and low mass. The woofers’ magnetically
neutral polycarbonate basket contributes additional stiffness, while its
bullet-shaped phase-plug (borrowing from the Synchrony design) enhances
linearity at higher frequencies.
The T6 Tower, like the Synchrony One tower, is a three-way system with
similar driver configurations and arrangement. Both models also feature each
woofer in a separate chamber with their own port to eliminate such problems as
internal standing waves, said founder Paul Barton.
In dividing and
individually porting the cabinet we address the problem of a standing wave
inside the box found in many tall, slim speaker designs,” Barton said. “Putting
woofers in multiple positions reduces the first-reflection phenomenon,
minimizing the negative effects of the primary ‘floor bounce’ reflections,
resulting in a much more accurate and tuneful bass performance in any setup,”
he added.
The 12.5-inch-tall B5
and 14-inch-tall B6 monitors are intended for multichannel systems, 2.1
subwoofer/satellite systems, and main-channel use in smaller rooms or systems.
They feature 5.25-inch and 6.5-inch woofer, respectively, coupled with a 1-inch
tweeter. They use the injection-molded, clay/ceramic-filled polypropylene
designs of the Tower drivers. The monitors are rated up to 125 and 150 watts at
6 ohms, respectively.
The B4 subcompact
monitor/surround features 4-inch
woofer and 1-inch titanium tweeter for multichannel applications. The
9.13×5.25×6.5-inch speaker It shares the driver platform and design features of
the larger models, and adds to the series’ broad appeal and flexibility.
The C4
and C5 center channels are two-way horizontal models, the former with dual
4-inch woofers flanking a 1-inch titanium tweeter. The latter uses 5.25-inch
woofers. The cabinets are only 5.25- and 7.13-inches tall, respectively, for
placement near flat-screen TVs. The S5 bipole surround can be
wall-mounted with included hardware.
