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In the July/August 2002 issue of WideScreen review, a top-level system
consisting of Stratus Gold s, Stratus Minis, a Stratus C6i center channel,
and a pair of SubSonic 7 subwoofers gets strong approval from Perry Sun of
Widescreen Review. Here are lengthy excerpts from the review:
"In 1972, 21-year-old Paul Barton, having become accomplished with the violin, and
having built speakers as a hobby in high school, founded PSB Speakers ("PSB"
standing for Paul and Sue Barton) as a work/study program at his university in
Canada. In 1974, Barton began to utilize the resources of Canada's National Research
Council, conducting extensive and ongoing research on acoustical reproduction and
perception.
"Over the years, PSB has amassed a
wealth of knowledge from their research on
the interaction between loudspeaker, listener,
and room acoustics, notably in correlating
measurements with listener preferences.
They applied this knowledge base to the
design of their loudspeakers. With an extensive
classical music background, Barton
aimed to design speakers that delivered the
best possible performance in terms of natural
reproduction. But he also endeavored to
design his speakers to excel under realworld
acoustical conditions, and also offer
his products at affordable prices.
PSB's flagship line is their Stratus Series,
comprising three floor-standing models, one
satellite/bookshelf, two center channel models,
and one subwoofer. They offered me
the opportunity to review a surround speaker
setup in this series, and I immediately
accepted. The system selected for my evaluation
consisted of a pair of the top-of-theline
Stratus Gold ($2,699 per pair), four of
the Stratus Mini speakers ($1,099 per pair),
a Stratus C6 ifor center channel ($799), and
two Stratus SubSonic 7 subwoofers ($949
each).
"Nearly all of the main speaker models in
the PSB Stratus Series utilize an enclosure
design featuring four heavyweight aluminum
corners that are vertically oriented and span
the full height of the speaker. These are
speaker's sides. The enclosure's design is
computer modeled and has cross-section
internal bracing. Available finishes include
Black Ash and Dark Cherry wood veneers,
as well as High Gloss Black. (Dark Cherry is
not available for the center channel models.)
PSB pair-matches speakers by the
wood grain on the cabinets.
"The company contends that their family
of speakers share nearly the same timbre,
above each speaker's low frequency limit. It
is interesting to note that PSB lists certain
specifications in their product literature that
their competitors are more likely to omit,
such as frequency response for tolerances
of both 3 dB and 1.5 dB, as well as off-axis
response at 30 degrees. In keeping with the
fact that PSB places special emphasis on
designing their speakers for actual listening
environments, they list sensitivity numbers
for both anechoic chamber and "typical listening
room."
The Stratus Mini's arrangement of drivers
might seem unconventional at first glance.
The 3/4-inch aluminum dome tweeter is situated
below the 6-1/2-inch polypropylene
cone woofer. This is presumably to allow for
some control of vertical dispersion above
the tweeter. Such a design could work well
for rooms that have a lively sonic character,
as well as those featuring little or no
acoustical treatment on the ceiling (which
should be very typical). The satellite speaker
cabinet enclosure is a bass reflex design,
featuring a 2-inch front port. The crossover
is a fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley design, at
2.2 kHz. The rated frequency response of
the Stratus Mini is 50 Hz to 20 kHz, ±1.5
dB. Optionally available for these speakers
are the MS-2 istands which can be attached
to the Stratus Minis via their threaded
inserts. These stands include spiked feet
(and rubber levelers), and can be filled with
sand or lead shot for maximum stability.
Alternately, the Stratus Mini can be placed
on a stand using the included rubber
bumpers.
"The Stratus Gold is a floor-standing
model and is the flagship in the series.
Similar to the Stratus Mini, the 1-inch aluminum
tweeter is situated below the 6-inch
polypropylene cone midrange. Low frequencies
are provided via the 10-inch felt cone
woofer. The cabinet is a bass reflex design
with a 4-inch frontal port. The Stratus Gold's
rated frequency response is 36 Hz to 20
kHz, with a tolerance of 1.5 dB. PSB specifies
the -10 dB point for this speaker at 25
Hz. A third-order Butterworth crossover is
used between the woofer and midrange at
250 Hz, and a fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley
crossover is employed at the transition
between midrange and tweeter at 2.2 kHz.
Spikes and rubber levelers are
provided for the footing. For connectivity,
gold-plated, five-way binding posts are
included, as is the case for all speakers in
the Stratus line. Except for the center channel
speakers, bi-amping or bi-wiring is possible.
"[The Stratus C6i] is a horizontally-oriented center
channel speaker, with two 1-inch aluminum
dome tweeters, vertically stacked, flanked
by two 6-1/2-inch polypropylene cone
woofers. A third-order Butterworth crossover
handles the transition between woofer and
tweeter at 2 kHz. The cabinet, like all other
Stratus Series speakers, is a bass reflex
design, with two 2-inch front ports. The top
and bottom plates for the C6 iare matched.
The rated frequency response for this
speaker is 63 Hz to 20 kHz, again at the 1.5
dB tolerance. Only this, and another, smaller
center speaker in the Stratus line are magnetically-
shielded. The C6icomes with rubber
bumpers for the footing.
"[The Stratus SubSonic 7] subwoofer features a 15-inch polycoated
fiber cone woofer, mounted in an
acoustic suspension cabinet. There is a
Black Roughcast-finished top plate, and the
four vertical sides are wrapped with grille
cloth. For the SubSonic 7, you will not be
able to remove the grille and expose the
driver. For footing, you can use spikes, or
the included rubber feet with rubber levelers.
The rated frequency response is 22 to
150 Hz, ±3 dB. The internal rated power is
330 watts continuous, with 600 watts
dynamic and 1,200 watts peak capability.
The amplifier is a BASH® discrete MOSFET
design, which is hybrid Class D/Class AB
with a switching power supply.
"The SubSonic 7 features both line-level
and speaker-level inputs, and line-level outputs.
The fourth-order Linkwitz-Riley lowpass
filter has an adjustable crossover frequency
between 50 and 150 Hz. The highpass
filter is second-order Butterworth, and
is fixed at 80 Hz. There is also a phase
switch to change between 0 and 180
degrees. Like most other powered sub
designs, the SubSonic 7 can be triggered to
power up through detection of input activity,
and will stand by after a period of dormancy."
"For most of the listening tests, I elected to
bi-wire the Stratus Gold speakers. I also
conducted some tests with a pair of Stratus
Minis placed next to the Golds, so I could
comparatively evaluate their sonic performance.
In terms of bass management, the
Minis were rolled off at 50 Hz. The Golds
usually played full-range, but I had a tendency
to prefer having the low-end routed
to a subwoofer.
"The Stratus Series system performed
remarkably well for surround sound, both in
the reproduction of movie soundtracks and
music. It produced a sonic signature that I
could characterize as smooth and tame.
The midrange seemed to be resolved with a
convincing degree of clarity."
"The tonal reproduction of Stratus
speakers in this critical portion of the sonic
spectrum was certainly commendable.
There was a natural, refined feel to the
reproduction of acoustically natural instruments,
and at times, depending of the
recording, a welcome sense of depth and
therefore a nice rendering of the acoustical
ambience. This was the case for both two-channel
and surround sound listening. For
the former, the Stratus Golds also produced
full-bodied detail in the low-end region,
sometimes with quite impressive dynamic
impact. My only desire would have been for
the bass character of this speaker to be a
little more 'controlled' with frequencies
ranging from the upper low-end to midbass.
The Stratus Mini speakers, when used in
place of the Golds, performed admirably in
terms of matching its midrange timbre, as
well as its apparent low-end response. Both
also produced similar characteristics as far
as imaging was concerned. The PSB
speakers delivered a quite well-focused
phantom center image....The upper section of
the midrange seemed quite defined in
terms of spatial placement, but at lower frequencies
the image sounded as if it were a
little 'blurred.' There could perhaps have
been a design trade-off between imaging
accuracy and midrange tonal accuracy, the
latter of which these speakers could certainly
excel.
"Nonetheless, this remarkable tonal definition
carried over to the C6i center speaker.
It matched the Stratus Golds in terms of
timbre very well, and in this respect is one
of the best I've encountered thus far. It also
handled transients and high SPLs (sound
pressure levels) with movie soundtracks
handily, without sounding distorted or bloated,
or otherwise giving you the impression
that the speaker was overloading."
"The apparent smoothness of this speaker
system translated very well to movie sound
and music surround reproduction, especially
at higher SPLs. As an ensemble, the
speakers did not yield signs of strain, when
pushed hard during the most dynamic or
intense moments in a movie soundtrack.
The upper end of the system's dynamic
range capability seemed a little reserved,
which likely contributed, in a positive manner,
to the system's capability to reproduce
high SPLs with a moderation of harshness
or stridence. Another notable attribute of
this system was the touch of depth associated
with the speakers, something I noted
earlier. With surround sound music, this can
add a bit of 'air' to the soundstage, imparting
some palpable liveliness and warmth.
"Last but not least, some comments on the
SubSonic 7 subwoofer. This acoustic suspension
design is perhaps one of the best
values for subwoofers currently available. At
less than $1,000, I was nothing but
impressed by its performance and its sheer
output capability. With movie soundtracks,
the low-end output was weighty, gutsy, and
with appropriate slam and impact. It was
quite well-paced to effects and also music.
This is clearly one of the top models to be
considered, if you're a die hard fan of deep
bass, and devote a large portion of your
entertainment to movies. The SubSonic 7's
performance with music was also
admirable. When appropriately called for,
the output was deep, prodigious, and quite
precise."
"The PSB Stratus Series should not fail to
deliver to those who seek standout performance
for movies and music. For the former,
you should be able to derive well-balanced,
tame, tonally smooth sound with quite farreaching
dynamic range, even when driving
your system at volume levels approaching
film reference level. For music, this system's
capability to reproduce a sense of natural
smoothness and a touch of warmth should
be admirable. The real bargain, in my opinion,
comes from the SubSonic 7, which
should deliver prodigious amounts of deep
bass with a satisfying sense of impact and
detail, at a very competitive price. I would
recommend this system for those who enjoy
movies at least as much as music."
More:
Info on the Stratus Goldi.
Info on the Stratus Mini.
Info on the Stratus C6i.
Info on the SubSonic 7.
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"I highly recommend them."
In the December issue of Audio, D.B. Keele, Jr. does an in-depth
review of the Stratus Silver and finds it very much to his liking —
competitive with his several-times-more-expensive reference speaker.. The
same issue of Audio has a long feature article about Paul Barton
("Speaker Master Design Class") by David Lander. Here are some excerpts
from Don Keele's thorough and thoughtful review:
"When Paul Barton came up with a name and a designer logo for his future
company, PSB, he was still in eleventh grade. But he'd been building
speakers as a hobby for two years and planned to build them for the rest of
his life….For a number of years, the Stratus series has been at the top of
the PSB line.
"The superscript in its name indicates that the Stratus Silver is an
upgrade of an earlier model (in this case, the Stratus Silver), just as the
Stratus Gold I reviewed for the January 1998 issue was an upgrade of the
Stratus Gold. The Silver is a floor-standing, 2-1/2-way vented tower that
has two 6-1/2-inch drivers and a 1-inch tweeter. Because there are two
small bass drivers, the cabinet is narrower that it might have been if one
large woofer of equivalent area had been used.
"In PSB's Stratus speakers, the tweeters are below, rather than above, the
midrange drivers (or in the Silver's case, the midrange/woofer). This
ensures that any lobing will aim the sound upward, at standing listeners'
ears, not toward the floor. A second large driver below the tweeter gives
the Silver the look of a classic D'Appolito array, in which the tweeter
is between two midranges. In this speaker, however, while the driver above
the tweeter handles midrange and bass, the bottom driver handles only bass
and is rolled off above 500 Hz. The woofer and midrange/woofer do share an
enclosure, which is vented through a 6-inch-long tube that's generously
flared at both ends. All drivers are flush-mounted on the front panel, to
minimize diffraction effects.
"The Silver's 1-inch, aluminum-dome tweeter, built to PSB specifications
by Vifa, is the same driver used in the Stratus Gold. The beefy,
long-throw woofers have unusually large ferrite magnets (4-1/2-inches in
diameter, 3/4 inch thick, and weighing 28 ounces) with rear-vented pole
pieces. Each woofer has a 1-1/2-inch-diameter voice coil, a
polypropylene-cone diaphragm with a rubber surround, and a cast-iron frame."
"Internally, the enclosure is heavily-braced by three shelves and is
constructed of heavy 3/4-inch MDF. The grille, framed in 3/8-inch MDF, plugs
solidly into the front panel.
"Externally, the Silver is elegant, with gracefully rounded corners and
curved corner extrusions of anodized aluminum flanking the front panel. A
pedestal base of inch-thick MDF provides additional stability as well as
attachment points for the adjustable spikes or rubber leveling
feet….Everything about the cabinets conveys the best craftsmanship and
design. My review samples, in high-gloss black, were so well finished that
their sides and tops acted as near-distortion-free mirrors, nicely
counterpointed by the matte black of the front panel and the rounded corner
moldings."
"I was particularly impressed with the Silver's smooth, extended bass
response, and I found them able competitors for my 801s. There were
definite tonal differences; the Silver's were, for example, slightly
brighter and a bit more forward-sounding. But the differences were so small
that it was sometimes hard to tell when I had switched from one to the
other, I found myself tending to prefer the sound of whichever one I had
most recently listened to, a sure sign that the speakers sound quite a bit
alike.
On male speaking voices, the PSBs sounded quite natural and produced no
barrel-chested boominess. Female vocals came through very smoothly, without
harshness or undue sibilance. In a capella choral music, individual
voices and choral sections were very well defined.
One of the first CDs I played through the Silver's was Little Hatch
Goin' Back (Analogue Production Originals APO 2007, distributed by
Acoustic Sounds) a new audiophile direct-to-analog two-track recording of
harmonica bluesman Provine Hatch, Jr. The harmonica and the guitar
accompaniment sounded astonishingly realistic, as if there were right there
in the room with me. Blues doesn't get much better than this!
"The Stratus Silver's were equally adept at complex classical music, such
as Stravinsky or Mahler pieces. The wide, accurate soundstage was coupled
with smooth and extended frequency response. The PSBs also handled
percussion superbly, as evidenced in Mondo Beat: Masters of
Percussion (Narada 7243815788-2-4, highly recommended). On my favorite
track, Tito Puente's "Ti Mon Bo" (recorded in 1957 and transferred to CD
with 20-bit mastering), the Silver's quick and sure response extended
from bass drum, through bongos, up to the tip-top Latin percussion instruments.
"On the stand-up/sit-down test with pink noise, the Stratus Silver's
vertical coverage was nearly perfect, keeping upper-midrange tonal changes
to a minimum when I stood up. Laterally, the PSB's coverage was extremely
uniform over the full width of the couch in my listening room.
"On low-frequency band-limited pink noise, the PSB's performed quite
well….The Silver'is had some usable output at 20 Hz, and could play quite
strongly at 25 and 33 Hz, albeit with some port wind noise. Although the
801s could generate significantly higher fundamental levels at 20 Hz, their
ports produced significant wind noise too. At higher frequencies, the
Stratus Silver's maximum output was quite good, just about equaling the
801s'.
"On pop/rock pipe organ with heavy bass and other music that should be
played loud, the Silver's didn't wimp out. Their bass output did not
equal the 801s' at high levels, but was still very satisfying, louder and
deeper than you might expect from a speaker of its size.
"The PSB Stratus Silver's offer considerable value. Their great sound gave my B&W 801s a very good run for the money, and their appearance is of the
same high caliber. I highly recommend them."
More Info: Stratus Silveri.
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"The best recreation of a concert hall listening
experience that I have heard
from a single pair of box speakers."
In the January issue of The $ensible Sound, Joseph M. Cierniak takes
a long and appreciative look at the Stratus Goldi.
Performance and value are solidly linked at the magazine, and Cierniak's review
makes clear he places the Gold in the top echelon on
both counts. His review cuts to the chase in its very first sentence.
"Why wait until the last paragraph or so of this review? I'll say right up
front that the Stratus Gold i speakers by PSB are among the finest speakers
I've ever had the privilege of reviewing."
"'Superb sound of the forehearable future' is an apt description."
"If a product is good, it's good right out of the box. This was the case
with PSBs. No need for any agonizing, tweak ritualized nonsense of breaking in
the speakers for 32 weeks or placing them on titanium spikes, or finding the
right (and expensive) cables to maximize the synergistic effect of cable and
speaker, or finding the right (and expensive) amplifier for maximizing the
synergistic effects between amplifier and speakers [etc]. These speakers would sound
good just out of the shipping boxes, sitting directly on the floor, using any
proper size (gauge) cable purchased from your local hardware store, and being
driven by any appropriately powered amplifier
"
"I tire very quickly," Cierniak continues,
"of reading about the "specialized" speakers that are supposedly
only at their best when playing rock music, or
symphonic, or jazz, or vocal, or banjo, or whatever, ad nauseam. As
you'll see, the PSBs do it all without any strain. Loud, soft, one
instrument, many instruments, one voice, many voices, the PSB Stratus Gold i's reproduce
the music accurately, and at realistic levels."
After describing wrestling the 95-lb speakers out of their boxes and getting
them on their feet and connected, Cierniak says this about placement:
"Placing the PSBs is straightforward and requires a minimum amount of time
and effort. Isn't this the way it should be?"
"Once I set up the PSBs, the ultimate compliment follows: during the time I
used the PSBs as my reference speakers, I found myself listening to the
music and not the speakers. These speakers were so good that I had to make a
conscious effort to concentrate on my reviewing responsibilities and not get
lost in the music."
Cierniak goes on to call out (with recorded examples ranging from string
quartet to a steam locomotive!) the speakers' tremendous dynamic range and
notable accuracy. When he gets to an unusually direct test of the latter,
checking the recorded sound of the Baltimore symphony, whose concerts he
attends regularly, on each of the 23 different solo instruments in Benjamin
Britten's Young Person's Guide to The Orchestra, he has this to say:
"[Using this piece] I can make a direct, uncluttered comparison of what I
hear in the concert hall and what I hear coming from the speaker. And I am here
to tell you that the PSBs are just a little closer to producing the actual
concert hall sound of an instrument than most speakers I've heard. As an example,
they pass with flying colors the very difficult job of being able to accurately
reproduce the timbral and tonal differences between the viola and violin.
There's no confusion as to which instrument one is listening to."
Cierniak also has strong praise for the Goldi's performance on voice:
"I have very seldom heard the voice reproduced quite as accurately as with
these speakers. No boominess to the male voice or wall-climbing shrillness
to the female voice. Just the voice as close to the way you hear it at a live
performance."
Cerniak also singles out the speakers' excellent soundstaging for
commendation, again pointing to his own reference of live concert-hall sound:
"The PSBs
do more than their part in creating a soundstage that duplicates the sonic
signature of the original venue. The comparison speaks well of the PSBs.
The resulting sound is the best recreation of a concert hall listening
experience that I have heard from a single pair of box speakers"
Can he top that? Only with this real-world coda about the speakers
"non-temperamental nature":
"If the PSBs have a sweet spot, it's one of the largest I've ever
encountered. You can move left/right or up/down and there's very little difference in the
sound compared to staying glued in one spot. I'm not the first to say this,
but listening to the PSBs is having all the advantages of headphones (such as
freedom of movement) without any of the disadvantages."
"I think you get the picture by now. Absolutely wonderful sound from
non-fussy, medium-priced speakers."
Info on the Stratus Goldi
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In every year's final issue, Stereo Review's "Reviewer's Choice"
roundup identifies the products its reviewers feel to be the cream of the
year's crop. We're happy to report the magazine's December 1998 issue so
recognizes the Stratus SubSonic 3i. Citing "new standards for
electronic sophistication and eloquent style," and the ability to "play
loud and look great," critic Tom Nousaine says: "The PSB even struts its stuff inside a tiny 2-square-foot floor area."
For other recent recognition for the Sub 3i, please see the next item.
 Adds Stratus Bronze to Its List
of Recommended Components
That Makes Nine!
In its October issue, Stereophile has added the new Stratus Bronze,
which it reviewed not long ago, to its list of Recommended Components.
Needless to say, we're delighted — not just about that, but about the
grand total of nine PSB speakers now on the list.
For the particulars please see our Awards and Recognitions page.
Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity Web Site
Reports on the Stratus SubSonic 3i
In the October issue of the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity
Web Site, John E. Johnson, Jr. has some nice things to say about the
Stratus SubSonic 3i subwoofer.
Some quick quotes:
"The 3i is not really very big as far as 15" subs go, but it is big
enough. It has a black matted wood top, and the rest of the enclosure is
surrounded by a black knit sock which is pulled over the enclosure,
tightened, and knotted at the bottom after attaching the plastic feet. This
keeps the cost down ($899 is not very much money for a sub of this power),
yet the subwoofer has an attractive look to it."
"I was immediately struck with the fact that the 3i has a very tight
bass, rather than a rolling sound. This is unusual for a subwoofer of this
size
I am not sure how Paul Barton keeps the driver under such control,
but nonetheless, it is there. I know he has spent a tremendous amount of
time at the National Research Council facility in Ottawa, Canada, testing
drivers and enclosures. Obviously that research time has paid off."
"With music, the 3i blended seamlessly with the other speakers.
Occasionally, subwoofers will sound 'separate' from other speakers, but not
the 3i"
"Using our DVD collection, I found the 3i capable of maintaining its
poise with the best of them. "Lost in Space" has some great special effects
both in the video domain and the audio. The 3i punched out explosion
after explosion, rocket engine roar after roar, with no strain. It doesn't
move air like the $2,500 subwoofers, but for $899 it moves more than its
share. It has an excellent limiting circuit that keeps things under
control, so that if you should get overeager with the volume control, the
bass will not get out of hand but rather, attains a high level without
going any higher even if you turn the volume control up further."
"In summary, I am very pleased to see that Paul Barton continues to make
great products at entry-level prices. The PSB Alpha bookshelf speakers
astounded everyone (including me) when they were introduced several years
ago
In the $500 to $1,000 range, the Stratus SubSonic 3i is one of
the best we have seen, and it should be on your list of items to check out
when shopping for the big whammy."
Info on the Stratus SubSonic 3i
The debut of the Stratus Bronze in audio stores has been followed by an
enthusiastic review by Muse Kastanovich in the July issue of
Stereophile. After describing the speaker's 'two-and-a-half-way'
design, Kastanovich begins with this description of performance:
"The whole system sounded well balanced frequency-wise (otherwise too)
The
soundstaging seemed quite good, even though I had not experimented with
speaker position yet. No doubt about it, this was going to be an easy review to
write."
Getting into how it sounded with some familiar recordings. On The Cult's
The Manor Sessions, for instance: "..the PSB's silky presentation
ameliorated a slightly nasty treble and top octave on this recording. Where did it go? I
don't know, but good riddance. Ian Astbury's singing was clear as a bell.
Billy Duffy's fleeting guitar riffs were easy to follow as well. The most impressive
things, though, were the low, growling bass guitar line and the big thump of
the kickdrum."
"Disc 3 of Prince's Emancipation was chock full of passion and
groove, as usual. It really got to me....Overall pace, timing, and rhythm were excellent
for such an affordable floorstander.
"Phat Trax Vol. 6 (Rhino R2 72587) just blows me away every time I put
it on. Every instrument on every single song of this old-school funk
compilation fell into place through the Stratus Bronze. Bass guitar lines in
particular showed incredible articulation and wonderful weight."
On the female singing voice: "Paula Cole's This Fire (Imago/Warner Bros. 46424-2) proved the Bronze to be superbly smooth through the midrange, Paula's
voice appeared very realistically from this HDCD disc, her entire range was
even, and her timbre was almost touchingly human."
On the Bronze's appearance: "How dare this poseur stand among the
real-hardwood-veneered, carbon-fiber/Kevlar/metal-composite-coned,
separate-crossover-chambered, silver-wired, expensive speaker masterpieces?
Well, it dares
this PSB is one fine-looking, affordable speaker."
He goes on to talk about the Bronze's operating economy equals its purchase
economy: "Want to know another way these speakers can save you money? Their
high sensitivity (90 dB) means you can get by with a less powerful amplifier.
My Stamina amps clip at less than 20W, and they were able to play as loudly as
I wanted with the Stratus Bronzes. I could go on and on."
The summary:
"With good to excellent performance in just about every specific area you can
think of, the Stratus Bronze is a bona fide bargain."
Info on the Stratus Bronze
"Olympic-level performance"
We have been waiting to see what reviewers would have to say about the
Stratus SubSonic 3i, our new, tremendously powerful (and tremendously
popular) subwoofer. The first answer is now in, and it solidly confirms the
comments we've been receiving from customers.
In the March issue, of Stereo Review, Tom Nousaine reports on five
"Blockbuster" subwoofers — subs that go an extra mile to
stir up more air
at lower frequencies than lesser entries. He clearly finds the SubSonic
3i second to none in the report. Here is a representative sampling of
what he has to say about our top-performance subwoofer.
"This PSB sub follows the high-tech path and sports a 15-inch driver and a 300
watt (700 watt peak) amplifier in a sealed box. Its switched-mode power
supply is so efficient that no heat sinks are required."
"The Stratus SubSonic 3i makes serious bass. I measured its frequency response as 28 Hz to 132 Hz plus or minus 3 dB. In a smaller room, expect a
low end of 26 Hz. At 10 dB down, the response bandwidth was 25 Hz in the big
room, which would translate to 23 Hz in the smaller space. In a very
small room, 20 Hz may be obtainable."
"Operationally, the PSB sub was wonderful. The electronic protection made it
extremely difficult to overdrive the woofer even when I ran it hard enough
to melt the 12-ampere fuse." [!!!]
"With program material, the sub whacked out an amazing 115 dB SPL on the
Clear and Present Danger bomb and on the Bass Erotica CD, and
it also averaged 115 dB over the three music tracks. This, too, is
Olympic-level performance."
We would certainly agree with Tom Nousaine that the Stratus SubSonic 3i belongs in the (very rare) class of "killer, high-tech, high-output subwoofers." And we'd urge you, when it's time for your own
listening tests, to enjoy it not only on HT spectaculars but your own choice
of solid-foundation music. We've gotten comments from customers and
retailers that the 3i not only knocks your socks off on movie effects
but is a very musical subwoofer. You have to hear this exceptional
product to see why the first response to it has been as solid as the response from it.
More information on the SubSonic 3i here.
Audio Magazine Reviews The Stratus Goldi
D.B. Keele, Jr. of Audio, one of the world's most knowledgeable and
thorough writers about reproduced sound, was the first reviewer of the
original Stratus Gold several years ago, and his enthusiastic recognition of
both the Gold's sonic performance and its tremendous ruggedness ("The
10,000-watt speaker!") helped get it off to a running start in the audio
world. Now he has turned his detailed attention to the new Gold, and what he has to say should add substantially to the excitement already out there.
Beginning with the statement that we didn't want to upgrade our flagship
speaker unless we could make meaningful improvements, and citing Paul
Barton's use of the National Research Council's newly re-done anechoic
chamber in developing the Gold , Keele has things
like the following to say about the new speaker:
"The Stratus Gold looks sleeker than the original model,
because its cabinet is narrower (but deeper), and its edges are now rounded to reduce
diffraction, improve horizontal coverage, and provide a slight but
noticeable improvement in imaging."
"The 10-inch woofer's voice coil, 2 inches in diameter, has also been
revised to withstand higher temperatures, substantially increasing the
Stratus Gold's power handling. It has a very heavy, 40-ounce, ceramic
magnet and a cone of felted paper treated for increased stiffness, with a
butyl rubber surround."
"Low-frequency response is particularly good, only 3 dB lower at 35 Hz than
at 100 Hz and 6 dB below the 100 Hz level at a low 28 Hz."
"The off-axis response [high-frequency] is very uniform, with minimal
narrowing above 10 kHz. At 30 degrees off axis, response is down merely 3 dB
at 13 kHz."
"The Gold's woofer was capable of very large excursions,
about 1 inch,
peak to peak. I was impressed by its clean output from 24 Hz up; the sound
was quite effortless in this range when the speaker was driven by 100 watts."
"On the whole, the Gold measured about the same as, or
slightly better
than, the original Gold in almost every respect."
"On Liszt's Works for Violin and Piano (Dorian Recordings DOR
90251),
the Stratus Golds delivered a very tangible and believable image and a
neutral, effortless sound that was very much to my liking. The violin was
particularly realistic: quite pure, clean, and accurate, as if it were right
in the room with me. The one solo piano track, "Hungarian Rhapsody,"
demonstrated the PSB's excellent dynamics, with the low registers of the
piano exercising the speaker's excellent bass capabilities. Next, I listened
to Louis Moreau Gottschalk's "Cakewalk," played by John Arpin (Pro
Arte/Fanfare CDD 515). In this solo piano album, the best piano CD in my
collection, the PSBs produced a clean, wide-range sound and impressive dynamics"
"The PSBs dynamic range was also demonstrated very ably on track 2 of a
jazz/pop album by Billy Cobham, Power Play (GRP Records GRD-9536).
Here the Stratus Golds exhibited an intensity and vigor matched by few
other speakers. Peak levels on the synthesized percussive sounds were quite
impressively clean, while the kickdrum had a solid, tactile whomp. On
Tropic Heat, a Latin jazz CD by Dave Valentin (GRP Records GRD 9769),
the PSBs reproduced the brasses very realistically, re-creating the high
levels and bite and blat of the trombones and the growl of the saxes."
"The Stratus Golds were at ease on a wide selection of
music, from the
sedate to the very dynamic, from rock to symphonic, and from club to chamber
music. On wide-range symphonic pieces, the PSBs' imaging and soundstaging
were excellent."
"The Stratus Golds were particularly good at reproducing
program material
containing high levels of low bass. They handled essentially anything I
threw in their direction—from pipe organ pedals, to heavy rock kick drums,
to synthesizer bass—with solid, floor-shaking response."
"The PSBs were standout performers...These are accurate, well-balanced
speakers that have deep and powerful bass coupled with an extended and
smooth high end. Do I still like the Stratus Gold in its updated version? An
emphatic yes!" .
More information on the Stratus Goldi here.
"At a whisker under $2400 [$2,699] a pair, the Goldi is going to
put a serious crimp in the sales of its more expensive competitors.
Enthusiastically recommended." Stereophile, October 1997
First Review of The Stratus Goldi
The October, 1997, issue of Stereophile is worth looking up if you missed it the first time around. Besides containing the magazine's semi-annual
listing of "Recommended Components" (see our link on the Home Page to
the several PSB models chosen), it has two revealing reports on PSB. John
Atkinson, Editor of Stereophile, has both interviewed Paul Barton and
conducted the premiere review of the Stratus Gold for his
magazine's October issue. The quote that precedes our headline above is a
good indication of Mr. Atkinson's enthusiasm for this remarkable product.
Here is a representative sampling:
"The original PSB Stratus Gold has been a consistent presence in
Stereophile's "Recommended Components" listing since Thomas J.
Norton first reviewed it in February 1991 (Vol.14, No.2....When Tom Norton
did a "Follow-Up" review on the original Stratus Gold (Vol.20, No.4, p.247),
he concluded that 'you can also spend a lot more than the price of
the Stratus Gold and end up with far, far less.'"
"The Gold i, introduced to the public at HI-FI '97 in May, uses the same
three drive units as the original Gold, but in a slimmer, deeper cabinet
that visually echoes PSB's smaller high-end designs, the Stratus Silver and
the New Stratus Mini...."
"Design-wise, the Gold i is not so much a three-way speaker as a
two-way speaker with an integral subwoofer....By placing the lower crossover
at 250 Hz,, the Gold i should benefit from most of the virtues of a
minimonitor — good, well-defined imaging, and good dispersion — coupled
with the ability to produce low frequencies at high levels."
"I initially set the Stratus Gold is up in the Stereophile
listening room. Even without careful setup, it was obvious that something
good was going on: the midrange was clean and uncolored, the stereo imaging
well defined and stable, and the bass generous without being boomy. Extreme
highs were a bit mellow, but this was not a bad thing."
"Encouraged, I moved the PSBs to my own listening room. While the balance
changed slightly — the top octave now sounded more extended, though it
still lacked a little air in absolute terms — what didn't change was my
very positive opinion of the speaker's basic character. This is one fine
design."
"The midrange was one of the glories of the original Stratus Gold, and the
i is also a leading contender in this region. Try as I might, there
was no coloration I could readily identify. The BBC's live orchestral
recordings, available each month with BBC Music Magazine — thank you
Sam Tellig for telling me about their excellent Dvorak Symphony 7 — were
reproduced with their unhyped, delicately natural balances intact. And Keith
Johnson's superb series of HDCD recordings of the Minnesota Orchestra
conducted by Eiji Oue had a natural sweep to the sound that literally took
my breath away...With lesser speakers, diverse instruments tend to acquire a
sameness about their sounds. By contrast, the Gold i preserved all
the tiny tonal differences, for example, the English Horn from the oboe, the
viola from the violin, even when they are playing notes with the same pitches."
"The Stratus Gold i also scored bigtime in the low frequencies.
Where a speaker had true bass information, the speaker reproduced it in full
measure. The 8-octave bands on Test CD 3 sang out at full level down
to 32 Hz, with the 20 Hz band still audible. Well-recorded classical
orchestral music had an appealing richness, but without the characters of
the bass instruments being smeared by boom. In fact, while low-frequency
instruments had excellent weight, they also had a superb sense of pace. My
traditional test for this aspect of a speaker's performance is Pat Metheny'
"Last Train Home," from Still Life (Talking) (Geffen GEFD 24145-2).
Metheny's electric sitar is underpinned by a repeated-eighth-note line on
the bass. With many speakers, these repeated notes tend to run into one
another, blurring the track's sense of urgency. With the PSBs, you could
almost hear the starts and stops of each bass note. Despite its size and its
genuine bass extension, this is not a slow-sounding speaker. Rather, it is
fleet of foot and light in touch, as you might expect a minimonitor to be if
its response could be extended down to the low-bass region.."
"At a whisker under $2400[$2,699]/pair, the Gold i is going to put a serious crimp in the sales of its more expensive competitors. Enthusiastically recommended."
The full review, with plenty of interesting detail and graphics of frequency
response, is well worth tracking down on the newsstands (probably until the
latter part of October) if you're not a Stereophile subscriber.
All we could possibly add to what's been said in this appraisal of the Gold
i is that it's also a tremendous performer in Home Theater, which the
review didn't explore. You can look long and hard for reviews as
enthusiastic as this one — a fact that makes the following entry pretty
remarkable as well.
More information on the Stratus Goldi here.
"Here are speakers that give you an accurate portrayal of the actual
event."
Revisit to Stratus Mini by The $ensible Sound
Brings Satisfaction to Critic and Us
In the September/October 1997 issue of The $ensible Sound, Tom Lyle
describes what he found when he decided to re-visit the PSB Stratus Mini,
which he had reviewed very favorably only a year before. What prompted the
reexamination was curiosity -- first about how good these speakers would
sound after upgrades to his main listening system, and then about how well
they might serve as replacements for the monitor speakers he uses constantly
in his recording studio. The monitors he has been using are, like those
favored in many studios, extremely analytical: with everything other than
mid-range and top-end detail subdued to help keep track of the presence and
balances of instruments in a multi-track recording. But while his monitors
had served well for keeping those critical balances straight, they weren't
giving him a sense of how a recording would sound under real-world,
real-listening-room conditions with good-to-excellent full-range speakers of
the quality he preferred for his own at-home listening.
His first re-check of the Stratus Mini's sound, in his living room, brought
this reaction:
"Wow! These speakers were even better than I remembered them. The soundstage
was huge. It seemed to extend behind the speakers past the rear wall, and
spread from about 2' to the sides of the speakers and filled the space
between them. Maybe it was because my system has had some upgrades since the
[original] review, especially in its front end, that caused the
improvements. Whatever the reason, I didn't remember the PSBs sounding
this good. The bass that I spoke of in the original review, where I
said it was 'slightly woolly but otherwise excellent' sounded ruler-flat
down to its specified 35 Hz."
"Thirty-five Hz? Yes, these small speakers had a very respectable low end,
even rivaling some floorstanders I've heard.....Kick drum on rock and roll
passed through these speakers with a convincing thud, and double basses on
orchestral or jazz albums didn't need the highs of the string buzz or the
sound of the rosined bow striking the string to identify them."
"The mids and highs sounded remarkably natural. If one were to put a
critic's sonic magnifying glass up to them, I guess slight peaks and valleys
in their frequency response would be evident. But, judged on sheer
musicality, the Stratus Minis sounded entirely without peer when compared to
other small speakers I've heard in their price range. The 'in the room
with you' or 'in the space with the musicians' effect was clearly
evident." [The bold type is ours. We love to call extra attention to
that kind of statement.]
It was after his initial re-immersion in the Stratus Mini's sound, that Lyle
decided to check them out as studio monitors. Since he couldn't duplicate
their usual out-in-the-room placement in his studio, he placed them on their
sides on either side of his control console. Here are his responses:
"I played some multi-tracks and finished masters, and what struck me
immediately was that what was coming through these speakers sounded like the
finished product through a 'real-world' system, but at the same time they
offered excellent retrieval of low-level detail, were full range, and were
transparent to the source. I could crank the volume without the Minis
breaking up until the volume was unbearable. Almost as important was that
they were easy on the ears, that is, it took a long time for listening
fatigue to set in (this is crucial, because in the studio I might have to
listen to one song a zillion times before getting it right.)"
After comparing the sound of a master tape from his studio with a copy of
the finished product on far more expensive speakers in his main home
listening room, he concluded that what he heard sounded like exactly the
same mix. That led to a month-or-more extended period of using the Minis as
his monitors, which evoked the following feelings:
"Here were the monitors I was looking for. These were speakers that were
accurate enough to detect slight variances in a recording, [with] a
frequency response to judge the sound quality of just about any instrument,
and at the same time, they had a real-world sound."
"'But what relevance does all this have to the audiophile,' you may ask.
Tons. Here are speakers that give you an accurate portrayal of the actual
event that was recorded onto the tape, and encoded or pressed onto a CD, LP,
Mini-Disc, DAT, DVD, Elcassette, 8-track cartridge, or whatever medium du
jour one is using. When listening to the PSB Stratus Minis in either my
home stereo system or my home studio, I never felt I was missing anything
that either the musicians or the recording engineer wanted me to hear (or
didn't want me to hear!). This, combined with the PSB's natural portrayal of
acoustic instruments, make this a true high end speaker worthy of almost any
system where a small speaker is desired."
Lyle's very final words were perhaps the most definitive:
"And yes, I bought the review pair."
More info on the Stratus Mini Here.
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