The PSB Alpha iQ Streaming Powered Speakers with BluOS are a truly amazing pair of speakers. They offer stunning sound quality, a wide range of features, and a sleek and modern design. The sound quality of the Alpha iQs is simply incredible. They produce a rich, full sound that is perfect for any genre of music. The bass is deep and powerful, the mids are clear and balanced, and the highs are crisp and detailed. The speakers also offer a wide soundstage, so you can enjoy music in its full glory. In addition to their excellent sound quality, the Alpha iQs also offer a wide range of features. They are equipped with a built-in BluOS streamer, which gives you access to a wide variety of streaming music services, including Spotify, Tidal, and Qobuz. The speakers also support Bluetooth and AirPlay 2, so you can easily stream music from your smartphone or tablet. The Alpha iQs are also very easy to use. The BluOS app makes it easy to control the speakers and access your music collection. The speakers are also very well-built and finished, and they look great in any home. Overall, the PSB Alpha iQ Streaming Powered Speakers with BluOS are an excellent choice for anyone looking for a high-quality pair of speakers. They offer stunning sound quality, a wide range of features, and a sleek and modern design. If you are looking for a pair of speakers that will make your music sound its best, the Alpha iQs are a great option. Read more
First, I do have several Apple AirPlay speakers and a Sonos. I used them for general music listening and TV watching and have been satisfied with them. However, it hasn’t been until until that I have realized what I’ve been missing in my music, such as natural balanced vocals, distinguishing the subtle stringed instruments in the background. The PSB Alpha iQ do complement the acoustics in my apartment, I can make out what I’m listening to all the way into my kitchen. The small foot print is surprising with the quality of sound projecting out of them. The chamber seems to be well insulated, the sound is projected outward and the objects on my shelf doesn’t rattle like some speakers I have tried. I feel the sound around and take it inside me. May seem weird to some, however that is my personal experience with the music I listen to. I am thoroughly pleased with the product and honored to have them in my life. Thank you! Read more
Whew what a title, let’s start with amazing. PSB Alpha iQ sounds amazing; and they should at this price point. I first set the Alpha iQ as a nearfield stereo. Opened the BluOS app ( which I Love ) and started the Amazon Music HD and the speakers sounded Amazing--eventually. Ok, side note, I’m normally not a play pink noise through the speakers for X-100’s of hours before you listen to them. The change in sound of these speakers as they played was the uncanniest experience I have ever had. Started my play list and the 1st song was unimpressive with 0 sound stage. Ok, some songs just sound better on other speakers. Next song: still not impressed. The 3rd song sounds better, ok, this is more like it. 4th song the sound stage opened-up some and by the time the 5th and 6th songs played the speakers completely disappeared. The sound was rich and full and detailed. The placement of the singer and instruments became pinpointed. I restarted the play list and the 1st song sounded amazing. Ok, these speakers need breaking in for about 6 songs. The built in DSP has a boosted bass that will allow the speaker to sound great even at lover levels. I then set the speakers up in a small room about 12 X 12 feet between our 85” TV. They are about 85” apart with 7” from the back wall. In my setup the sound is fantastic, lively, and open with great detail and NO fatigue. Truly a great pair of speakers that are small and unintrusive without sacrificing sound quality. Psb says the speakers should be within 15’ of each other and at least 3 inches from the back wall with good air circulation for heat dissipation. I never played these speakers at high output levels. They get plenty loud but when you start pushing them the bass boost becomes more apparent, and sounds become overly chesty. You can EQ the speakers or defeat the bass boost by turning on the sub output. I would not use the PSB Alpha iQ for home theater, nor are they designed for that purpose. I did test the Alpha iQ with a sub, but I’ll put those results down below. These are great sounding small, beautiful, minimalist speakers. These speakers are Petite with a bottom mounted tweeter. 5.7 x 9.7 x 7.6 inch or in metric 145 x 246 x 192mm. My ELAC DBR62 Reference looks like large speakers next to the psb Alpha IQ. Fit and finish is high quality with a soft white paint that is not a fingerprint magnet. The aluminum back plate and stripe around the speaker is attractive and it is a heat sink for the amplifiers. Amplifier Power (per speaker) Tweeter = 30 watts, Woofer = 60 Watts. There are no speaker grills, but the components are attractive with the multi-functional light inside the tweeter guide, which is adjustable with settings of normal, dim and off. You do have to adjust the light on both left and right individually in settings. The primary speaker on top surface has pause/ play button along with up-down volume level. But most of the time you’ll be using the BluOS app from your phone or tablet. Did I mention I love BluOS? The back plate on the primary speaker has a power plug, phono input with ground, Sub out with adjustable crossover setting. Optical input, 3.5mm input, HDMI eARC for tv sound(PCM only). Finally, there is a LAN port for internet and an USB Type A that you can connect a storage device that is FAT32, NTFS or ext4. So, you can put a thumb drive in it or connect an external hard drive to it and play music straight from that drive. The secondary speaker has a power inlet, factory reset and a Service USB port only. No cable connection is needed between the 2 speakers for playback. Set up is a breeze. Plug in both speakers to a power outlet, launch the app on IOS or Android, Accept agreement and you’re on BluOS. The only wires that must be attached to the speakers is each one needs a power cord that is provided. That’s it, no cables between the 2 speakers or any other wire connections required. Ok, confession time; I am a BluOS fangirl. This is not my first BluOS device as I have the newer Bluesound NODE in my collection. The psb Alpha IQ works seamlessly into my speakers around the house. Bluesound NODE will work maybe on WiFi but to have zero issues you need to use the ethernet connection instead. I am very impressed with Alpha IQ and WiFi, zero issues on WiFi and of course no issues if you use the ethernet connection. ALPHA iQ BEST PRACTICES says a wired connection is always best and I agree. You can Airplay directly to the speakers and if you have an android device, you can always Bluetooth from that device to the speakers, but there is no Chromecast. Would I recommend the Alpha iQ and the answer is yes. It has BluOS and amazing sound. Alpha iQ are perfect in any medium to small room. The cost is justified, a Blluesound Powernode has almost as many watts per channel with a retail price of $949.00. Then you need a great quality bookshelf speaker and that’s going to cost $500-$700. Having an already optimized DSP onboard for amazing sound and no speaker wires draped on the furniture, I’m thinking this is a bargain. If you want to turn the sound from amazing to 11 the secret with Alpha iQ is the subwoofer output. As soon as you enable subwoofer the bass boost in the DSP cuts off. I paired the Alpha iQ with a single 3000 Micro Subwoofer and set the crossover at 80 MHz. Wow, just Wow. Do you need the sub, no, and I feel you will be very happy with the speakers out of the box. I was incredibly happy with my purchase. I hope this helps you in your decision in purchasing an ALPHA iQ. Read more
