Very. Very. Good. Speakers. (priced per pair)
One review on this page has a typical case of 'apples and oranges' syndrome and cites alternatives to assert an opinion against the p5's price and sound quality. Cited in the review are various alternative speakers, some twice the price of the $400/pr p5's. I have come to the conclusion that the reviewer prefers a demonstative style of speaker as opposed to a speaker that a real person sits down and listens to for extended listening sessions. There are those audiophiles who only listen to special music which exalts their gear for demonstation purpose. Look, I'm just a poor soul who likes reliable, predictable sound quality day in and day out. Cited are the Focal 706, again way above $400pr, which are some of the deadest, un-musical speakers I've ever owned. I donated them to Goodwill after years of futility to make them come alive. I think 2 schools of audio thinking are at play. Some listeners seek a live concert sound. Trust me, you're not at a concert. 5-channel surround sound? Sorry. You AIN'T in a theater or the 'middle of the action'. Bottom line: Another person's ear or sense of hearing benefits me not. The PSB p5's are a sublime, immersive speaker that unite you with your music. They excel in the critical mid-range and possess a refined, neutral treble extension that's easy on the ears for long listening sessions. Bass is phat if placed close to rear walls. If you desire live, cupped- hands- to-the-mouth sound, buy klipsch. I have been searching for a speaker like the p5's a long time. No recommendations required, thank you. Additionally, the KEF q150, at MSRP of $599 with regular sale prices of $300, are a fair speaker but unfortunately the coaxial design has such a bright tonal character that I found that when the music was playing I wanted to leave the listening room often. The KEF q150, while decent, have a decided issue with high frequency brightness. I couldn't return them to Best Buy quickly enough with no regrets whatsoever. No, if your aim is to help buyers choose a pair of speakers, it behooves you to know about the science of how humans hear, ie, the science of psychoacoustics. It's been utilized by audio designers and helps speaker designers understand the nature of how we perceive sound. In the PSB the care and attention to psychoacoustics is in ample evidence. When you hear these speakers you don't recoil or run away or shrink into yourself. You simply follow the tunes, no matter how dissonant your jazz is, or how electrifying Miles' jazz -rock becomes. The music is the thing, not the speakers. The alpha p5's are a uniformly correct sounding piece of gear that miss nothing in your music. I admit it. Ear fatigue can be a factor with these speakers--but only after 12 straight hours of listening. Then I'm tired. TIP#1. Adhere to a roughly 6foot by 6foot by 6foot semi-equalateral triangle related to your listening place and the speakers, and the speakers distance from each other. TIP#2. The real icing on the cake to coax the phenomenal sound these speakers have to offer is choosing high quality speaker cables from upper-tier companies that specialize in nothing but, you guessed it, cables! Component interconnect cables and high quality weighted stands filled with sand or lead shot,etc, all go a long way to getting your music off the floor and realizing the music as intended . The reason these speakers are being compared to much higher models is self evident. They're good. I personally am driving the p5s with a Marantz pm6006 integrated using Transparent Audio Wave 200 spkr cable from several years back. As my source a Tascam pro cd player ( cd200bt) connected with Kimber PBJ interconnect. Source material is largely 50s and 60s modern Jazz and Blues. I listen to music everyday. Read more