PSB

What's New

CEDIA Expo 2012: Compact and Portable Audio

Wireless minisystems invade an industry formerly dominated by coffin-sized speakers.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted September 11, 2012
The CEDIA Expo is supposed to be a showcase for custom home theater, multiroom sound, and home automation, but this year a lot of manufacturers didn’t seem to have read the rules. Instead of focusing on in-wall speakers or 12-channel amplifiers, they showcased wireless audio systems, desktop systems, and even headphones.

» Read More
CEDIA Expo 2012: New Soundbars

They’re not just for the big-box stores anymore.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted September 10, 2012
Even though soundbars were pioneered by midline speaker companies like Definitive Technology and Polk, TV companies such as Samsung and Vizio kinda took over the category with ~$300 self-powered models that you didn’t have to connect to a receiver.

» Read More
Review: Audio-Technica ATH-ANC9 Noise-Canceling Headphone

A noise-canceling headphone that takes on the big boys at Bose
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted August 15, 2012
In the unlikely event I ever again decide to pick a fight, it’ll be with someone who looks weaker than me. Obviously, Audio-Technica has a lot more guts than I do.

» Read More
From Boxes to Cans: Seven Headphones from Speaker Manufacturers

Can traditional speaker companies make a mark in the headphone biz?
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted June 25, 2012
- 1
These days, the headphone biz is hot. The speaker biz? Not as hot. So it’s no surprise that every major speaker company is either launching a headphone line or thinking about it. And why not? They’re experts in developing, manufacturing, and marketing audio products. How hard could it be for them to launch a line of headphones?

» Read More
Review: PSB M4U 2

A full-size noise-canceler that competes sonically with the best audiophile headphones
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted June 25, 2012
- 1
When PSB’s Paul Barton recently called me to chat about headphone measurement, it soon became apparent that he’d read every scientific paper ever written about headphones. The first headphone to which Barton brings his ultra-scientific approach is the M4U 2, a noise-canceling model poised to go up against the likes of the Bose QC15.

» Read More
Behind the Screen: PSB at the NRC

A visit to Canada’s National Research Council with PSB Speakers’ Paul Barton
- By Al Griffin
- Posted May 24, 2012
Ever wonder why there are so many great Canadian speaker companies? Here’s one reason: government intervention. Canada’s government-sponsored National Research Council, which, among other things, facilitates research in the fields of speaker measurement, signal processing, and noise control, has proven to be a breeding ground for speaker design.

» Read More
Review: NAD Viso 1 Wireless Digital Music System

A serious speaker designer builds an iPhone dock
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted April 25, 2012
I don’t want to call Paul Barton a brilliant speaker designer, because that might imply that he lucks into occasional flashes of inspiration. No, Barton — founder and chief engineer of PSB Speakers — succeeds because he does the complicated and time-consuming work of building his products using the best science and engineering available. He doesn’t base his design decisions on pet theories, casual observations, or the latest line of B.S. circulating among online audio forums. And to my knowledge, he’s never allowed market trends, cosmetics, or form factors to ruin the sound of his products.
This is why I was so excited to find out last year that Barton was designing a new iPhone/iPod Touch dock for NAD, PSB’s sister brand.

» Read More
Tech Trends 2012: Headphone Haven

This year, veteran firms and upstarts alike gave us an earful
- By Michael Berk
- Posted March 27, 2012
THERE WERE countless headphone exhibitors at CES 2012: familiar names showing incremental upgrades to longstanding models, Chinese OEMs showcasing suspiciously familiar designs under house brands, upstart firms testing the waters with hybrid driver designs and innovative fit systems, automotive and furniture firms muscling their way into the latest hot retail category.

» Read More
Tech Trends 2012: Two-Channel Rulers

Plain old stereo came roaring back at CES 2012.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted March 20, 2012
TRADITIONAL two-channel audio never went away. But there’s no denying that since the early ’90s, stereo has been overshadowed by home theater. Most of the audio industry devoted most of its effort to adding more speakers, more channels of sound, and more complexity to our systems.

» Read More
CES 2012: Speakers

The sweetest sounds and sleekest looks from the Vegas show
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted January 17, 2012
From a technical standpoint, speakers have hardly changed since I went to my first CES back in January 1990. Yet each CES is still jam-packed with new speaker designs. Some are merely modifications on the classic black box. Others are aesthetic flights of fancy intended to captivate those who really don’t much like audio gear.

» Read More
Review: PSB Speakers Imagine Mini Speaker System

Good sound from a small package — imagine that!
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted December 23, 2011
- 5
It’s been a dream of audio engineers and enthusiasts for decades: Create a compact speaker system that performs like a big one.

» Read More
CEDIA Expo 2011: Speakers and Minisystems

A roundup of the coolest new audio toys from the custom installation show.
- By Brent Butterworth
- Posted September 12, 2011
From an audio standpoint, the CEDIA Expo used to be little more than a showcase for in-wall speakers and other products built mainly for multiroom systems and custom home theaters. But with the decline in home sales over the last few years, the custom market isn’t so hot anymore.

» Read More