The TRUE COST of GREAT SOUND? PSB Speakers Synchrony T600 Review

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► SHOP PSB SYNCHRONY T600 TOWER SPEAKERS


► TESTING THE PSB T600 SPEAKERS

POWER
XTZ A2-400
Canor AI 1.10

TURNTABLE

TV + MUSIC

► COMPARABLE TOWER SPEAKERS UNDER $1000

Heco Aurora 1000
Heco Aurora 700

► COMPARABLE TOWER SPEAKERS UNDER $1500


► COMPARABLE HIGH END TOWER SPEAKERS

Bowers & Wilkins Diamond Series: dealer only
Focal Utopia Evo: dealer only

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► PSB T600 SYNCHRONY REVIEW

How much should you spend for great sound? How far will you go for great audio? With high end audio, an investment of time and money is often expected. After all the time and money spent, are expensive speakers worth the money? Let’s find out as we review the brand new PSB Speakers Synchrony Series T600 Floorstanding Speaker.

00:00 PSB T600 REVIEW (SPECS, DESIGN)
01:52 IS PSB HIGH END
02:13 PSB SYNCHRONY T600 BASS
03:50 PSB T600 MIDRANGE PERFORMANCE
05:07 PSB T600 TWEETER
06:04 PSB SYNCHRONY T600 SOUNDSTAGE & DYNAMICS
07:01 AMPLIFIERS FOR THE PSB T600
08:28 WHAT TO KNOW BEFORE YOU BUY PBS T600
09:19 T600 VS B&W 702 SIGNATURE
09:59 PSB T600 VS BOWERS & WILKINS 800 SERIES DIAMOND
10:40 PSB VS FOCAL DIABLO UTOPIA
11:10 PSB VS KLIPSCH FORTE IV and PARADIGM FOUNDER
12:19 T600 VS FOCAL CHORA 826 and KLIPSCH RP-8000F
13:27 BONUS CONVERSATION WITH KRISTI

► ANDREW ROBINSON FLOORSTANDING SPEAKER REVIEWS


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#psbspeakers #hifi #audio

[andrewrobinsonreviews]

★ *QOTD: How much are you willing to invest (be it time or money) in high end audio? Does the same apply to budget gear?*
★ *CLICK ⌄ “SHOW MORE” in the description for answers to many of your questions*
★ *RULES: Please be respectful. NO OUTSIDE LINKS, URLs, email addresses, etc.*

[veritas]

I love Kristi. She is so honest and straight forward. Most reviewers will sugar coat the negatives. She just lay it out as it is.

[billritman]

Don't hold your breath waiting for Paradigm speakers: Went into a dealer here in Southern California to buy some Triangle speakers on August 12th. When my wife saw the size of the Triangles and the fact that they could not be placed close to the wall, she was having none of that. The (very good) sales person then put out a pair of Paradigm Founder 80F (downward ported) speakers, which sounded just wonderful in the albeit perfect listening room. Moreover, my wife liked the much smaller size and the the fact that they could be closer to the wall. Covid and Canadian restrictions are the reasons given for the delay. Hope you have better luck!

[rndm]

Great review and it gives these speakers the attention they deserve!

I lusted after PSB Stratus Gold i’s in my younger years. Got them second hand a few years back. Recently sold and shipped them to a gentleman in Alaska. He paid as much for shipping as the speakers. They’re worth it. But to come to life they needed A LOT of power (like 300+ watts of Krell, Bryson, etc.) and definitely, proper setup. Had my fun and moved on to La Scala’s.

Paul Barton knows what he’s doing but the market has probably closed the gap a lot over the decades. Still, gotta respect what he’s done for the industry.

[josephchamberlain]

The only tinkering I actually enjoy is speaker placement and positioning. I think if I had received those speakers I probably would have sent them back before getting to where you ended up. There are some excellent options in that price category. I'd 100% look elsewhere.

[mocomike]

Thank you Kristi, for expressing exactly how a lot of us feel with the stress of not knowing how things will pair up with each other.

[j.j.h.atemycereal]

Man, Andrew, you really hit the nail on the head saying that, when you spend more, there's an expectation of things being "easier". One of the thing that turns me off of a lot of high end "stuff" (electronics, watches, cars, etc.) is the feeling that you have to tweak it or baby it to get the best out of it. You can't just GO. I wish someone would have explained that to 25 year old me.

[scottmusic]

Great Review you Two!! Always love Kristi's input!!!

Per your discussion, it would SO welcome if companies were able to suggest components (amps -especially) that pair well with their speakers. That's one reason I am missing the ever dwindling free-standing audio stores. The service you could get with the knowledgeable sales people is very surely missed.

Years ago, I purchased a pair of B&W 805 D2 (second hand from a local audio store in the Chicagoland area). The salesman asked what I was going to use to drive them. I had simply planned on using an old stereo receiver I had. I knew very little about audio at the time but knew I loved the sound of the speakers in the shop there. He was great on educating me on the proper pairing of a 'higher-end' speaker with appropriate power needed to get the most out of the speaker. He told me: Take the speaker home, try your receiver and see what you think. I did... it was ok. Sounded decent... I could have probably lived with it. He then had me come back and let me take home to audition a Rotel Pre amp and amp separate with the speakers in my living space. What a difference!!! Definitely night and day sound!!!

With the ever disappearing audio stores (with knowledgeable sales folk)..I too agree it would be great if companies did start recommending or suggesting proper components to go along with their various products!!

Keep up the great work!!! Always enjoy your vids/reviews!!!

[TheStarflight]

The whole point of PSB speakers has always been to be listenable with a wide variety of music without melting your ears.

[mattromano]

For $8000 I don't want anything other than pure joy. All those great amps and one finally worked?

[williamdevereaux]

Excellent review! I recently heard the T600s hooked up to a Mcintosh MA8900 200W integrated amp and they sounded magnificent. Keep in mind that after taxes etc the MA8900 is a 8 thousand dollar amp. Great synergy and the midrange was superb. The base was under control. All int all a fantastic combination. Thanks again for the review.

[MH-rlep]

Andrew….you may want to look at the T600’s little brother, the B600, a stand-mount/bookshelf that reportedly sounds more like a floor-stander. May have suited your room better and been easier to position. Interesting that the rather modest Audiolab drove the T600 so well. Thanks for the thorough review.

[davidrivera]

Kristie, I just love your no nonsense no bs opinion on gear. If by some miracle you could get your hands on Paradigm Persona 3f or better yet 5f, I believe you would love them (price a side).
They're neutral to forward, slightly bright, but utterly transparent, and more importantly not humongous with over 20 color choices. Thank you both

[ferdi]

A big thank you Kristi and Andrew and also to all the passionate audiophiles out there in youtube. My dad and brother are audiophiles and I never really understood what was the hype behind it until recently, when I wanted to buy my first active speakers. Now I am addicted to it and I just set up my first Hi-Fi system and thank you for all the tips! :-)

[duranarts]

Kristi's take is something I always look forward to.

[garyfred]

Very interested to see what you thought of these PSB T600s because I’ve come to love a recent acquisition of some 25 year old PSB Stratus Minis. A couple months prior I had just purchased a pair of Klipsch The Fives to replace a 20 year old pair of Mission bookshelf speakers and my failing Pioneer receiver then paired the Fives with my existing Klipsch subwoofer. Based on your reviews as well as others I bought the Klipsch Fives and also a Fluance RT85 turntable with the very lovely sounding Ortofon 2M Blue cartridge. (As a sidenote, the phono amp on the Fives was very nice to have but was very rolled off on the top end with no adjustment for the DSP in the Fives. I purchased a Schiit Mani phono amp which is the perfect companion to the RT85 turntable and cartridge.) I was in heaven and needed a good set of speaker stands which I found someone selling used for $50 including the PSB Stratus Minis. It soon became apparent that is satisfied as I was with the Klipsch fives, they couldn’t quite keep their own compared to the 25-year-old PSB‘s. They actually sounded great with my old 100 watt Pioneer receiver but it’s still need a replacement. I ended up with a Denon amplifier that brought out the very best in them. The Klipsch Fives and the Klipsch subwoofer are now doing duty in a different room and the PSB‘s with the Denon amplifier and a 10” Jamo subwoofer are constantly giving me goosebumps! I’ve always loved my brother’s Magnepan speakers powered by his Hegel amp but these PSB‘s in my room are so awesome for me that I have no jealousy over his system anymore. I cannot see myself ever having another system that does not have a subwoofer or two. Even speakers that have a great extended bass seem much more difficult to place ideally than 2.1 systems, and a powered subwoofer also relieves the main amplifier of a lot of its load which I think improves dynamics and clarity. I think you have expressed your fondness for 2.1 systems, and I agree! Leaving everything below 80 Hz to the subwoofer cleans up the bass from the main speakers as well as the mid range. I also find that when a subwoofer produces deep, controlled extended bass, that I don’t require as high of decibel levels to achieve satisfying volume. I think what you described in your review of the T600s with the correct amplifier reminds me very much of what I’m experiencing with my PSB‘s. I would be very interested in reviews of additional PSB models. Other speakers that I am extremely interested in because of their bass characteristics and ease of room set up are the Spatial Audio Labs models. I’m in Utah and it turns out I’m only 6 miles from their facility. Sorry for the long winded comment but thanks for your channel and for the information that you and Kristi provide!

[S.L.]

I heard these in store, even compared with much more expensive speakers and was blown away by these. They sounded incredible to me.

[richm]

Given the PSB and Nad partnership, I would think Nad’s higher end offerings would be a good match? I used to own PSB T2’s but never warmed up to them, they sounded dull regardless of multiple amp pairings. Also owned PSB Imagine B’s, they sounded incredible with my PrimaLuna tube amp. In my experience, the amplifier and speaker synergy plays a huge role in achieving great sound. Thanks for the excellent videos!

[TylerStout]

I agree, personally I'm in the camp where I want a speaker to sound great off a decent AVR and then providing a bit better amp just gives you a bit more of good thing. I guess an easier way to put it would be a speaker shouldn't go from 30% to 100% with different amps it should be 80% to 100%. Also I guess these speakers aren't the kind you care about running off an AVR since there's no center channel so you're probably not pairing with an AVR anyway. Founders series really interest me, definitely looking to go demo some soon along with a bunch of other stuff.

[bphilbac]

I love your wife’s perspective. Thanks for including her, very nice.