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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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Speaker Asylum General speaker questions for audio and home theater. |
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In Reply to: RE: Infinity Primus P162 vs. PSB Alpha B1 vs. Paradigm Atom Monitor V5 posted by 3db on June 25, 2008 at 04:54:47:
I have the Atom v.5 as computer monitors fed by an outboard DAC into a Nad receiver in my home office. Up until 2 weeks ago, I had the original PSB Alphas in their stead (my ex-wife has them now). Auditory memory being what it is, take this with a grain of salt, moreover both are/were poorly placed close to a wall. The Paradigm has less bass than the Alphas and seem a bit "hotter" with a little more treble. Both are good enough to make me want to play more music so I believe you can't really go wrong. If the prices were identical and I couldn't do a listening comparison, I would probably choose the Alphas but barely. It is like choosing among two very good beverages of you choice, a matter of taste...
Quote from the comparison in Stereophile with the URL at the bottom:
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After I'd had the Atoms for a week or so, JA mentioned that Stereophile still had the $279/pair PSB Alpha B1 loudspeakers he'd reviewed in May. "Might be a good point of comparison," the boss suggested. What a good idea—especially as I've always had a soft spot for the original Alpha.
I used the same Foundation stands with Blu-Tak interface for the B1s, although I did listen with their grilles on, finding that otherwise they had too much top-end sparkle. What immediately impressed me about the B1 was how different it sounded from the Atom. Both had surprisingly flat response through the midrange, but for all their similarities, they were quite obviously different critters.
The PSBs presented the saxes, trumpet, and harmonica of The Sultan's Picnic with a more forward perspective—in front of the plane of the loudspeakers—while the Atoms put all of the musicians behind that plane. However, the PSBs delivered more weight through the drums and tuba and serpent, especially in one mighty blast from Michel Godard during "The Happy Sheik." That was about as close to a squarewave as I've ever heard an affordable loudspeaker come—I flashed on the famous Fritz Reiner quote about Walter Jacobs' enormous BBb York tuba: "Don't point that thing at me!"
The Atoms had more brassy shimmer and sustain on the cymbals and bells. I removed the B1s' grilles to see if I was gaming the comparison by leaving them on the PSBs, but while I did hear some extension of the high frequencies, it wasn't in balance with the rest of the tonal spectrum. I left the B1s' grilles in place.
With On the Other Side, Tierney Sutton was more up-front through the PSBs, which was far from unappealing. I preferred the balanced—and slightly more relaxed—vocal sound of the Atoms, but that would not be a universal opinion. The bass and drums had just a touch more slam through the PSBs, which was quite welcome. Neither difference was immense, but both were noticeable.
Stairs and Elevators is not a polished-sounding recording. In fact, it's quite raw, in keeping with the sound of a power trio just beginning its recording odyssey, which is what the Heartless Bastards were when this album was recorded. Heck, when it was released, drummer Kevin Vaughan was still driving a pizza-delivery route. Fat Possum's, um, unvarnished sound was more powerful (and a touch more strident) through the PSBs. That's a good thing—I saw the band at the Bowery Ballroom the night before I wrote this—and they're all about power and immediacy.
What repeatedly impressed me as I listened to the PSB Alpha B1 and the Paradigm Atom was that I could contentedly live with either. Both were far more right than wrong, and if I preferred the low end of one and the top end of the other, I was happy as a pig in clover with the broad middle of both speakers.
Why on earth does crappy-sounding hi-fi still exist when you can get this much goodness for under $300?
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Once you have the speakers do yourself a favor and forget hifi and get into the tunes.
Bert_2
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Follow Ups
- Have owned Alphas and Atoms - Bert_2 07/2/0821:15:38 07/2/08 (0)
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