Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: PSB Gold i Speakers by Justin Doring

I'm considering the PSB Gold i and the C6 center for my home theater system. First off, the PSB Gold i is excellent for home theater. It rolls off the highs a bit, which is an asset to a home theater speaker, because soundtracks are way too bright You also don't really need a subwoofer, as the Gold i goes to about 30 hz. It won't give you bass performance like the best 12", 15", and 18" subwoofers, but it's enough for a medium sized room. The Gold i is also relatively easy to place, and it's a relatively easy load. Of course lots of power never hurts, but it's not essential like with some speakers.

I first listened to the Gold i in a high-end 2 channel system with all BAT gear and Nordost Red Dawn cables. I wasn't particularly overwhelmed, nor was I disappointed. As a music speaker, the PSB is a pretty decent full range speaker for the price. There wasn't much soundstage depth, the midrange was slighly congested, highs were rolled off, imaging wasn't totally solid, bass was loose, there was port "chuffing", and orchestral climaxes overwhelemed it at high volumes, but this is compared to some of the best speakers in the $5000 price range. In it's defense, the Gold i sounded a lot better than many $5000 speakers I've listened to. The Gold i is certainly way above mid-fi gear, but it's not quite up to affordable world class speakers like the more expensive NHT 3.3, Dynaudio Contour 3.3, and the Martin Logan reQuest. Basically, the Gold i doesn't do anything superbly, but it doesn't do anything badly, either. For a home theater speaker, I think it's one of the best choices out there in it's price range. However for music, I personally prefer the NHT 2.9 or the Martin Logan SL3, but he PSB beats these when it comes to home theater applications. Good luck!

REVIEW: PSB Gold i Speakers Review by Justin Doring at Audio Asylum