PSB T55 vs Infinity Beta 50's

[Luvin Da Blues]

I'm thinking of upgrading my front speakers.

Originally I was going to go with the Infinity Beta 50's so they would match my beta 20's for voicing etc and move the 20's to the rear. My favorite dealer suggest that I look at the PSB T55's also. I am going to audition them this weekend but I though I would ask you guys (and gals) opinions first.

Comments?

[PeruvianSkies]

Hands down the PSB's!!!!

[anamorphic96]

The Beta's are damn fine speakers and definitely worth consideration. But the PSB's are very impressive as well and to my ear are are tad more refined and neutral. But give them both a good long audition and go with what YOUR EAR tells you.

[3db]

I'm thinking of upgrading my front speakers.

Originally I was going to go with the Infinity Beta 50's so they would match my beta 20's for voicing etc and move the 20's to the rear. My favorite dealer suggest that I look at the PSB T55's also. I am going to audition them this weekend but I though I would ask you guys (and gals) opinions first.

Comments?

I have to ask these qurestions: 1) Do you have a center channel speaker? Is it from Infinity?

I ask this becuase you want to make sure that your main speakers and center channel match in sound and this most easily achieved by getting speakers from the same series of your existing speakers. Now if you plan on upgrading your center channel as well, I'd say PSB all the way. If yourr not planning to upgrade anytime soon, stick with Iffinity. I get the impression that you are reasonably happy with them. let us know what you decide.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Thanks 3db,

Yes I am going to upgrade the center after I decide what speaker I am going with.

[PeruvianSkies]

When I was using my PSB Image series I actually found that the Athena center channel actually sounded better than the Image center channel I tested out. Not that the PSB was a bad speaker, but I really love the sound of the Athena and I am a big fan of their center channels for some odd reason....I guess because it's super clean...? Anyway, I thought I would shoot that out there because you might want to consider giving that a shot and if all else fails match the Image towers with the Image center.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Don't mean to beat a dead horse but I have another question for when I do buy new speakers. I hope I can explain this properly.

Both of these speakers are bi-ampable (no surprise so far). My question is..My Denon 2807's manual says I should run the "second" wire from the surround back terminals and assign it's amps to the mains. Now doesn't that mean that I lose the capacity to run surround back speakers?

Ok maybe a few questions.

If I use the speaker 'B' terminals does that mean I'm only bi-wiring them?

What are the advantages of bi-amping over bi-wiring of the "end product" to my ears?

[PeruvianSkies]

Don't mean to beat a dead horse but I have another question for when I do buy new speakers. I hope I can explain this properly.

Both of these speakers are bi-ampable (no surprise so far). My question is..My Denon 2807's manual says I should run the "second" wire from the surround back terminals and assign it's amps to the mains. Now doesn't that mean that I lose the capacity to run surround back speakers?

Ok maybe a few questions.

If I use the speaker 'B' terminals does that mean I'm only bi-wiring them?

What are the advantages of bi-amping over bi-wiring of the "end product" to my ears?

Most receivers give you the ability to bi-amp and you have to set the receiver from NORMAL to BIAMP mode before making the connection. Yes, you will need to use the surround back terminals to connect the second set of wires to your speakers and therefore lose your ability to have surround back.

I used to have a 6th and 7th center rear channel and once I upgraded my surrounds I didn't need them anymore as it seemed to be too much. Good surrounds (at least in a small to medium size room) should be enough.

There have been several posts on here about the advantages and disadvantes to doing bi-wiring and bi-amping. Typically it seems that most people hear very little difference in bi-wiring. Bi-amping seperates the amp so that your high and low on your speaker are driven separately. I personally would not recommend doing this with a receiver, but you could use the pre-outs on your Denon and connect two amps from there and bi-amp with more power, this would certainly make a bigger difference and take more strain off your receiver as well as each individual amp.

Always consult your manual when doing these types of modifications as each company has different protocol for connecting up. Good luck.

[Woochifer]

If you go with the PSBs, just make sure that their voicing does not veer too far from what your Infinitys give you. The key with a 5.1 setup is not how the individual speakers/pairs sound by themselves, but how well these individual units match with each other. You want as seamless a soundfield as possible, and if Infinity Beta 50s provide the best voice match with the Beta 20s, then that should be your first consideration. As someone else mentioned, if you already use an Infinity Beta series center speaker, then you'll also need to consider the added cost of a matching center speaker should you choose to go with the PSBs and the Infinity center speaker does not sufficiently match with the T55s.

Going with the PSBs would depend on whether you feel those speakers represent enough of an improvement over your Beta 20s to potentially go with a mismatched set of surrounds for a while. In order to provide an optimal match for the T55, you'll likely need to replace the Beta 20s at some time if you choose to use them as the surrounds.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Thanks Guys,

Just got back from auditioning The PSB's. They didn't have the T55 but listened to the T45's. Nice sounding units with great presence and sound stage but a little thin in the bass region. While I was there I also heard the PSB Stratus GT-1's...very nice and a lot warmer. I listened also to the Infinity Beta 50's..more as a reference which are a little more "punchy" but I listen primarily to Blues, Jazz and R&B so this may not be a bad thing.

I am using the center from the Infinity TSS750 series right now but am going to buy a matching center when I decide which way to go.

The Dealer has a pair of Demo Betas for $900 Cdn which is a fairly good deal in my book.

Just waiting for a quote from a out of town dealer on the Stratus's B4 I decide.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Well guys,

I got a quote for the Stratus Gt-1 ($1350 Cdn thats about $100 USD..Joking) and probably will be ordering them tomorrow. A little more than I wanted to spend right now but will save me from upgrading them in the near future and IMHO I think that it will be money well spent.

Anyone have any last comments on my decision before I have to give up some bad habits for awhile.

Thanks All

[Carl Reid]

Well guys,

I got a quote for the Stratus Gt-1 ($1350 Cdn thats about $100 USD..Joking) and probably will be ordering them tomorrow. A little more than I wanted to spend right now but will save me from upgrading them in the near future and IMHO I think that it will be money well spent.

Anyone have any last comments on my decision before I have to give up some bad habits for awhile.

Thanks All

That's an excellent price for the Stratus!

Enjoy....

[PeruvianSkies]

Well guys,

I got a quote for the Stratus Gt-1 ($1350 Cdn thats about $100 USD..Joking) and probably will be ordering them tomorrow. A little more than I wanted to spend right now but will save me from upgrading them in the near future and IMHO I think that it will be money well spent.

Anyone have any last comments on my decision before I have to give up some bad habits for awhile.

Thanks All

Now that's what I call an investment. You will continue to thank yourself over the next few months/years for making that decision. Join the PSB club!!!

[morkys]

Well, if the T45's felt thin in the bass, step up to the T65's :) I have a pair of T65's which I bought recently as an upgrade from the previous 6T's.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Thanks for that morkys....I actually went one step farther and bought the Stratus GT-1s which I am breaking in right now. All I can say after being used to the Infinity's is WOW talk 'bout smooth...just like the difference between George Thorogood and Eric Clapton.

I'm finding that I am listening more to my Jazz and classical music because of them. I guess more refined speakers makes you want to listen to more refined music.

[PeruvianSkies]

Thanks for that morkys....I actually went one step farther and bought the Stratus GT-1s which I am breaking in right now. All I can say after being used to the Infinity's is WOW talk 'bout smooth...just like the difference between George Thorogood and Eric Clapton.

I'm finding that I am listening more to my Jazz and classical music because of them. I guess more refined speakers makes you want to listen to more refined music.

Congrats on the Stratus GT-1's. I am excited to hear more feedback once you've spent some time with them.

[PeruvianSkies]

I wanted to mention that I just recently bi-amped my PSB Image 7PT's for the first time. Prior to doing so I was never really satisfied with the high-end detail of that particular speaker, although the built-in powered subs were phenominal and put nearly every subwoofer out there to shame. The bass was deep beyond belief. So that led me to getting the PSB Platinum's for my main system and the 7PT's are now in a secondary system. Spur of the moment I decided to try bi-amping them just to see what would happen with crossover and see if I could finally get the highs that I wanted. The result:

Well, I am still not getting the true highs that I desire, but the bass is much more controlled and overall the speaker seems to perform much better. Even the bass is backed off just a bit, which in this case is good because before it was just too much. I had an EQ setup before and I took that out once I bi-amped and the difference is marginal.

I thought I would mention this as a possibility if you want to try that with your Stratus to see what type of result you get. It doesn't solve all the problems, but does make an improvement. My guess is that the 7PT is not made anymore for that very reason. It's a decent speaker, but lacks alot of the upper range stuff that is what most people desire to have and it's obvious when that part is lacking. Most of the time people will opt to have less bass as they can always add a dedicated sub. I think that the 7PT's are great though for people that love bass, or for music like HipHop and Dance.

[Luvin Da Blues]

Cheers PS,

I actually wired them in a sorta biamped configuration.I am using the rear back amps from my receiver along with the front amps and using the speakers internal crossovers. I know this isn't a true biwire but thought I would feed them with as much power as I could considering I am running two subs anyway.

One interesting note, I was reasonably happy with the way my Denon receiver did the auto room setup (with a little adjustments) with my Infinity's. With the PSB's it didn't sound good at all so, now I am setting it up with the trusty RadioShack meter and the Rives test CD...so much better sound. Of course this takes awhile and probably will never be done...LOL,.

One last note...the PSB's sure do highlight the bad recordings in my collection but I'm finding my tastes are leaning to more Jazz with these speakers so I need to add more of it to my library.

[PeruvianSkies]

Cheers PS,

I actually wired them in a sorta biamped configuration.I am using the rear back amps from my receiver along with the front amps and using the speakers internal crossovers. I know this isn't a true biwire but thought I would feed them with as much power as I could considering I am running two subs anyway.

One interesting note, I was reasonably happy with the way my Denon receiver did the auto room setup (with a little adjustments) with my Infinity's. With the PSB's it didn't sound good at all so, now I am setting it up with the trusty RadioShack meter and the Rives test CD...so much better sound. Of course this takes awhile and probably will never be done...LOL,.

One last note...the PSB's sure do highlight the bad recordings in my collection but I'm finding my tastes are leaning to more Jazz with these speakers so I need to add more of it to my library.

Sorry, but I forgot to mention a few things about the PSB's in general. I too notice that room calibration done by the receiver never tends to be accurate and I usually just use my own ears to get things done right. I can't exactly figure this out, but with my Image speakers I had a heckuva time using the AutoCal because it constantly wanted to flatten the sound...grrrr. You will probably be better off using another method and will notice them opening up quite a bit.

Also, I forgot to mention about how revealing these speakers are, or maybe I did, but didn't go into much specifics. The catch-22 of any of the PSB speaker lines are that they are truly revealing of the source, which means 2 things: good recordings sound great and bad ones sound terrible. I find this helpful as I do alot of movie and CD reviews for a few websites and I also like accuracy with what the source is putting out. This is one reason I stand behind the PSB line like no other. They are incredibly good at reproducing the source and with each jump in their product lines that becomes more apparent. I am really curious about the G-Designs. I need to hear them!!!

On a side note...I am possibly taking a trip this summer to Canada and I am going to try and make a visit if I can do PSB. That outta be cool!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Luvin Da Blues]

"On a side note...I am possibly taking a trip this summer to Canada and I am going to try and make a visit if I can do PSB. That outta be cool!!!!!!!!!!!!"....Well if your ever near the beautiful Okanagan Valley in the interior of British Columbia we'll have to get together and exchange notes and have some cheer.

Love to send you the sound but can't fit into any email...LOL...and BTW don't be sorry for anything...you've been a tremendous help to me here. Not just 'bout this thread but all your posts. Thank You

[morkys]

Congrats on the GT-1's. Nice speakers. I am a bass nut, so I had to have the most bass. And I hear it with the T65's. It is never boomy, just low deep and tight. I have often thought of creating a PT65. Take the amp and crossover guts from a 7PT and install them in a T65. You get the amp and crossover of the 7PT and the cabinet and drivers of the T65. Probably good for even deeper bass than the 7PT. I will never understand the 7PT. It has only two woofers acting down below 200 hz (the upper most is apparantly a midrange crossed at 200 hz) and yet it plays deeper than the 6T which has three woofers. Sometimes I just think it's because the amp is EQ'd.

Either way, I just upgraded from the 6T to the T65 and I believe I can tell the difference in the speaker. It's smooth and clear, and the bass is very deep and strong. Also, all of the PSB's in my setup, a C60 centre and a pair of S50's, match very very well. The T65 is very efficient and sounds amazing. I then upgraded my Marantz SR 8000 to an SR14EX and so far, it's sounding even better. ..funny thing is I live about 7 or 8 km's away from Lenbrook where PSB is based. I've been there a couple of times. It's weird living so close to the manufacturer of a speaker I enjoy so much. Then there's Mirage of API in Scarborough, not much farther away. I love my Mirage subwoofer too....anyhow :p

Enjoy those PSB speakers folks :)

[Luvin Da Blues]

Thanks morkys

All I can say is that I'm a PSB fan for life now. They not only sound excellent but are extremely beautiful with their black lacquer piano finish and white drivers (I think it's their website likens them to a tuxedo). They also have a very very good WAF.

[PeruvianSkies]

Enjoy those PSB speakers folks :)

OH WE WILL!!!!!!!

[MikeyBC]

X2 ! .