Product Previews

PSB Alpha P5 Bookshelf Speaker Preview

PSB has been in the speaker business for over 40 years and Paul Barton, Founder and Chief Designer, recently received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Toronto Audio Fest.

Over the years, PSB loudspeaker designs have consistently received critical acclaim and have won numerous awards both for sound quality and value for the money. The Canadian company has just sent me their brand-new Alpha Series P5 bookshelf speakers and so far, I am impressed with the clarity of sound and output these speakers can produce.

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With a launch date of January 7th, the PSB Alpha P5s are a compact two-way speaker with newly designed, hand-built drivers consisting of a 5.25-inch polypropylene woofer paired with a single .75-inch black anodized aluminum ferrofluid-cooled tweeter. The removable magnetic grilles are made of micro-perforated sheet metal. The sturdy cabinets are ported in the rear and the five-way binding post belie their affordability for the budget conscious consumers.

I had a lengthy phone conversation with Paul Barton just before Christmas about the new Alpha P5 and why it took him 19 years to update the Alpha B1. He said that the B1 was still selling well in other parts of the world and the need to keep the other speaker series updated and fresh took much of his time. PSB has been busy though; their top-of-the-line Imagine series had developmental priority and even those evolved out of the Synchrony series. He is putting the final touches on yet another high-end series line for early 2019 (no series name disclosed yet).

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The new Alpha P5s are part of a new series that consist of the Alpha T20 (two-way) towers, the P5 and P3 (smallest) bookshelf speakers, and the C10 center channel speaker. Color options are black ash or walnut vinyl veneer. With matching driver compliments, the Alpha speakers have internal bracing for cabinet anti-resonance, one-inch thick front baffles, and an in-room sensitivity of between 87-90db. Still looking to pick-up the critically acclaimed Alpha B1 speakers? Better hurry, because the last production run was a few weeks back and when they are gone, they are GONE.

Look for my full review in the next few weeks to see what my final impressions may be as I put the PSB Alpha P5 speakers through some long music listening sessions during the holiday season.

And the price? – to be determined, but likely in the $300-$350 range for a pair. They will be in stock and ready to ship after January 7th.

Jim Milton

Jim Milton has been interested in high fidelity since his college years in the late 70's. It was there that he first became interested in classical music. He has been part of choral music, both in opera and oratorio and is an avid collector of classical music from the Baroque through the Romantic periods. He enjoys an occasional night at Boston Symphony Hall or attending an organ concert at Merrill Auditorium in Portland, ME. Currently he is the director of Nuclear Medicine at the North Shore Medical Center, located just outside of Boston. He also serves as an adjunct professor for Salem State University where he teaches a course in nuclear instrumentation. During his leisure time, he enjoys listening to his music collection and an occasional movie with his wife of 30+ years. Living on the longest stretch of sandy beach north of Boston offers him plenty of opportunities to take a relaxing stroll or soak up some sun. "Remember, acquiring good A/V gear takes lots of time...but doesn't necessarily take lots of money."