CEDIA 2007: PSB’s Synchrony Loudspeakers lights up the show
September 14th, 2007 — By Chris MartensSeptember 14 - About a month ago the Canadian speaker manufacturer PSB quietly began to introduce members of the press to its new flagship Synchrony-series loudspeakers, but chose CEDIA 2007 as the venue for the public debut—and what an impressive debut it turned out to be.
Representatives of Playback magazine and its sister publication The Perfect Vision met up with PSB founder and chief designer Paul Barton, who gave a compelling demo of his top-of-the-line Synchrony One floorstanders—featuring what PSB describes as a “five driver configured as a ‘five-way transitional’ array.�
Afterwards, Barton graciously volunteered to be interviewed on camera (see video coverage, elsewhere on this site).
The $4500/pair Synchrony Ones lived up to their billing as “statement class� loudspeakers, consistently teasing out ultra-fine, low-level sonic details that most speakers would probably miss, while at the same time delivering the sort of energetic dynamic swagger than only top-tier floorstanding speakers seem to possess.
After hearing a particularly well-recorded track from a Yellowjackets album (one that Barton recommended), I frankly had the urge to applaud.
I would need a longer-term listening evaluation to say for sure, but my initial impression was that the Synchrony Ones could easily go toe-to-toe against speakers costing thousands more.
Barton indicated the Synchrony models are more evolutionary than revolutionary—the result of meticulous attention to detail and constant refinement in all areas of construction.
For example, if you look closely at Synchrony models you’ll be wowed by their elegant cabinet construction and surprised to find that there are no visible fasteners at all. Barton stated that he was particularly pleased by the speakers’ electrostatic-like purity and clarity, and by their extraordinarily low distortion.
In fact, Barton says the Synchrony Ones measure less than 0.2% distortion from about 100Hz on up—performance few if any speakers in this price range could hope to match.
Though certainly not cheap, the Synchrony models, which are available now, appear to offer great value for money.
Watch for upcoming reviews in Playback, The Absolute Sound, and The Perfect Vision.
