PSB Imagine XB measurements

[Nuyes]

Hi.

This is PSB Imagine XB.

The impedance

The SPL/FR.

The low frequency goes down to 52hz (-6dB)
There is small dips in the high frequency.




The directivity.

Next is Harmonic Distortion.

The Multitone test.

We see a lot of distortion around 1 kHz.






The Multitone distortion for each SPL.

Overall, the amount of multitone distortion is high.
The distortion of the 96dB SPL is almost close to the test tone of 76dB SPL.



The compression test

Finally, the difference in frequency response due to the presence or absence of a front grille.

I hope you enjoyed the measurement data.

 

[Chaconne]

Thanks for these. I'm far less knowledgable about measurements than most folks here, but I'm looking at the final graph, showing what seems to me to be a comparatively huge difference in the response with and without the grilles, from about 6k upward. Is this as unusual as I think it is?

 

[MarkS]

I think it's pretty usual. We almost never get grille-on measurements, so many thanks to Nuyes for providing one. Ideally I would like to see the full suite of measurements done both ways, to help clarify just how bad for the sound poorly designed grilles (which is almost all of them) are.

Speaking of which, it would be great to get a picture of the inside of the grille for this speaker, to see what the drivers are looking at (so to speak!).

 

[Beave]

The grille on the XB is a plastic frame with interlocking lattices, with a cloth cover.

Grilles often have considerable impact on the upper treble measurements; but in listening, it's not nearly as audible (at least to me) as graphs might have you believe.

 

[Beave]

This picture isn't for the XB grille, but it's just like it in terms of the plastic interlocking lattices. The Imagine XB grille doesn't have the foam, of course.



Source: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/psb-imagine-xa-elevation-speaker-at-ces-2016.2288354/#post-40605202

 

[MarkS]

I want to see the XB grille because that's the one for which we have measurements.

 

[Trdat]

For those of us who struggle to interpret measurements and without the preference score it's really hard to ascertain how good this speaker is. If anyone would care to rate it or write a conclusion it would be greatly appreciated. Each measurment doesn't even have a reference or a conclusion so I am totally gobsmacked to be honest.

 

[Ezees]

Thanks for the measurements - and great job!!! I juuuust bought a set of the XBs (about two weeks now) and it's my first go-round ever with PSB Speakers - that is, after reading nearly every recent review. They were nearly all "glowing" review impressions from what I read. When I first unboxed my set, I set them up on my stands and pressed play - and I was immediately a little "underwhelmed". They were "clear-ish" enough sounding - but the bass was sort of light and lumpy and without much articulation, the midrange was sort of muffled, and the treble wasn't very present. I then remembered how muddy and lumpy my NOS Energy RC-10s sounded when they were fresh out of the box - and then I set the XBs up to play some pink noise mixed with some bass-heavy tracks while I left the house for a few hours. After I got back - and over the course of the first week - they improved considerably, IMO. Bass deepened and the one-notey character left, the mids got waaaay more present, and the treble just opened up completely. But what struck me the most was the soundstage improvement. It got HUGE in my room - with a sort of "wrap-around" kind of quality that allowed me to not only hear in-between the speakers, but well outside the boundaries of my speaker setup. They're still not perfect: Their bass still isn't as "punchy" or "grounded" as my Energy RC-10s - and the treble is "lighter/more ethereal" instead of more meaty treble in the RC-10s. Still - for the sale price of ~$350, they're really good speakers - they're keepers, IMO. I did slightly mod the cabinets with butyl sheets (on the outside, so far) - and that made the bass a little more present and punchy - as I took out the midbass driver and there's hardly any damping material inside - and the cabinet walls are mostly bare (ps: don't tell PSB, please). I wonder how No Rez or Sonic Barrier along with the butyl sheets on the inside would shore up the bass and further open/improve the midrange (ie: less cabinet vibrations/better damping = more clarity? I'll report back if/when I do try it/them out......

 

[Beave]

Hey Ezees, have you seen this thread? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/do-audio-speakers-break-in.11898/

 

[Ezees]

Hey Ezees, have you seen this thread? https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/do-audio-speakers-break-in.11898/

I have read much of that thread before and I don't really agree wholeheartedly with his methodology nor his final (slanted, IMO) findings. One person's skeptic impressions doesn't apply at all to my own personal experience with different gear setups of what I've heard (hear) in person with my own speakers, HPs, and some discrete amps. I've had the previously mentioned items change considerably after running them in over the course of a week or two - just like my RC-10s, my HFM Aryas, and the XBs (and amps' sound signature slightly change after warming up while playing for 30~45 mins or so). Right now the XBs are much more solid and agile in the bass compared to what they were fresh out of the box (of course, I also damped the outside of their cabinets a bit with some strategically-placed butyl sheets - as an experiment - with more reversible experiments on the way). Plenty of fun in experiementation, IMO....

 

[Magnus]

PSB speakers are all around excellent no BS speakers where Paul himself will tell you most of the difference in their high-end models are the cabinet finish, not the sound (beyond more bass in the larger floor standing tower speakers).

They are one of the few speakers out there that are regularly rated +/- 1.5dB in frequency response over most of their range rather than the far more common +/- 3dB standard. 6dB variance is huge (60% volume swing) and thus no surprise most speakers sound very different from one another.

1.5dB is much smaller and it should be no surprise most of PSB's speakers are quite neutral sounding and easier to mix and match between model ranges in a home theater. I've got 21 PSB speakers installed here and they match quite well (most use identical drivers).