PSI monitors

[Pearljam5000]

They're getting great reviews on Gearsultz and they sound pretty good in this video:

Anyone had any experience with them?
They're actually pretty expensive

 

[tuga]

Measurements of the A25's father, the Studer A5:

 

[Purité Audio]

Had the small A-17M here it was ok, strictly nearfield of course,


PSi make a point of being ‘analogue’ only,
Keith

 

[Frgirard]

it's always strange to see diffusers behind speakers. diffusors that are useless.
A speaker is not omnidirectional beyond 400Hz and the goal is to treat all types of 1st order reflections.

https://danylastchild07.files.wordp...r_j-_cox_acoustic_absorbers_and_diffusers.pdf

And the vinyl to complete the incompetence of the demonstrator



Psi is an example of thrue high end speaker but i remember a time when a K+H O410 cost the same price of the A25... PSI decided to follow the ATC price policy when Alain Roux stoped to manage Relec.
a 25-year-old psi can still be repaired, No with K + H, Neumann, Focal, Dynaudio ...

 

[Jim Matthews]

it's always strange to see diffusers behind speakers. diffusors that are useless.
A speaker is not omnidirectional beyond 400Hz and the goal is to treat all types of 1st order reflections.

The PSI mains appear to be stacked on subs. Likely the room treatments have been in place for some time, predating the review.

****

Those with large vinyl collections, particularly with out of print rarities, are like prospectors revisiting closed mines - despite the risk and expense, there may still be gems to recover.

 

[FeddyLost]

Anyone had any experience with them?

I own A25 of older generation and A14 broadcast.
Long story short, I really like them, but they are just working tool and there are more options better suited for hi-fi listening in ordinary use case.
Already wrote some in this topic https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/psi-vs-neumann-vs-geithain.20332/
Their A25 new gen have significantly improved distortion profile and slightly more linear FR so they are even more worth audition.
Don't know what to say else without questions.

 

[Pearljam5000]

I own A25 of older generation and A14 broadcast.
Long story short, I really like them, but they are just working tool and there are more options better suited for hi-fi listening in ordinary use case.
Already wrote some in this topic https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/psi-vs-neumann-vs-geithain.20332/
Their A25 new gen have significantly improved distortion profile and slightly more linear FR so they are even more worth audition.
Don't know what to say else without questions.

How do they compare to Genelec?

 

[pozz]

https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/psi-audio-a14-ms3-nahfeldmonitor-im-test/

They are very expensive for what they do.

 

[Dialectic]

https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/psi-audio-a14-ms3-nahfeldmonitor-im-test/

They are very expensive for what they do.

Swiss labor is pricey.

 

[FeddyLost]

How do they compare to Genelec?

Never compared directly.
Cheap Genelecs that i've listened before was very fatiguing for me and i never seriously considered this brand as main speakers.

https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/psi-audio-a14-ms3-nahfeldmonitor-im-test/
They are very expensive for what they do.

If company is still working, then all is ok with price. +- 1,5 db, +- 45 deg phase and zero delay can't be very cheap.

 

[fredoamigo]

I've often wondered about PSI's claims about analog versus digital... Are they based on something proven and scientific?

In any case, they are excellent products but it is true that they are a little too expensive for what they are...


""In a loudspeaker, the advantages of analogue technology outweigh the flexibility of digital technology. At PSI Audio we strive to solve problems at their source through clever design instead of correcting flaws digitally.""
https://www.psiaudio.swiss/

 

[dfuller]

I've often wondered about PSI's claims about analog versus digital... Are they based on something proven and scientific?

Well, there are a couple things that stick out to me about analogue that I like. 1, there's essentially zero latency (DSP monitors it can end up at 5ms or more, quite a bit more in designs that use FIR filters), and this matters in a low latency recording situation where the talent might be doing overdubs in the room with you. 2, bad quality AD/DA (which is often used) can end up being very noisy (see: tweeter hiss).

I tend to prefer analog active myself but that's more because of the zero latency aspect than anything else, and with a good design they're good enough as to not matter.

 

[FeddyLost]

claims about analog versus digital... Are they based on something proven and scientific?

I think, it's more promotion campaign, because their speakers too expensive for constantly being in stock in music gear stores and need more arguments for new customers.
But as small company with intention to keep in market they have some other reasons besides mentioned zero latency and no AD/DA conversion.
1) they already have know-how and intellectual properties how to do phase corrected fully analog monitors - now they only need to improve their designs and they definitely do it (A21 have 4 or 5 iterations already)
2) with such analog design they will always be able to repair their monitors ... to understand importance of such possibility, just imagine that you run some facility with 10 multichannel mixing room and you need to be sure that they sound the same and you can move engineers from one to another without issues and any repairs will not alter sound field.
Quotation from Studer sevice manual
When ordering a complete backpanel/amplifier assembly or a power amplifier unit, it is mandatory to declare the speaker type and serial number (as indicated on the speaker's backpanel). Only if these conditions are met, the manufacturer can ensure that the desired spare part is shipped with correct pre-alignments.
While when you make speaker from AD codec, DSP chip, DA codec and some chipamp you can't really be sure that your spares will be available for 20 years. And if something will change or discontinued, backuped firmware will not help much.
3) most probably there are not many unemployed proven good engineers in digital audio domain and to keep up with the best standards they will need to outsource AD/DSP/DA board from some Weiss, Merging or Nagra with their prices. Profits are not obvious for me. And any studio that can afford PSI equipment definitely have at least decent DA conversion already.

I don't really like an idea of having so much opamps in signal chain, but that's just acceptable in industry and all recording equipment already have a lot of them inside. I'm not sure that they will have huge sonic improvement if all that will be replaced with DSP control, but price will definitely rise. So, they decided to upgrade transducers as most distorting pieces and they go that way.

 

[Frgirard]

The superiority of the dsp on the analogic as made by psi is a marketing myth.
The dsp is the cheapest way to made a crossover.

 

[AM88]

I heard the a14 side by side with the amphion one 15 in Singapore and thought the psi monitor was clearer. It sounded like a very good speaker to me and not that bad value compared to what you would have to pay for a good amp and good small bookshelf.

 

[Frgirard]

In France
The amphion one 15 cost 900 euro
The psi a14 cost 1100 euro

In Singapore?

Thank you

 

[Steve Dallas]

They're getting great reviews on Gearsultz and they sound pretty good in this video:

Anyone had any experience with them?
They're actually pretty expensive
View attachment 138760

How do they sound "good" in a YT video? They sound like the room, capture mics, YT compression, and your speakers or headphones. The only thing you can definitely discern from a setup like this is a particularly egregious behavior. I don't get it.

 

[Pearljam5000]

How do they sound "good" in a YT video? They sound like the capture mics, YT compression, and your speakers or headphones. The only thing you can definitely discern from a setup like this is a particularly egregious behavior. I don't get it.

This is all I got as far as auditioning them goes

 

[AM88]

In France
The amphion one 15 cost 900 euro
The psi a14 cost 1100 euro

In Singapore?

Thank you

I am not sure you’ll have to check online. The last time I was there was 3 years ago….

 

[richard12511]

https://www.soundandrecording.de/equipment/psi-audio-a14-ms3-nahfeldmonitor-im-test/

They are very expensive for what they do.

Still looks pretty good tbh, at least in my opinion. Maybe not Genelec/Neumann good, but I've seen far worse(ex: PMC) for the price. From the googling I've been doing, they seem somewhat like ATC. Better than most passives, but not top tier for actives. Price is too high imo(which is I guess your point), but it seems that - like ATC - they've built a name that people are willing to pay more for than the actual performance justifies.