Alpha Ad Infinitum

I THINK of PSB’s entry-level Alpha Series speakers as being the loudspeaker equivalent of the Toyota Corolla. The Alphas may not be the sexiest speakers around, but they do offer solid engineering, long-term reliability, and excellent performance at a very reasonable price. Speakers from PSB’s now sadly discontinued flagship Synchrony line have served as my personal home theater reference for over a decade, so you could call me a bit of a fanboy. As you might expect, that means I’m also interested in seeing what the company can deliver when keeping costs down is part of the equation.

Launched at CES 2019, PSB’s new Alpha models represent the line’s second complete revision since the originals were introduced way back in 1991. Clearly, chief designer Paul Barton isn’t the sort of guy who shakes things up just to launch new finishes or change cabinet styling. Barton’s pragmatic approach means that he’ll only make revisions when he can deliver a better product while maintaining PSB’s reputation for excellent value. Each design decision is validated through extensive blind listening tests at the Canadian National Research Council’s state-of-the-art testing labs in Ottawa using a