Wall of Sound

A COMMON notion among audiophiles who dismiss on-wall speakers is that speakers need to be positioned well out into a room in order to get big, spacious sound. But that kind of thinking misses the point. For many, on-wall speakers can be an excellent option if you don’t want to dedicate your living room to a hi-fi or home theater audio system, but also expect dynamic and enveloping sound that’s a step above what you’d get from in-wall speakers.

While there are plenty of on-wall and in-wall speakers made specifically for the custom installation market, I usually prefer offerings from established audiophile speaker manufacturers, especially ones known to combine performance with value. That description fits PSB perfectly, and for many years I have used the company’s now sadly discontinued Synchrony One speakers as my real-world reference when reviewing products for Sound & Vision. Given PSB founder Paul Barton’s superb track record with standard speakers for hi-fi and home theater, I was eager to hear what he could achieve with models designed specifically for installation up against a wall.

PSB’s PWM1