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I think the thing that most surprised me about the Alpha B1 is how much orchestral music I ended up playing while the speakers were in my system. I have long been a believer in the idea that the loudspeaker you choose dictates what music you listen to. Whether consciously or subconsciously, you choose recordings that benefit from a speaker’s strengths and don’t shine too much of a light on its shortcomings. As I write these words, I am working my way through Kurt Sanderling’s 1972 traversal of the four Brahms symphonies with the Dresden Staatskapelle (CD, BMG Classics 69220- 2), which has been a favorite of mine since I bought it on LP in the late 1970s, again on the recommendation of Antony Michaelson. Via the unassuming Alphas, all of Brahms’ characteristic touches were readily apparent: the “big” tunes, such as in the Beethovenian fourth movement of Symphony 1 and the first movement of Symphony 2; the hushed mystery of the slow movements; the sweet mix of pathos and Viennese sugar of the scherzos in Symphonies 1–3; the bombastic scherzo of Symphony 4; the declarative opening of Symphony 3. It’s as if Richard Wagner had never been born! But if you are a classical-music lover with a small room and an equally small budget, a pair of PSB’s Alpha B1s is just what you need. Summing up It might seem craziness to use a $279/pair of speakers in a system costing more than 200 times as much. In my defense, I flick through my wellthumbed copy of J. Gordon Holt’s Really Reliable Rules for Rookie Reviewers, to p.634, where it states: “The reviewer shall not change more than one variable at a time in his system.” By using the Alpha B1s in a context where everything else was intimately familiar, I would be able to unambiguously describe what I heard the speakers doing. But more significant, the little PSB didn’t disgrace itself in such exalted company, doing (within its dynamic limits) much of what I need from a speaker at any price. I very much enjoyed my time with this unassuming but attractive-looking little speaker. Considering its price, the PSB Alpha B1 is quite extraordinary in its way. Even if not in the market for a cheap mini, audiophiles should buy them for their Bose-owning friends and family, to give those unfortunates more than a taste of what a true highend loudspeaker is capable of. ■■ www.Stereophile.com, May 2007 87
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MAY 2007 VOL.30 NO.5 48 61 FEATURES
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The RAINMAKER will exceed any expec
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In 1981, John Beyer and Steve Keise
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Grand designs result from grand con
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