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EQUIPMENT REVIEW - PSB Imagine Mini
with the NRC results (even though it pains me to admit to being
average and predictable), because I hear, in the Imagine Mini,
an overall quality that I almost instinctively recognize as “right.”
In broad strokes, the Mini has a well balanced (albeit bass-shy),
engaging personality with a level of resolution—and without any
upper midrange glare—that represents a new standard from a
$760 loudspeaker, in my experience. It also delivers truly sizedefying
dynamics and overall impact when used in a system
that provides sufficient clean power. While unable to render the
ambient “air” of a venue the way much more expensive speakers,
the Mini still does a commendable job of recreating 3-D space.
Two small holes at the back of the cabinet, through which
you have to route the speaker cables (bananas or bare wire) to
binding posts recessed under the cabinet, will strike users as either
clever or a hassle. The arrangement hides the hardware and is
more attractive, but it also means you have to use cables small
enough to pass through the holes, turn the cabinet over, wiggle
the cables into place, and then tighten the lock nuts. I listened
with the grilles off and used 25"-high Dynaudio stands.
Not surprisingly, the Mini’s sound-stage and dynamic envelope
were smaller than those of a larger speaker, but they were still
expansive enough to be proportionally credible. The soundstage
was roughly three feet high, stretching just beyond the outer
edges of the cabinets laterally for about seven-and-a-half feet,
and extending about three feet behind the front baffles (recording
permitting). The loudspeakers seemingly disappeared as sound
sources, and the overall perspective was a bit farther back than
mid-hall. You get a good impression of how instruments sound
from the midbass on up with a bit more emphasis on the bigger
picture than on individual players in massed stringed sections,
for example. The Mini does not congeal whole sections of the
orchestra into undifferentiated masses, however. Front-to-back
layering and rendering of 3-D images were quite good, if also a
bit foreshortened. This is true of nearly all speakers in this price
range—and often also so of some costing much more. I could not
place the Minis more than seven feet apart (tweeter-to-tweeter), or
the back center of the soundstage would not fill in convincingly.
Most people will probably be using the Mini in a small space, so
seven feet should be plenty wide. The Mini is also a very good
nearfield speaker. Moving them 3.5' apart, and sitting close proved
to be quite instructive. Unless there was a musical element panned
hard right or left in the mix, the Minis seemingly disappeared,
with a proportionally smaller soundstage floating well behind the
cabinets. No doubt, desktop, office, or den applications were
significant goals in the Mini’s design brief, and it should perform
admirably thus deployed.
I was cautious with the volume control at first because all other
small speakers I have worked with couldn’t take much juice,
becoming ragged when pushed. Not so with the Mini—to a point.
The Mini needed to be kicked into action and seemed to come
alive when I turned the volume higher than usual on the dial. This
experience, and its 85dB in an anechoic chamber (87dB in a
room) sensitivity rating, suggests the Mini is not exactly an easy
drive. Fortunately, the Mini has a remarkable clay/ceramic-filled
polypropylene cone unit, with a double-magnet arrangement, that
gives it much more control, power handling, and excursion than
a typical four-inch driver. I could turn up the volume to satisfying
levels in my 12' x 17' room without inducing strain. The PSB manual
recommends amplifiers of 10–80 watts. PSB has demonstrated
with NAD amplifiers ranging from 125 to 150 watts, and I had
fantastic results with the 200W Hegel H200 ($4400, Issue 212). The
tweeter is a wave-guide titanium unit that takes the prize for being
the smoothest, best integrated, most articulate, and sweetestsounding
titanium tweeter in a speaker under $1000 I have ever
heard. I have also heard a pair of Minis mated with two small PSB
subwoofers with good results.
I tip my hat to Paul Barton and his team for the intelligent
choices they have made in the Mini. I give it high marks for its
sheer musicality and fidelity to the sound of live music within its
size and price constraints. I like the Imagine Mini so much that I
would choose it over some speakers that cost quite a bit more. It
gets enough right to make me not sweat the audiophile stuff and
just sit back and listen.
SPECS & PRICING
Type: Two-way, rear-ported, bassreflex
mini-monitor
Analog Source: Basis Debut V
ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT
Drivers: One 1" titanium-dome turntable with Vector 4 tonearm,
tweeter, one 4" clay/ceramic-filled Benz-Micro LP-S cartridge
polypropylene cone mid/bass Digital Source: Ayre C-5xeMP
Frequency response: 55Hz–23kHz Phonostage preamp: Ayre P-5xe
(+/-3dB)
Line stage preamp: Ayre K-1xe
Sensitivity: 85dB (anechoic
Integrated amplifier: Hegel H200
chamber), 87dB (listening room) Power amplifier: Gamut M-200
1W/1 meter
monos
Impedance: 6 ohms (4 ohms
Speakers: Dynaudio Confidence C1,
minimum)
Aerial 7T, B&W PM1
Power handling: Not specified Cables: Audioquest Rockefeller
Recommended amplifier power: 10 to speaker wire, Shunyata Anaconda
80 watts
interconnects and speaker wire,
Accessories: Optional Imagine Mini Shunyata Anaconda power cords
PFS-27 Floor Stand and PWB-1 Wall A/C Power: Two 20-amp dedicated
Bracket
lines, Shunyata Triton power
Dimensions: 5.75" x 9.25" x 8.38" conditioner
Weight: 6.5 lbs.
Room Treatments: PrimeAcoustic
Price: $760 (pair) in dark cherry, Z-foam panels and DIY panels
black ash, walnut veneers; $830
black gloss, white gloss
PSB Speakers
633 Granite Court
Pickering, Ontario L1W 3K1
Canada
(905) 831-6555
psbspeakers.com
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40 Guide to High-Performance Loudspeakers www.theabsolutesound.com
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