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The PSB Synchrony B600 produces a surprising amount of bass, without losing control or grip. It’s tight with some serious punch. A feat in our opinion. Timing is excellent and voices retain their own character, indicating a neutral midrange.
This is not an analytical speaker but one with a rather rich sound. Ample detail comes through, but treble is slightly polished so it never “bites” on lesser recordings. This speaker brings music especially in its totality and always with emotion and involvement. There is calmness in the reproduction where necessary and calmness between notes. The longer we listen the clearer it becomes that mid-bass-driver and tweeter blend seamlessly.
Listen
Antony and the Johnsons, now Anohni and the Johnsons, with the album “The Crying Light” is a perfect CD to test the credibility of a speaker. Antony Hegarty’s fragile voice touches us deep in the soul. The song “Dust and Water” is a textbook example of this. Not many speakers manage to make this music seem so vulnerable. Voices sound crisp and clear, without artifacts.
“Shields” by Grizzly Bear is the next disc we haphazardly pich out of our cd-rack. It’s been a while since we listened to the album, but the PSB Synchrony B600 does not disappoint. Ed Droste’s music is busy and overproduced and sounds cluttered and overdriven. The B600 makes the best of it but, of course, this does not have the dynamic qualities of larger, more efficient speakers. The calmer tracks are reproduced beautifully with great feeling and finesse.
Time for a woman’s voice. And not just any. Leslie Feist has, in our opinion, one of the most captivating voices in pop music. Her album “The Reminder” is chock full of gems and is a pleasure to listen to in its entirety. Especially on the PSB Synchrony B600.
The tweeter does its job masterfully so that s-sounds never go out of tune. Strings have gravitas and resonate wonderfully on opening track “So Sorry”. We turn up the volume on “My Moon My Man”. The PSB Synchrony B600 has no trouble with the tempo changes in this song. Everything is balanced without getting boring. On the contrary, we get sucked into the music.
Background noise on “The Park” is easily audible. So there is no lack of transparency, but that is not the “raison d’ être” of this speaker. It is invariably the vocals that enthrall. You can also clearly hear the different recording sessions of the album. The song “The Water” approaches perfection through the PSB Synchrony B600. Fragile, hushed and flawless. Bravo!
We haven’t yet mentioned the exceptional spread in the soundstage. Wide and deep and completely detached from the speakers. Each element perfectly placed and easy to follow. We hear this very well on the remix album “Fish Dances” by The Irresistible Force. This is not a “pipe and shuffle” speaker but a lively relay of music. Micro details are easy to pinpoint, which adds dimension to this kind of music. You can pick any element out of the air, so to speak.
We also hear this on “The New Breed” by Jeff Parker. Each musician has his own place on the stage and instruments each have their own character. Those instruments have the right tonality as far as we are concerned, although percussion and cymbals are rendered just a little softer and less metallic. Pianos are given enough body that they never sound shrill or thin.