PSB Alpha P5

It is said that while any competent engineer can design a superb loudspeaker if allowed an unlimited bill of materials, the true test is being able to produce a great-sounding, budget-priced speaker out of parts that cost a mere handful of dollars. With PSB’s Alpha series of bookshelf speakers, Canadian engineer Paul Barton1 has illustrated this truism many times over the years.

The first PSB Alpha was reviewed for Stereophile by Jack English in July 1992.2 A modest-looking two-way priced at just $199/pair, it combined a reflex-loaded 6.5" woofer using a plastic-doped paper cone with a 0.5" plasticdome tweeter. Jack concluded that it was “simply one of the best buys in audio, providing a musically satisfying sound; … a sensational audio bargain.” The Alpha went on to become one of the most popular audiophile speakers ever, with over 50,000 pairs sold by the end of the last century.

Paul Barton revised the Alpha in 1998, replacing its plastic-dome tweeter with a more refined unit, upgrading the crossover and terminals, and magnetically shielding both drive-units for use in home-theater systems. The revised speaker was called the Alpha A/V and cost $249/pair; I enthusiastically reviewed it in April 2000.3 The next iteration was the Alpha B, which the late Bob Reina reviewed in May 2002.4 The B retained the magnetic shielding and featured a 5.25" woofer with an injectionmolded polypropylene cone. The ferrofluid-cooled, 0.75" aluminum-dome tweeter was recessed within a short flare and protected by a plastic “phase.”