[sulkoudai]

Quote:

Yes. No. Those speakers are OK, but I would suggest the Swan D1010 IV, or if you can stretch your budget to $180 the D1080. Both are available from the Audio Insider.
 

lol, everything is such a rip off in australia that the M10s are 180 bucks and the AV40s are 210 bucks.....those are the cheapest I can find...

 

[elbuzzard]

I use the PSB Alpha B1 as a near field monitor on my desk with a 10 year old Sonic Impact T-amp.  Very good sound for very little money.  I have been a fan of PSB products for some time.  

 

[starfish]

Quote:

The mini's molded, rubberized base houses all-metal connectors that accept bare wire ends or wires terminated with spades or pins. It's an 8 ohm design. 
 

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Rear view of PSB Imagine mini (left), and underside view showing the binding posts (right).​

 
 

 
Thanks for the informative review.  Something that has been troubling me since first reading about these speakers is the binding post location on the bottom of the speaker.  Is there not enough room for banana plug connections in this odd location?  It appears the binding posts are too close to the bottom of the speakers.  It seems like this would result in sharp cable bends and undue strain on stranded and especially on solid wire speaker cable terminated in banana plugs, that is - if there is any clearance at all for bananas and a cable bend back through the routing holes.  
 
Can you clarify the odd binding post location a bit?  Let's use a standard Analysis Plus Black Oval 12 terminated in factory gold bananas like these - http://www.analysis-plus.com/images/Oval12lowres.jpg  Is it an optical illusion or are my fears founded?  Thanks again!

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

 
 
Can you clarify the odd binding post location a bit?  Let's use a standard Analysis Plus Black Oval 12 terminated in factory gold bananas like these - http://www.analysis-plus.com/images/Oval12lowres.jpg  Is it an optical illusion or are my fears founded?  Thanks again!

Unless those red and black caps are removable, banana plugs won't work. Based on the (kind of dumb) location of the posts anyway, I'd say banana plugs are out. Large pre-terminated spades may not work either. It seems like they designed it for zip-cord only.
 

 

[starfish]

Quote:

Unless those red and black caps are removable, banana plugs won't work. Based on the (kind of dumb) location of the posts anyway, I'd say banana plugs are out. Large pre-terminated spades may not work either. It seems like they designed it for zip-cord only.
 

Typically those caps are removable.  I have seen plastic caps like that on binding post holes in many speakers.  They just pop out with a small jewelers screwdriver.  But that doesn't mean there is enough room for a banana connection either.
 
Good point about spades.  You probably can't even pass them through the routing plate on the back of the speaker.  What was PSB thinking with this design?    Surely there is room to put the binding posts on the rear as is normally the location.  Instead, create a specialist speaker and then narrow your market even further by removing typically terminated speaker wire as options?  I don't know what the reasoning can be.
 
I'm hoping Steve reads my post above and clarifies the binding post confusion.
 

 

[dookie182]

thank's steve for your nice review of the psb imagine minis.
I was wondering if you could just give me some word on how they compare to the wharfdale diamond 10.1 that you seemed to enjoy a lot too. price wise the diamond 10.1 can be found for about 180euros here in europe and the pbs sells for around 400euros
kindest regard

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Great review Steve! I'm in the Aspen Theater listening to you right now at RMAF.

I was in the market for a small bookshelf speaker for under $1,000, and preferably $500. I just listened to these PSB at RMAF, after listening to the Harbeth Compact P3 and P7, "the clue" by Sjofn Hifi, and even the $25,000 Magico bookshelf speakers. I loved the Harbeth but the PSB are not that far behind for 1/3 the price. It would be nice to listen to these and the Harbeth P3 side by side, but that isn't easy to do at these shows.

I really liked the PSB Imagine Mini, and maybe more than the PSB Tower. Enough that I bought their Demo pair from the show, and I pick them up tomorrow about 4PM. I negotiated about 20% off, which is a little better than the 15% show discount for new in box. I liked the Walnut better.

 

[barleyguy]

Quote:

 
Thanks for the informative review.  Something that has been troubling me since first reading about these speakers is the binding post location on the bottom of the speaker.  Is there not enough room for banana plug connections in this odd location?  It appears the binding posts are too close to the bottom of the speakers.  It seems like this would result in sharp cable bends and undue strain on stranded and especially on solid wire speaker cable terminated in banana plugs, that is - if there is any clearance at all for bananas and a cable bend back through the routing holes.  
 
Can you clarify the odd binding post location a bit?  Let's use a standard Analysis Plus Black Oval 12 terminated in factory gold bananas like these - http://www.analysis-plus.com/images/Oval12lowres.jpg  Is it an optical illusion or are my fears founded?  Thanks again!

Banana Plugs absolutely work.  They were using them for the demo speakers at RMAF.  (EDIT: I'm not sure how solid their wire was or that type of thing though, so it still wouldn't hurt to check with the manufacturer.)
 
I also heard these at RMAF, and they are very good.  They are especially good for the price.  They have excellent detail, good imaging, and surprisingly good bass for their size.  I seriously considered buying a pair this weekend.  The only reason I didn't is because I already have 2 pairs of great speakers so I couldn't justify them.
 

 

[starfish]

Quote:

Banana Plugs absolutely work.  They were using them for the demo speakers at RMAF.  (EDIT: I'm not sure how solid their wire was or that type of thing though, so it still wouldn't hurt to check with the manufacturer.)
 
I also heard these at RMAF, and they are very good.  They are especially good for the price.  They have excellent detail, good imaging, and surprisingly good bass for their size.  I seriously considered buying a pair this weekend.  The only reason I didn't is because I already have 2 pairs of great speakers so I couldn't justify them.
 

OK, that's good to know.  I'm wondering if the photo is just an optical illusion.  It looks like the binding posts are recessed but the photo angle did not reveal depth of the cavity.  If you look at the slanted area above the posts in the photo, it appears there is at least a couple inches of clearance.  I'm hoping that would allow the Analysis Plus Black Oval 12 with bananas to work.  
 
 
 

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Rear view of PSB Imagine mini (left), and underside view showing the binding posts (right).​

 

 

[SteveGuttenberg]

barleyguy, Gee, the tops of the binding posts are maybe just 1/4" below the bottom of the speaker. Not much clearance for the back-end of the plug, unless you wall mount the speakers, and the wires hang down.

 

[starfish]

Quote:

barleyguy, Gee, the tops of the binding posts are maybe just 1/4" below the bottom of the speaker. Not much clearance for the back-end of the plug, unless you wall mount the speakers, and the wires hang down.

Thanks for the review, Steve.  That's bad news indeed.  I don't understand why PSB would design a speaker in such a way as to exclude the use of banana plugs.  I guess I'll consider other speakers.
 

 

[DaveBSC]

Quote:

Thanks for the review, Steve.  That's bad news indeed.  I don't understand why PSB would design a speaker in such a way as to exclude the use of banana plugs.  I guess I'll consider other speakers.
 

It could be worse - Vandersteen refuses to give up screw type terminal blocks from 30 years ago.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Quote:

OK, that's good to know.  I'm wondering if the photo is just an optical illusion.  It looks like the binding posts are recessed but the photo angle did not reveal depth of the cavity.  If you look at the slanted area above the posts in the photo, it appears there is at least a couple inches of clearance.  I'm hoping that would allow the Analysis Plus Black Oval 12 with bananas to work.  
 
 
 

 ​

 ​

Rear view of PSB Imagine mini (left), and underside view showing the binding posts (right).​

 

 
Quote:

barleyguy, Gee, the tops of the binding posts are maybe just 1/4" below the bottom of the speaker. Not much clearance for the back-end of the plug, unless you wall mount the speakers, and the wires hang down.

The people demonstrating the PSB Imagine Mini were feeding a set of cables with integrated banana plugs right through the two small openings in the back, into the hole inside the side of the binding post, which was designed to be large enough to fit a thick banana plug or super fat bare wire.
 

 

[Currawong]

I read some other favourable comments about these speakers from RMAF comparing them to the Harbeths. For the cost of the Harbeths, I could pick up two pairs, one for the family and one for my desk.

 

[starfish]

Quote:

 
The people demonstrating the PSB Imagine Mini were feeding a set of cables with integrated banana plugs right through the two small openings in the back, into the hole inside the side of the binding post, which was designed to be large enough to fit a thick banana plug or super fat bare wire.
 

That's interesting.  Thanks for the insight.  Are you certain they were banana plugs and not pins on the speaker end?  It seems a banana connection through the side of the post as you say would only have a partial surface area mated to the post vs. a traditional insertion through the binding post's rear holes.
 
Steve  - any comments on this approach?  Did you notice this possibility during your review?