John Darko
UPDATE! A video review of the PSB Alpha iQ can be found here.
The PSB Alpha iQ (€1399/pair) is a pint-sized 2-way standmount active loudspeaker designed, at least in part, by Paul Barton. We interviewed Barton for the Darko.Audio podcast at the very end of 2022. Is he Canada’s answer to Andrew Jones? I reckon he might be.
‘Active’ doesn’t necessarily refer to the amplifiers sitting inside the speaker cabinets but to the amplifiers sitting after the crossover in the signal path. That means we get one amplifier per driver. Inside each Alpha iQ, 30 Watts of Class D amplification juices a 0.75″ aluminium dome tweeter and 60 Watts of Class D amplification drivers a 4″ mid/bass driver. If the double mention of Class D puts you on the defensive, know that this PSB mini monitor is not a cold, sterile-sounding loudspeaker. And if reading ‘4″ mid/bass driver’ causes you to assume that this mini-standmount is only for the smallest of rooms, think again. It’s not how big it is but what you do with it that counts.
The Alpha iQ’s crossover has been implemented by Barton and his team in DSP with a rear-firing reflex port extending the bass response. I’ll have more to say about this in my forthcoming review video but whilst PSB’s online spec sheet says the Alpha iQ are 3dB down at 64Hz, in my 6m x 5m room, they seem to go lower. Another way of looking at it is this: whatever this PSB loudspeaker lacks in bass reach, it more than makes up for in dynamic bass punch. The Alpha iQ is not the weak-sounding noise maker many might expect it to be.
Moreover, we can add a subwoofer via the Alpha iQ’s other main feature: the BluOS operating system. Thanks to BluOS’s Sonos-grade onboarding process, I was up and running with wireless music streaming within ten minutes of pulling the box cutter from the kitchen drawer. Here we say hello to Spotify Connect, Tidal Connect, Apple AirPlay 2 and Roon Ready with numerous lesser-known streaming services rolled into the BluOS app, which recently enjoyed a visual overhaul in its step up to version 4. The app recognises that I am running a pair of Alpha iQ and reports on the strength of the wi-fi connection between the primary loudspeaker and the wireless router. Alternatively, can connect the primary Alpha iQ – configurable as a left or right speaker – to the network with an Ethernet cable but the speaker interlink is VPN wi-fi only with the BluOS app additionally reporting on the strength of that connection. The speakers sitting two metres apart, I get a ‘Fair’ reading but not a hint of an audible dropout for the new Momus album; or during the numerous hours of listening already clocked up.
Hard-wired hook-ups on the rear of the primary box include HDMI eARC, which for this commentator is essential to the Alpha iQ’s acceptance by more mainstream buyers, especially when being considered as a soundbar substitute. That a pair of PSB will offer wider soundstaging and a more impactful sound than any soundbar on the planet won’t be enough to convince those who care more about aesthetics. To wit, my own inner minimalist digs the Alpha iQ’s small cabinet size, the touch-sensitive control strip for play/pause and volume up/down atop the primary speaker as well as the choice of five colour finishes. As you can see from the photos, I went for Tangerine Yellow but Dutch Orange, Midnight Blue, Matte White and Matte Black are also available.
A mild disappointment is the absence of a USB input. We’ll need a USB-S/SPDIF converter to hook the PSB into a PC or Mac. A US$99 Topping D10s, primarily a USB DAC, will convert USB to S/PDIF to feed the Alpha iQ over TOSLINK; but I won’t be doing that until I get the PSB onto the office desk next year. Besides, in my lounge-y listening room, I’m reserving that TOSLINK input for a Shanling ET3 CD transport. For analogue signal injection, we get a pair of RCAs for MM cartridge-loaded turntables and a 3.5mm line-level aux but we’ll need a long set of interconnects if we’re to make use of the corresponding stand’s cable management: over two metre’s worth if our phono stage or CD player sits at a similar height to the speaker.
From where I am sitting, matching stands equipped with cable management are fundamental to minimising an active loudspeaker’s visual disturbance, especially when each speaker needs mains power and the primary loudspeaker loops in other essential inputs like HDMI e/ARC, S/PDIF and analogue. For these PSB actives, we have to dig up another €349 for the matching AST-25 stands that weigh almost 5kg (each) and put the tweeter at ear height. That tweeter, like some Mission and some Buchardt, sits below the mid/bass driver.
And lest this message get lost in all the tech talk: a pair of Alpha iQ is a complete hi-fi system in a box. A very small box. I’ve had headphones arrive in larger packages than this.
Further information: PSB
