Stratus SubSonic 7 Completes New PSB Subwoofer Series

PSB Speakers, Canadian maker of high-performance speaker systems, is completing its new generation of SubSonic powered subwoofers with the Stratus SubSonic 7. The four new-generation models - including the Image SubSonic 6, Alpha SubSonic 5, and Alpha SubZero - incorporate reengineered cabinets, drivers, and power amplifiers, with newly designed compression and limiting circuitry, to deliver a new level of performance and value.According to PSB Founder and Chief Designer Paul Barton, the new subwoofer line will make a lasting impression for both expected and less-talked-about reasons. ""These subs,"" Barton says, ""have heavy drivers and powerful amplifiers that are more than competitive in their price ranges. And they produce really solid bass and sub-bass. But what sets them most apart is their new compression-limiting circuitry, which is the most sophisticated we know of - and tremendously useful in real-life listening. This circuitry produces a dramatically audible leap in exactly the most stressful and important low-frequency performance issues.""""Subwoofers face two different kinds of stress,"" Barton continues. ""One is the sudden and sometimes tremendous peak ëslamí of one kind or another, which comes both in music and movies. The other is primarily a movie phenomenon - the ominous, sustained sounds that sometimes underlie a movie soundtrack. Theyíre the ones meant to build up reactions from awe to nervousness and fear, and they can go on for minutes at a time. Subwoofers that deal well with one of these demands may not do as well with the other, and some have trouble with both.""""You can definitely hear the difference in many head-to-head comparisons,"" he says. ""In some subs, sudden peaks are audibly cut off, or audibly clip the beginning of the sound following them. And others simply give up on sustained passages. A deficiency may pass by a listenerís consciousness if he or she doesnít have a reference for what a passage should sound like. But when you listen comparatively, what our subwoofers do on these passages makes a really dramatic and lasting impression. The absence of the losses you might not even identify in other subs becomes a very audible presence in ours.""The new line-up of SubSonic subwoofers includes the Alpha SubZero (8-inch driver, 50W continuous/90W dynamic/180W dynamic peak amplifier), the Alpha SubSonic 5 (10-inch driver, 65W continuous/110W dynamic/220W dynamic peak), the Image SubSonic 6 (12-inch driver, 130W continuous/220W dynamic/440W dynamic peak), and the Stratus SubSonic 7 (15-inch driver, 330W continuous/600W dynamic/1200 watts dynamic peak).""All these models are striking in competitive comparisons,"" Barton says. ""And one that gets to people even without a comparison is the Alpha SubZero. You just donít expect a sub that costs as little as this one does, and measures only 9-5/8 inches high by 13-1/4 inches wide by 13-7/8 inches deep, to have the kind of bass ësockí that people keep noting in the SubZero.""With suggested U.S. prices ranging from $299 for the Alpha SubZero to $899 for the Stratus SubSonic 7, all models are now shipping