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Other orchestral works like Mozart’s Requiem under Claudio Abbado leading the Berlin Philharmonic were impressively mature whilst admittedly lacking the shove and density of bigger floorstanders during the massed tuttis. Again, that was intrinsic to the concept, genre and price class. Classical led to electronica and Berlin disc jockey and producer Miwon whose 2008 A to B release is a pleasantly hypnotic, transparent and even humorous sample of the genre (it includes a very context-alienated musical Fleetwood Mac quote).
"They leave in autumn" manages to alternate between just two harmonies for a solid six minutes but does so with such a fascinating intensification of rhythm and sequencer phrasing that time flies when one has as pretty a stewardness on board like the B6.
Speed and impulse fidelity showed their sunny sides again not merely in the upper bass but throughout the entire midrange. This introduced a proper forward momentum that was fully appropriate for such electronica. The drivers held the sounds on a very short leash for truly angular elastic play. Dimensional focus was once again high to invite stepping into the proceedings. This joie de vivre paired with the stress-free treble balance had me completely forget about the lack of LF substance.
The PSB Image B6 compact monitor showed itself deliberately tweaked and as such a beneficiary of lessons learnt with the pricier stable mates. Typical of this house sound are somewhat silken but slightly restrained highs and colourful resolved mids. These qualities suggest deliberation for a budget speaker that’s expected to deal with a broad spectrum of musical genres and styles and do so over extended sessions whilst avoiding cheap tricks. This has come off well. For a small surcharge and that small subwoofer, the already quite mature profile of the Image B6 quickly gains poundage down low – but in either case do toss those grills.
Psych profile
Very good staging for this class that runs a perfect compromise between width and image localization. This speaker doesn’t collapse in the center even with higher than normal spacing of the boxes.
Cleanly articulated mids with seamlessly attached bass and treble without timbre trickery.
Unusually good macrodyamic reflexes. Microdynamic differentiation particularly in the treble is merely typical for this price class.
Tautly responsive rather than fulsome dense bass that’s fully commensurate with size and price.
A slightly recessed but long-term friendly and mature-sounding upper register which should lack resolution only for analytical listeners.
