looking for info on PSB Stratus Tower speakers

pglbook

Has anyone heard of PSB Stratus Tower speakers? A pair showed up for sale locally and they look very nice. But I have never heard of this company or speaker. Seller says the speakers for sale were precursor to the Gold, which, after a quick google search, does seem to be a very desirable speaker.

I was just curious how the PSB Stratus Tower speakers are. Seller is asking $300 for the pair. And, while I am not in the market for speakers, I am curious. It's great seeing things one has never seen before and learning new things.

Please let me know if anyone knows anything about them.

Thanks.

ZLTFUL

RUN don't walk and buy them NOW.

Local shop carried PSB and they are a pretty great sounding speaker. The last pair they sold on consignment were at like $1200 and they had people tripping over themselves to buy them.

Sort of like ProAc on a budget.

ZLTFUL

And if you buy them and don't want them, I would seriously consider buying them from you!

pglbook

Thanks, Zltful. These are not the Stratus Gold which seem to be the most desirable Stratus model from my quick online research. I guess these are the original Stratus model. Does that make a difference? Although I am not in the market for speakers, I will contact the Seller in any event because, from what you say, it seems to be a great deal. Thanks again. Please let me know if you know the difference between the Stratus and Stratus Gold models. I can't seem to find any info online on the original Stratus model, only the Stratus Gold and Silver models. Thanks again.

pglbook

I left a message for the Seller and am still waiting for a call back. I did found out that PSB is a Canadian company. Their speakers, especially the Stratus Gold, are very highly regarded. While this is not the Gold model but the original Stratus model (precursor to Gold model), it has me intrigued and I'd like to at least hear them in person and if I like them...omg I really do not need a new pair of speakers as I have too many already...but I know I won't be able to pass up such a great deal if they sound as nice as they look. Deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole I may go. I'll keep you updated. Hopefully they are still available.

ZLTFUL

At $300, your well below typical selling price even on the "standard" Stratus.
I have never had a chance to A-B them but even the originals sound pretty danged good.

pglbook

Zltful, what is the typical selling price for the "standard" Stratus?
The Stratus Gold goes for big bucks, probably at least $1200-$1500, but I cannot find much online about the "standard" Stratus.

How would the sound of the "standard" Stratus compare to Polk Monitor 10 or SDA 2B (both of which I own so that is what I can refer to).

Thanks for all of your input.

pglbook

The other thing I have read about the Stratus line is that they are VERY power hunfgry speakers and require a power amp that can deal with difficult loads as I read that they sometimes dip to 2.7 Ohms. Thus, I doubt that either my Yamaha CR 2020 or 2040 receivers will be able to drive the Stratus speakers (and wouldn't want to risk damage to receiver) so I would probably also need to get a good power amp capable of driving difficult loads if I do end up getting the Stratus speakers...but one thing at a time...

ZLTFUL

$600 would be *average* for the standards. $300 is gravy.

As for the comparison, I only have my RTA-15TLs to compare from the world of vintage Polks. Obviously not an A/B comparison but what I heard from the PSBs was what I would consider a fuller, more complete sound. But they were connected to VASTLY superior amplification. Even with the upgraded crossovers in my RTAs, they have some minor holes in the overall sound. Nothing glaring and I only notice it after listening to the same album several times. They are power hungry but the golds I spent the most time with were connected to a pair of Audio Research Reference 210 monoblocs.
From what I understand, those 2.7 ohm loads are only when REALLY cranking them. A quality amp that doubles its power from 8 to 4 ohms would have no problems with these at all.

Now you're making me kick myself for not picking up those consignment Golds when I had the chance. Hehe.

Lost240

PSB makes great speakers. I have had many over the years

pglbook

I haven't heard from the Seller at all. I left a message on his voice mail last night and another this morning and no call back (Seller just left phone # and no e-mail in his ad). I guess the speakers sold right away...either that or the Seller got a million messages and figured out their real value and pulled them from sale. It would have been nice to have gotten them but I wasn't looking for speakers anyway and I now I stilll have money for food and beer this weekend, haa. Gotta look on the bright side! Thanks for the information and advice on the speakers. This is a great site full of amazing folk!

Glen B

pglbook wrote: »

Has anyone heard of PSB Stratus Tower speakers? A pair showed up for sale locally and they look very nice. But I have never heard of this company or speaker. Seller says the speakers for sale were precursor to the Gold, which, after a quick google search, does seem to be a very desirable speaker.

I was just curious how the PSB Stratus Tower speakers are. Seller is asking $300 for the pair. And, while I am not in the market for speakers, I am curious. It's great seeing things one has never seen before and learning new things.

Please let me know if anyone knows anything about them.

Thanks.

I agree with ZLTFUL, run don't walk and get them. They're a steal at $300.00. I have the Stratus Goldi's in my main 2-channel system. Both the Stratus Goldi and Stratus were reviewed by Stereophile Magazine (see links below). I have owned the Goldi's for some years, and have no immediate plans on getting rid of them. I would need to spend at least $16,000-$18,000 to find speakers that outperform them in the areas important to me.

Reviews:

http://www.stereophile.com/content/psb-stratus-loudspeaker

http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/704/index.html

nhhiep

PSB makes great speakers. I think PSB is a step above Polk.

sodablue

The original Stratus came out in 1986 or so. I found a review from Stereophile. They came out to mixed reviews, and were redesigned in around 1990 as the New Stratus. These are the predecessors of the Stratus Silver. The Stratus Gold are really well regarded.

PSB makes good speakers for the money. I have a pair of Century 500i that I really love that are derived from the original Stratus, although designed at a lower price point for mass market. The only comparison I can do with Polk is my RTI4, which I can compare to set of Image 1B's I have which were made in the early 2000's and cost around the same($300/pair). I like my RTI4's, but the Image 1B are better built and have a larger sound, more bass and build quality wise the PSB are much better.

PSB's tend to run low impedance, in the 4-6 ohm range so you'll need an amp that can drive them. Also one tip, if you use cables with spade lugs the PSB binding posts are wider than other speakers. I found banana plugs easier to work with.

$300 is a fair price, considering they are about 25 years old and cost around $1400/pair new. If I could, I'd buy them myself.

audiocr381ve

ZLTFUL wrote: »

$600 would be *average* for the standards. $300 is gravy.

As for the comparison, I only have my RTA-15TLs to compare from the world of vintage Polks. Obviously not an A/B comparison but what I heard from the PSBs was what I would consider a fuller, more complete sound. But they were connected to VASTLY superior amplification. Even with the upgraded crossovers in my RTAs, they have some minor holes in the overall sound. Nothing glaring and I only notice it after listening to the same album several times. They are power hungry but the golds I spent the most time with were connected to a pair of Audio Research Reference 210 monoblocs.
From what I understand, those 2.7 ohm loads are only when REALLY cranking them. A quality amp that doubles its power from 8 to 4 ohms would have no problems with these at all.

Now you're making me kick myself for not picking up those consignment Golds when I had the chance. Hehe.

Wow, this bums me out a little because I've seen a couple of pairs of Stratus Golds selling from $300-$600 in my area. Didn't know those were such great deals.

pglbook

Got 'em! I really didn't need more speakers, and my wife is now convinced I am certifiable as our apartment looks like a speaker factory (well, it really isn't too bad...only 5 pair of speakers here but she doesn't understand, haa). However, the price was too good to pass up, especially after all of the comments about how nice the PSB Stratus are. The speakers look great, almost like new, in jet black finish. The only minor defect is a small, hardly noticeable, rip to one side edge of the lower wooden base where it looks like the seam came loose and may have been reglued. Other than that, these are pristine. They are not as tall as I imagined. They are a little shorter than my Polk SDA 2Bs and not as deep. They are 38" tall, 14" deep, and 11.5" wide. I will try to post some pics in the next few days and also let you know how I like them at that time. Unfortunately, I won't be able to connect them until Thursday as my other receiver is in my shop and I won't be able to get it until that time. One other thing I noticed about the speakers...the speaker terminal posts are UNDER the base of the speaker rather than in the back as is normally the case. That is odd and it seems like it will be a pain to have to put the speaker on its side to connect speaker wires...but that is a minor issue. I am very happy to have gotten these. Seller almost sold them to someone else. I was the first to contact him but he did not return my calls until late Saturday night and had almost sold them to someone else, but he turned out to be a cool guy and told me since I was the first to call they were mine if I wanted them. And I took all of your advice and ran to get them. Actually, Seller delivered them to my apartment. $300 with door-to-door delivery! Not bad at all! Thanks again. I will let you know how I like them once I get them set up!

pglbook

I found the specs for the PSB Stratus tower speakers and reprint it below. Man, it is hard to find info online about the original Stratus model (lots of info, though, on the Stratus Gold, of course). Just thought others might be interested as well. Thanks again for all the input and for letting me know about the PSB Stratus, of which I am now a proud owner. Here are the specs, taken directly from an online site:

Sidebar 1: Specifications
Description: Two-way, reflex-loaded, dynamic floor-standing loudspeaker system. Drivers: one 8" long-throw woofer with 3-lb magnet; one 1" treated-textile dome, ferrofluid-cooled. Crossover frequency: 1800Hz. System Q: 0.7 at 35Hz. Frequency range: 26Hz-21kHz. Frequency response: –1.5dB, 40Hz–20kHz. Sensitivity: 86dB/W/m; 88dB in typical listening room. Maximum program input: 150W. Maximum amplifier power: 200W, clipping less than 10% of time. Impedance: 6.5 ohms rated, 6 ohms minimum.
Dimensions: 38¼" H by 11" W by 13½" D.
Price: $1400/pair. Approximate number of dealers: 100.
Manufacturer: PSB Speakers, 633 Granite Ct., Pickering, Ont., Canada L1W 3K1.

ZLTFUL

AWESOME! Grats on the deal.
And I think you will enjoy them.

Jhayman

Ya PSB is a Great Speaker manufacturer most of their line up are made in China, I believe the top 2 models are made right down the street from me..
Back in the 80's I was intrigued by PSB I was just getting into higher end audio, I feel in love with the Stratus Golds, but they were out of my budget.
So I focused on the Stratus Silvers in piano gloss, even my wife , god rest her soul, liked them but we were young and just starting out, other priorities took control of our money.
Wow a flash back, anyway Very Nice Score, I bet your very Happy..
Congrats

pglbook

I finally got the speakers set up and there is an issue: the driver on the right speaker does not seem to be working. The driver does not vibrate and there is no sound coming from it or very faint sound. The left driver and speaker work perfectly. Help! It is my fault for not testing these out prior to buying and for trusting the seller. Maybe it was too good to be true after all.

The sound is amazing in these, at least on the speaker that works perfectly. It is a very clear and crisp and neutral sound. Very lively. Lots of bass. Overall, fantastic sounding. I'd like to keep them but need to get that one driver working.

However I do not know what to do now. I called and left a message for the seller and will see if he calls back.

Does anyone have any advice, suggestions?

Can anyone help me troubleshoot the driver issue? Could it be something simple?

I'd appreciate any thoughts.

Thanks.

FTGV

Is the tweeter working?Does it have two sets of binding posts? if so be sure the two positive posts are securely linked together and same for the negative posts.If they are then you might want to pull the woofer and check that the internal wiring has not slip off the woofers terminals.

pglbook

Thanks, FTGV. Yes, the tweeter is working fine in that speaker, only the woofer is not working. It is a 2 way design (I posted specs in this thread) with only 1 tweeter and 1 driver/woofer. I pulled the driver and checked the connection in back and it looked ok. I really didn't know what I was looking for as I have no electronics background but just did a quick visual to see if any leads had come loose and the wires on back of driver seemed secure.

I am not sure what you mean by binding posts? Do you mean the terminals where speaker goes? if so, there is one pair on each speaker, on bottom of each speaker (yes, what a pain, the posts are actually on the bottom of the speaker in the wooden base. I have never seen that before and never want to see it again! You have to lift speakers up and place on side to hook up speaker wire underneath speaker. What a dumb design! Only negative thing I've found about this model).

FTGV

I remember from my retail days they had binding posts on the bottom but couldn't remember if there were one or dual sets.The drivers were sourced from Vifa and were customized versions of the popular Vifa P21 series woofer and D26 tweet.If the connections from the crossover to the woofer are in tact then you may have a woofer with an open voice coil.You might try removing it and using a multi meter to test resistance or place a a 1.5 volt battery across the woofers terminals and see if you can get the cone to move in or out.

pglbook

Thanks again, FTGV. How would I use a miltimeter to check resistance? I do not have a multimeter but can get one tomorrow at Home Depot. Any particlular kind of mulimeter to get or are all the same?

I am really bummed out because the speakers, even with only one speaker fully operational, sound fantastic. Wow, I really love the sound - so clear and lively and open with plenty of bass as well. I cannot wait until I can get the other driver working because I can only imagine how much better they will sound than they do even now. These are sweet-sounding speakers. Now all I have to do is to fix this damn driver!

Glen B

pglbook wrote: »

Thanks, FTGV. Yes, the tweeter is working fine in that speaker, only the woofer is not working. It is a 2 way design (I posted specs in this thread) with only 1 tweeter and 1 driver/woofer. I pulled the driver and checked the connection in back and it looked ok. I really didn't know what I was looking for as I have no electronics background but just did a quick visual to see if any leads had come loose and the wires on back of driver seemed secure.

I am confused. You said the speaker is the original Stratus Gold, yet now you're saying its a 2-way design. The Stratus Gold is 3-way, design. BTW, every component speaker is a "driver" (e.g. tweeter is the high-frequency driver, midrage is the midrange driver, and woofer is the low frequency driver). It is not just the woofer that is called a driver. So, which model speaker do you have ?

FTGV

I believe he has the original Stratus that pre dates the Gold.It was a typical solid Barton 8"2way NRC design.As for the multi meter a basic Digital meter would suffice.Set to the lowest Ohm range setting and put one probe(either one)on the positive terminal of the woofer and the other on the negative terminal.You should get a reading in the 4-8 ohm range.

Glen B

Now that makes sense. I just looked it up in Bluebook. Two-way system, with 8-inch woofers/1-inch tweeters, circa 1988.

FTGV

Glen B wrote: »

(speaker voice coils are rated by impedance, which varies with frequency, their electrical resistance is not going to measure exactly the same as their rated impedance)..

True,the DC resistance should be approx 1-2 ohms less than the nominal impedance.

pglbook

GlenB, there should be no confusion. Check my earlier post in this thread , post #17 I believe, where I put the specs for the original Stratus (precusor to Stratus Gold) speakers.

FTGV, thanks again. I will get a multimeter tomorrow and test the woofer. Thanks for all of your help.

pglbook

I turned on the speakers today and the funny thing is that the bad driver (woofer) is now working although it sounds fainter than the other driver. I think the difference is in the bass. The good driver on the left speaker has a deep bass and the driver on the right speaker lacks that. That is really noticeable when I switch balance control from left to right. This speaker model has only 1 tweeter and 1 (8") woofer. I have not gotten a multimeter as I haven't had a chance to go to Home Depot and my not be able to go until tomorrow. But driver is working although it seems not to full capacity.
Any ideas what this means? Thanks.

ZLTFUL

pgl...no need to keep cross posting between multiple threads. Just post all the information in one thread for simplicity's sake.

I would visually inspect the condition of the wiring for damage or loose connections and the crossover for any leaking capacitors or loose connections as well..