# Studer a5 / psi audio a25m



## udayan

Hi, 

I am currently trying to make up my mind on whether or not these active monitors could be a good choice for me !

I am listening to almost all kind of musics, but organ (religious pieces played on huge organ located in churches)

I am after a very precise image and the best possible linearity!

I am well aware that the listening room is playing a major role in the global frequencies response of a system, but I believe that corrections (if necessary) will be easier starting from an already excellent response in anechoid conditions.

Looking forward to reading your reviews....


Cheers, 


Udayan


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## ejbragg

Hello, Udayan,

Although you are asking a clear answer, there may not be a precise answer. The reason is that your ears are different than my ears, which are different than................... everbody else's.

The monitors you've chosen are made by a well-respected company (at least the Studers are), but the best solution of all is to listen to them yourself, if at all possible. I find that I don't like some monitors that others love, and vise versa.

There's a valid argument that some speakers just have a better (flatter) response than others. There are a lot of facts about phase responses, transient reponse, sensitivity, etc. But the best approach is to find a decent sized outfit (if possible) and ask to set up 3, 4, 5, ... 6(?) of the best monitors you think you want to buy, bring in your test music (precussive, orchestral, rock, acoustic, ...and in your case, some strong organ music), and go through the monitors over and over again - focusing hard for a couple hours.

You might be surprised at your choice. It might not make any difference how expensive they are. This very thing happened to me - I was prepared to spend the most, if that's what it took for me to get the best for my ears. My choice was NOT the most "revered" brand! You might find the same.

The ultimate point is this. Nobody can listen with your ears but you. yours are a different shape and size, and your head (a resonant cavity) is shaped differently, and your brain has a different approach to proccessing the incoming signals. Speakers, no matter how exact they look on the scales, are all very different in sound. You'll have to listen for yourself.


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## udayan

Hello Ejbragg,

Thank you for your answer. I understand very well all the points you mentioned and I would have certainly followed your advice rather than asking for reviews if I was still leaving in Paris !!!!

My problem is that I am now in the country side and that it is quite impossible to listen to midfield monitors close to my home. 
The reason is that they are rather expensive and therefore retaillers do not purpose them in their demo rooms. Nearfield monitors are massively represented as they are less expensive and easier to sale for home studio !!!

I tried to post some additionnal information on my current system to help everybody to answer my question but I made the mistake to put an image link of my HIFI before my 5th post !!!! My message has simply been deleted.

If you know these brands my system is composed of :

Studer D730 CD player
Bryston BP25 Preamp
Bryston 8B ST amp
Cabasse FST2 active crossover
Cabasse baltic 1 for the range 150 to 20 000 hz
Cabasse Stromboli passive woofer for the frequencies under 150 hz

And the points that could be improved according to my preferences are a flatter response at the crossover frequency between satellites and woofers, a faster response in the bass and last point that is not concerning the sound a smaller speaker system...


Hope this helps, 



Udayan


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## ejbragg

Your plea for help and the information you've given me shows me I'm over my head in this area. This is an excellent question for this forum and it deserves an intelligent answer. I've just moved this thread into the appropriate location. These guys can surely help you!


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## udayan

Hi Ejbragg, 

Thank you for moving the post in the most appropriate section of the forum.

As for what you are suggesting to me about phase response, transient response, sensitivity/headroom, these criteria have been in the first position to built my shortlist.
This shortlist, at the beginning and regardless of the price was the following :

Tannoy elipse 10 IDP

JBL LSR 43th series, 

PSI audio a 25m

I got some information about the JBL from a member of another forum I can trust. He told me that the JBL will not make a decisive improvement (if any) compare to my current system.

The Tannoy is in a range of price that is quite high and its look do not agree to my wife...

The last survivor is therefore the PSI !!!


I will post another message with links ....



Udayan


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## udayan

Hello, 

This is my sixth message and I can now post some links in it ....

My listening room :



The walls are made of stone and earth and are approximately 1 meter thick. My listening position is at 4.5 meters from the speakers.

Link concerning the PSI A 25 M

http://www.psiaudio.com/downloads/active_studio_monitors/docs/PSI_A25_M_techdata.pdf

And the transient response on a square wave :

http://www.psiaudio.com/technology/aoi.html


Hope my questions are easier to understand now...



Cheers,



Udayan


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## maikol

Hi Udayan,

What is the closest city from where you are based ?

I'm asking, because maybe there is a recording studio there that uses PSI audio speakers?

I personally have not heard those speakers, but I have heard The Studer's smaller sisters in the past.

What I can remember is that they were sounding very, very honest. Nothing added to the sound.

I reckon however having found them a bit clinical, if not "cold".

If you're looking for linearity, those speakers will probably do what you are looking for, and they should work very well with your Bryston preamp!

But what you will probably notice is that badly done records will sound...bad on them.

Another possible choice could be PMC, and you could keep your Bryston power amp, as the high end active PMC speakers have for long time just been delivered with Bryston amps!

For example, in the same price range than the A25s, the passive IB1S 

Hope this helps!


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## ejbragg

Woah! ONE METER THICK??? Holy cow! That is some Serious "wallage", dude!

Hey, guys, how about some assistance out here? (Thanks, Maikol)


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## udayan

maikol said:


> Hi Udayan,
> 
> What is the closest city from where you are based ?
> 
> 
> What I can remember is that they were sounding very, very honest. Nothing added to the sound.
> 
> But what you will probably notice is that badly done records will sound...bad on them.
> 
> Another possible choice could be PMC, and you could keep your Bryston power amp, as the high end active PMC speakers have for long time just been delivered with Bryston amps!
> 
> For example, in the same price range than the A25s, the passive IB1S
> 
> Hope this helps!


Bonjour Maikol, 

Well I am 80 kms from Toulouse !!

As for bad records, I have to admit that they are bad and i do not want to sacrify the good record playback just to continue to listen to badly recorded or mixed discs!

I know that Bryston are very good for amplification, but what is interresting to me in the STUDER A5 (which were PSI A25 simply re-badged) is their AOI covering the whole range of frequencies! A kind of acoustic feedback control of the speaker by its dedicated amplifier.

What do you think about that ?


Udayan


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## udayan

ejbragg said:


> Woah! ONE METER THICK??? Holy cow! That is some Serious "wallage", dude!




Yes indeed !!! This is an old farm in the south west of France build 2oo years ago that we are currently restoring from an initial status close to a ruin !!!


Udayan


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## maikol

udayan said:


> Bonjour Maiko,
> 
> Well I am 80 kms from Toulouse !!
> 
> Udayan


Then you may be able to listen to PSI A25 speakers at :Chic Audio ! onder:


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## udayan

Hi Maikol, 

Good news !! I will contact them !!!! Do you know if they will be keen to allow a "non Pro" to listen in their studio ?


Udayan


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## maikol

udayan said:


> Hi Maiko,
> 
> Good news !! I will contact them !!!! Do you know if they will be keen to allow a "non Pro" to listen in their studio ?
> 
> 
> Udayan


Well, I guess it will depend on how good the contact will be between you and these people?

However, you could also propose a deal to them, like booking their mastering studio for a few hours at a reasonable price (the engineer won't really have to work for you) to be able to comfortably listen to your reference CDs on the PSI's.

Depending on the people you'll meet there, it could also be very informative for you! :dontknow:


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## udayan

Hi Maikol, 

Your advice seems very clever !!! From my side I am currently in contact with the French Dealer of PSI AUDIO and trying to arrange a listening session in my own room !!!

On this occasion, I can also write a small summary of what I think of these monitors ( Let's say : How good or bad are these speakers to listen to music and not to mix the music)

I will nevertheless keep in mind the fact that I can confirm my first judgement by a second listening session in a profesionnal environment and therefore measure to what extend they can be improved by some room treatment and electronic compensation ....


Udayan


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## maikol

Yes please let us know what you find! :T


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## udayan

Hello, 


It's been a very long time since my last visit. In between I've left the south of France to established close to Tours (center of France).

Of course this was the opportunity to totally revisit my HiFi set-up.

"Studer D730 CD player
Bryston BP25 Preamp
Bryston 8B ST amp
Cabasse FST2 active crossover
Cabasse baltic 1 for the range 150 to 20 000 hz
Cabasse Stromboli passive woofer for the frequencies under 150 hz " have been sold and replaced by a pair of Genelec 8260, a Fanless PC, a NAS and an Ipad mini with JRemote.



Cheers 





Udayan


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