PSB began in the summer of 1972 in St. Jacobs, Ontario, where Paul Barton and two high-school friends started building speakers. The name stands for Paul and Sue Barton. PSB says every speaker it makes is voiced in the National Research Council’s anechoic chambers here in Ottawa. We carry PSB towers, bookshelf speakers, centre channels and subwoofers. We’ve had more than 440 PSB listings so far, covering nearly 90 different models, second only to our other big Canadian brand, Paradigm. Every used PSB here is inspected, tested and serviced as required, then photographed in-house and covered by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Don’t see the model you want? Tell us on First Dibs and we’ll email you when one arrives.
Our five best-selling PSB models so far: the Alpha Intro LR bookshelf speakers, the Image 8C centre, the Image 4T towers, the Alpha SubZero i subwoofer and the Alpha B bookshelf speakers.
The PSB story, 1972 to today
Paul Barton founded PSB in St. Jacobs, Ontario, in the summer of 1972 with two high-school friends, and named it for himself and Sue Barton, his high-school sweetheart and now his wife. PSB stayed in St. Jacobs for about its first eight years.
The Ottawa connection. In 1973 or 1974 (sources differ) PSB’s Beta II caught the attention of Dr. Floyd Toole at the National Research Council in Ottawa, and Barton has used the NRC’s Ottawa facilities since 1974. PSB says every speaker it makes is still voiced in the NRC’s anechoic chambers.
Lenbrook and Stratus. The Lenbrook Group of Pickering, Ontario bought PSB in the mid-1980s (PSB’s own timeline says 1985), and PSB is now based in Pickering. The Stratus series began in the late 1980s, and Stereophile first reviewed the Stratus Gold in 1991.
Alpha, Image and beyond. The budget Alpha launched in 1991, and more than 50,000 pairs had sold by 2000. The Image series replaced the Century series in 1999, the Platinum flagship followed in 2002, then Synchrony in 2007 and Imagine in 2008. PSB marked its 50th anniversary in 2022 with the Passif 50.
Which PSB is which?
Early models (1970s and 1980s): the Beta II, Avanté II, Passif II and Project B2, then the R series after the Lenbrook purchase.
Stratus (late 1980s to the 2000s): the upper line, including the Mini, Silver, Gold and Gold i. The Gold is a three-way with a 10″ woofer.
Alpha (1991 to today): the entry line, including the Alpha A/V, Alpha B, Alpha B1 and later the Alpha P5. Our best-selling Alpha Intro LR and Alpha B come from this family.
Image (1999 to the 2010s): one step above Alpha. Our best-selling Image 8C centre and Image 4T towers come from this family.
Platinum (2002), Synchrony (2007) and Imagine (2008): the higher lines of the 2000s.
SubSeries and SubZero: PSB’s powered subwoofers, such as the Alpha SubZero i we sell often.
Buying used PSB: what to check
Where it was made. Lines launched from about 2008 onward, such as Imagine and later Image and Alpha models, were made in China. Check the label before calling an older PSB “made in Canada”; spec sheets from the 1990s list only the Pickering address.
Amplifier load. The Stratus Gold and Gold i have a 4-ohm nominal impedance, and owners say Stratus models want an amplifier with plenty of current.
Image tweeters. On Image series speakers, check that every tweeter works and sounds as bright as its partner. A dim or dead tweeter is a frequent point of failure on that line. We sell a new Peerless 1″ replacement tweeter that drops straight in (Image 1B, 2B, 4T, 5T, 8C, 10S and more) and is more robust than the original, and we can install it while you wait.
Drivers. Owners report occasional woofer failures on older towers. Listen to each driver on its own.
Surrounds. Many PSB woofers, such as the Platinum T8’s, use rubber surrounds rather than foam, but press gently on any woofer surround to check it.
Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.
Showing 1–12 of 61 resultsSorted by price: high to low
High End PSB Tower Speakers in High Gloss Black Stratus Silver
Second from the top of PSB’s Stratus line — and the one plenty of listeners end up preferring to the flagship Gold. Where the Golds are power-hungry and fussy about how close they sit to the back wall, the Silvers are efficient and far more forgiving of placement: two 6.5-inch polypropylene woofers and a ferrofluid-cooled aluminium dome, flat to 35 Hz, happy on a good receiver. Made in Canada, high-gloss black, 56 lb each. Very Good condition. Pair — pickup in Kanata, or we deliver.
PSB SubSeries HD10 10″ Powered Subwoofer — 750W, 2000W Peak!
A serious subwoofer in about a square foot of floor, from one of the most respected names in Canadian loudspeaker design, with deep, powerful bass for home theatre and most music.
✔️ Good condition — light scuffs on the top, and a little vibration when played loud (details below)
✔️ 10-inch driver, two passive radiators and a 750 W Class H amplifier
✔️ Line-level and high-level inputs — works even with a receiver that has no sub out
✔️ Covered by Radique Warranty
✔️ Includes Perpetual Trade-Back Program eligibility
✔️ Expertly packed for safe shipping
PSB Image S50 Bipole Surround Speakers, Pair – Made in Canada
A pair of PSB Image S50 bipole surround speakers in black, made in Canada, with grilles and keyhole wall brackets.
✔️ Tested on our bench, both driver sets in each cabinet
✔️ Very good condition, grilles included
✔️ Bipole: fills the room instead of pointing at you
✔️ Covered by Radique Warranty
✔️ Includes Perpetual Trade-Back Program eligibility
✔️ Expertly packed for safe shipping
PSB VisionSound VS300 Aluminum On-Wall Speaker
An on-wall speaker engineered as one rather than adapted into one. It shares the tweeter, terminals and crossover of PSB's VS400 floorstander, but the port was moved to the front so the cabinet can sit flat to a wall without the wall changing what it does — and a rear switch selects NORMAL or ON-WALL, filling the 400 to 500 Hz dip that hard mounting creates. Extruded aluminium, built in Pickering, Ontario. Graded Excellent or Very Good; the only thing separating the two is a single Tic Tac-sized hole at the extreme edge of one grille frame.
PSB Image 10S Bipole Surround Speakers — Black | Canada
Two driver modules per cabinet — a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter and a 133mm polypropylene woofer in each — angled rather than run out of phase, which widens the listening window without the comb filtering a true dipole introduces. Crossover at 2,500 Hz, 91 dB sensitivity into 6 ohms, 65 Hz to 23 kHz. Made in Canada, and a set of flush wall mounts comes with them.
PSB 50 MkII Speakers, Pair — Black Ash, Made in Canada
A pair of PSB 50 MkII two-way monitors in black ash, built in Canada.
✔️ Condition: Good — light marking on ONE cabinet around the woofer, hidden with the grille on
✔️ thoroughly inspected and tested; one woofer replaced with the genuine PSB part
✔️ Covered by Radique Warranty
✔️ Includes Perpetual Trade-Back Program eligibility
✔️ Expertly packed for safe shipping
PSB Image B15 Bookshelf Speakers — Black Ash | Made in Canada
A 5.25-inch metalized polypropylene woofer under a 1-inch ferrofluid-cooled aluminum dome, front-ported, 50 Hz to 23 kHz at 89 dB anechoic. Paul Barton voiced the Image series through the National Research Council anechoic chamber. Gold-plated 5-way posts, 6 ohms nominal. Built in Canada; good condition.
PSB Image 8C Centre Channel Speaker — 240W Peak | Made in Canada
Two 5.25-inch woofers either side of a 1-inch aluminium dome, crossed at 2.2 kHz in a wide front-ported cabinet — 55 Hz to 21 kHz, 90 dB, and 240 watts of peak handling on a 6 ohm load. Voiced by Paul Barton against NRC anechoic measurements and built in Canada. Very good condition, apart from a few small mounting holes underneath that a shelf hides.