After breaking the system in by using it to watch TV for a few days, I began my critical listening with two-channel music played full-range through the T20s without a sub. Right out of the gate, familiar PSB hallmarks such as an articulate and detailed midrange and powerful, dynamic bass were easy to hear. With its punchy, articulate bass line and a soundstage depth that placed the drum kit well behind, yet tightly focused between, the speakers, “Last Plane Out” by Toy Matinee showed me what was possible with the PSB towers. Lower-cost speakers are often be voiced in a way that attempts to make them sound bigger than they are, but the neutrality of the T20’s response let me savor the midrange detail in the music. To be honest, switching between the T20s used straight-up by themselves and a 2.1 setup supplemented by the subwoofer didn’t bring much benefit with most recordings, and I often found myself preferring the sonic coherency of the un-augmented T20s. Comparing them with my eight-times-as-expensive Synchrony One tower speakers might sound pretty unfair, but doing so served to highlight the T20’s similarities rather than its deficiencies. Sure, the T20 tower can’t go as deep in the bass, nor does it have the same level of clarity and articulation in the midrange and highs that its bigger brother provides, but it was clear to me that both speakers come from the same gene pool.”
