PSB Alpha iQ2 Review

Design

• Compact bookshelf design
• New baffles
• More colours

Visually, not much has changed between the Alpha iQ and the Alpha iQ2. There’s still a gold trim that covers the front portion of the cabinet, along with a silver trim that encircles both the woofer and the tweeter. What’s new (I think) is the addition of acoustically transparent baffle covers for the drivers, which I don’t believe were included with the first-generation speaker.

They only cover the driver and not the face, magnetically attaching to the drivers. I find it looks smart but it obviously conceals the drivers. For aesthetic purposes, I prefer them uncovered – and it does conceal the LED indicators, making them dimmer unless you’re facing the speaker head-on.

The speakers carry the same minimalist aesthetic as before. The compact size of the cabinet ensures it’s easy to place them on a shelf, a desk, or on a stand without occupying much space.

On the top surface of the primary speaker are touch controls that cover volume, playback and two presets. Around the back of the primary speaker is where you’ll find the connections. They’ve been organised differently from before, but the only major change is the inclusion of a USB-C input. There’s no remote control, but that’s what your smartphone is there for, operating the speakers through the BluOS app.

The biggest difference, visually, is the number of colours available. While the first generation consisted of Matt White and Matt Black, as well as Dutch Orange, Tangerine Yellow and Midnight Blue (the latter three are no longer available), PSB’s gone big on colours this time around with Boreal Green, Premium Walnut Veneer (which costs £1299), Matt Black, Matt White, Ember Red (the sample in the pictures), Granite Grey, and Sandstone Beige.

Features

• HDMI eARC
• BluOS app
• Wi-Fi and Bluetooth

For those new to active speakers, the PSB Alpha iQ2 is made up of a primary speaker and a secondary speaker. These two speakers connect over a wireless connection, unlike less expensive efforts like the Ruark MR1 Mk3, which require a physical wire to bind the speakers. The lack of wires helps in terms of flexible positioning.

Connectivity on the primary speaker covers the following: phono in (for turntables), sub out (for subwoofers), Ethernet, optical, USB-A, USB-C, aux, and HDMI eARC (for TVs). For the last one, the Alpha iQ2 only accepts PCM audio signals, with no Dolby or DTS support.

There’s Wi-Fi (natch), with AirPlay 2 and aptX Adaptive Bluetooth for those who don’t fancy giving out their Wi-Fi passwords.

Set-up for the Alpha iQ2 feels smoother than it did before, the app recognising the speaker and swiftly proceeding through the start-up procedure, installing and verifying updates along the way. I feel it’s a must to keep these speakers online at all times, though. Take them off for a significant amount of time, and you’ll likely need to go through the set-up process again as I’ve had to on a couple of occasions.

The Alpha iQ2 is operated via the BluOS platform, which is also supported by the likes of NAD, Bluesound, Cyrus, Dali, Monitor Audio, and Roksan. If you have streaming-compatible versions of devices from any of these brands, they’ll all be able to talk to one another across the same network.

The BluOS platform is one I enjoy using. It’s quick, it’s stable and it’s mostly intuitive, ditching the need for digging into the manual to understand things as the app lays everything out in a fairly sensible manner.

It’s also not unattractive in its looks either – it feels slick to use and streaming doesn’t succumb to so much buffering that you’re left twiddling your thumbs. It is, though, a bugger whenever BluOS encounters a track that’s no longer available and simply stops playback rather than jumping to the next one.

The app is divided into five tabs. Home is where you’ll find playlists from the streaming services you’ve signed into, recently played music, recent inputs, presets, and at the top of the screen, the Settings menu.

Favourites is where your starred tracks and albums from streaming services are huddled together, though you can only view one service at a time rather than all at once. Music is where you can tap into each streaming service and access their UI (or the BluOS integrated version of it). It’s also where the physical and wireless inputs can be selected.

If you’ve more than one BluOS device, Players is where you can control each speaker, group them together, pause audio and set up new speakers. Search is as you’d expect, though it is not global but divided through each individual service. It’s slightly disappointing that you can’t root around and find tracks, albums and playlists across every service you subscribe to as is possible through Sonos and HEOS.

You can count on a considerable number of music streaming apps integrated into the BluOS interface, from Tidal and Qobuz to Amazon Music and Apple Music, with support for Connect versions of Spotify, Qobuz and Tidal.

You can also dig deeper into customising the performance of the app and speakers – even set alarms – or swap the left/right positioning of the speakers around. BluOS is, quite simply, easy to use.

Sound Quality

• Balanced performance
• Not the most exciting listen
• Strange phono performance

Balance seems to be the overriding concern with the PSB Alpha iQ2. It’s not a clinical-sounding effort, but it’s poised and measured.

There’s some energy to the sound, but it’s controlled. There’s weight to the low frequencies, but the speakers aren’t tuned for out-and-out power. There’s an airiness to the presentation with its clear, neutral-flavoured sound, but I would not describe the Alpha iQ2 as the most thrilling listen.

But their composure works across a range of music genres. Vocals are clear and sound natural. Treble sounds clear with varied tones but refrains from sounding too bright; while for a pair of compact bookshelf speakers, a forthright sense of bass will always be an issue, but there’s weight and solid heft with the lows.

The Alpha iQ2 are an eloquent and refined listen but place an emphasis on composure and control. There is always what feels like a hand on the tiller, so pure bombast and liveliness aren’t the language they speak.

The soundstage and resultant stereo image are cohesive, with appreciable levels of clarity and detail. I could describe everything about the sound of these speakers as well-judged – it’s not the flashiest performance but it engages. Whether it’s Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black, New Order’s Blue Monday or The Weeknd’s Blinding Lights, the PSB takes every track I serve up through the playlist in its calm, measured way.

But I would like more fun from these speakers – I’d like to hear them let loose. Maybe that’s too much for a speaker of its size. With tracks that require more in the way of gusto, the PSB Alpha iQ2 feel hesitant to let it all out. That said, I enjoy what they have to offer.

Partnered with my Sony A80L OLED TV, the sound is smooth, balanced and measured. Effects are placed where they ought to be, the sound is spacious with strong vocal clarity, though there’s not much power and energy with the bass. I did have an issue where the speaker stopped working with the TV, which suggests there are some HDMI gremlins about.

The Bluetooth performance is a tad smoother and less insightful than Wi-Fi, but the most disappointing aspect about the Alpha iQ2’s performance is its phono stage. It’s quiet and flat, lacking clarity and detail. When the volume is raised, it sounds even more strained. Unless there’s a fix for it, I’d stick with your turntable’s phono stage rather than that of the Alpha iQ2.

Should you buy it?