PSB Alpha P5 Bookshelf Speakers - Black

Breakthrough Design for Incredible Studio-Quality Sound

A timeless two-way bookshelf speaker with a 5.25” woofer, the P5 in the new Alpha Series allows you to transform your system with pristine sound. Featuring a refined bass reflex cabinet and port tube first developed for the original Alpha speaker, the Alpha P5 creates a pure and natural soundstage by utilizing the latest and most advanced driver technologies and magnet structures. The P5 was perfectly tuned inside the anechoic chamber of Canada’s acoustic research facilities to produce a perfectly flat frequency response that lets you enjoy the subtleties of your music and movies with lifelike detail.

Anodized Aluminum Tweeter with Waveguide

The P5 uses a 0.75” black anodized aluminum dome tweeter to extend the high-frequency response further than any Alpha ever before while lowering distortion to deliver layered sound with detail and clarity. Unlike lesser designs at this price, all the new Alpha Series tweeters employ ferrofluid cooling to prevent dynamic compression and a neodymium magnet for high sensitivity. The tweeter’s front waveguide and its unique placement below the woofer work together to smooth the response at the crossover and perfect on and off-axis performance.

Perfectly Matched Bass

When paired with the Alpha Series’ newly designed tweeter, the P5’s custom 5.25” woofer provides remarkable low-frequency response and the highest speaker efficiency in its class. The woofer is constructed from a special textured polypropylene compound that minimizes cone breakup and lowers distortion at full excursion. It’s also supported with dual layer voice coils and a bass reflex design that uses the rear-firing port tube to control the bass response down to room-shaking levels.

Smooth Sound Reproduction

The Alpha Series’ new crossover exceeds speaker standards with a special custom design that does more than direct low and high frequencies to the individual drivers--it delivers the tightest control and the flattest frequency response. An unusually complex acoustic Butterworth low-pass filter has also been incorporated into the crossover design to lower distortion and create a seamless soundscape in any type of two-channel setup or surround sound system.

Beautiful Finishing Touches

A unique combination of wall thickness and bracing controls resonances and provides a perfect platform for the P5’s driver components, while its internal damping material is from PSB’s flagship lines and has been positioned precisely for optimal effectiveness. Finished with a high-quality wood grain vinyl and magnetically attached grilles that are acoustically transparent, the P5 is perfectly designed to seamlessly disappear into any décor and provide rich, detailed sound.

Behind the Alpha Series

First designed and manufactured in a small Canadian town in 1991, the Alpha Series started with the simple idea of creating affordable speakers that were focused purely on performance. With passion and dedication in pursuit of a natural sounding speaker, and by leveraging decades of research conducted at the Canadian National Research Council by PSB’s founder, Paul Barton, the Alphas quickly rose to be one of the world’s most iconic speakers and are still the reference benchmark for entry-level hi-fi speakers today.

The newly designed Alphas look to continue their legacy by staying true to the original concept from the ’70s and combining it with today’s latest cutting-edge technologies. Powerful and smooth, the all-new Alpha Series has been rebuilt with enhanced custom drivers and a new crossover design that works perfectly together to deliver natural, detailed sound with precision and less distortion. In a home theatre or stereo setup, the new Alphas outperform the originals in every measurement and will bring your music and movies to life.

Product Features

3/4" Black anodized aluminum dome tweeter with front waveguide
5.25” Textured polypropylene woofer with rubber surround
Bass reflex cabinet design with a rear-firing port
Acoustically-transparent detachable magnetic grilles
Five-way gold-plated binding post speaker terminals
High-quality woodgrain vinyl finish
Available in Black Ash or American Walnut

Product Specs

Frequency Response

On Axis @ 0° ± 3dB: 55-21,000Hz
On Axis @ 0°±1 1/2dB: 65-20,000Hz
Off Axis @ 30°±3dB: 65-10,000Hz
LF Cutoff -10dB: 37 Hz

Sensitivity

Anechoic Chamber: 87dB
Typical Listening Room: 89dB

Impedance

Nominal: 8 ohms
Minimum: 4 ohms

Input Power

Recommended: 10-90 Watts
Program: 60 Watts

Acoustic Design

Tweeter (Nominal): 3/4" (19mm), Black Anodized Aluminum, Dome with Ferrofluid and Neodymium Magnet
Woofer (Nominal): 5 1/4" (133mm) Textured Polypropylene Cone with Rubber Surround
Crossover: 2,500 Hz, L4
Design Type: Tuned Port Bass Reflex, 2" (63.5mm) Rear Port

Construction

Cabinet Sleeve: 1/2" (12mm) MDF
Baffle Front: 1" (25.4mm) MDF
Baffle Rear: 1/2" (12mm) MDF
Grille Face: Black Steel Micro Perf with Magnetic Attachment
Threaded Insert: 1/4" – 20 Threaded Insert

Physical

Dimensions (W x H x D): 6 3/4" x 11 3/8" x 9 1/2"
Weight: 10.15lb (4.6kg)/each

"...the PSB Alpha P5 loudspeakers have top notch resolution, midrange clarity, dynamics, and just enough top end energy to make them a very easy recommendation that will only sound better as you improve the rest of your system."

"Very highly recommended."

- Ian White, ecoustics.com, February 15, 2021

2022 Editors’ Choice Award Winner - The Absolute Sound

"In sonic performance, the Alpha P5 is pure PSB, exemplifying why in many critical circles it has come to be known as a go-to budget compact. That’s to say, with its nicely weighted midrange and non-fatiguing treble, it possesses a naturalism that is very engaging. It offers commendably neutral frequency response with no obvious or disqualifying flaws and with little evidence of the tonal peaks and bumps associated with lesser mini-monitors in this class."

"The tweeter was quite smooth overall and open in the harmonic range, not tinny or cold. About as good as I’ve experienced in this range. A funny story about this. My wife is a pretty good whistler, and I often hear her as she moves about the house. Coincidentally, I was listening to James Taylor’s 'My Romance' [That’s Why I’m Here]. Unexpectedly, I heard whistling to the music nearby and assumed it was my wife. Turns out she wasn’t whistling at all—the whistling was in the recording, an element I’d completely forgotten about. My point is that it takes a pretty good tweeter to fool me, and this is a $399 speaker."

"A highly commendable updating of one of the most musical and affordable mini-monitors available, the Alpha P5 represents the essence of what it means to be a budget compact in 2020."

- Neil Gader, The Absolute Sound, July 27, 2020

"If ever there was a good reason not to judge a speaker by its cover, you’re looking at it. The Alpha P5 might not possess the aesthetic allure of some, but it’s smart enough and – when it comes to sound quality – it’s the competition that should be worried."

- Hi-Fi Choice, July 9, 2020

2022 Recommended Components - Stereophile

Product of the Year 2019 - Stereophile

"A reviewer gets a buzz when he is auditioning a cost-no-object product that digs deep into the heart of his music. But he gets an even bigger buzz when the component that is giving him so much musical satisfaction is priced within the reach of real people rather than hedge-fund billionaires. So it was with PSB's Alpha P5."

" For communicating the message of your favorite music, this little speaker scores super big-time."

- John Atkinson, Stereophile, September 27, 2019

SoundStage! Network Products of the Year 2019 Winner

"While it may be easy to dismiss this little mini-monitor based on its price, its modest appearance, or both, that would be a big mistake. As well-built and attractive as the PSB Alpha P5 is, what places it among company as highly esteemed as KEF’s LS50, at more than four times the price, is the quality of its sound. It’s as complete a two-way design as you can hope to buy for anywhere near $349/pair. Perhaps another way of saying all that is that the Alpha P5 is the product of Paul Barton’s more than four decades of experience designing speakers."

"This is textbook loudspeaker engineering at its very best."

- Hans Wetzel, SoundStage! Network, March 15, 2019

"These are very grown-up skills indeed for a standmount offering. If ever there was a good reason not to judge a speaker by its cover, you’re looking at it. The Alpha P5 might not possess the aesthetic allure of some, but it’s smart enough and – when it comes to sound quality – it’s the competition that should be worried."

- 7Review