PSI Audio: the measure for pleasure

Yverdon-les-Bains, 23 rd February 2022 – It has always been the aim of PSI Audio to reproduce sound: to accurately depict the source with as much fidelity as possible. To achieve this goal reliably, PSI Audio has developed its own set of standards and tools which provide the basis of all product development and serve as a reference point for the ongoing evolution in the company’s research.

High-precision measurements for high-precision audio

The name PSI Audio is synonymous with accurate sound reproduction. The Swiss company strives to get the acoustic event happening in front of the speakers as close as possible to the acoustic event happening in front of the original source. As a part of this approach, PSI Audio employs multiple levels of measuring during the assembly of a speaker, ensuring that every single speaker leaving the manufacture will provide the clearest, most transparent and natural sound possible.

Challenges of measuring monitors

PSI Audio measures what is heard instead of hearing what is measured. In the past 45 years, the manufacturer has developed its own philosophy regarding the measuring of speakers. Undoubtedly, the most important aspect of a speaker is its sound. Consequently, listening should be the basis of all developmental decisions. Auditory perception, however, is both very individual and reliant on a large number of factors outside the speaker. Hence, during development, PSI Audio holds extensive listening sessions with many different people in various environments to determine the sonic performance of the speakers. These impressions are then analysed, quantified and put into objective, reproducible values that form the foundation of subsequent development and control.

Significance of technical data

Established variables like power, sound pressure or distortion need to be understood in relation to the exact method of measurement. The power of an amplifier in Watts, for example, does not necessarily correlate with the sound emitted by the transducer. The overall performance is dependent on the characteristics of the transducer as much as it is on the pure power of the amp. There are also multiple ways to assess an amplifier’s power, like theoretical power, peak power or RMS power. The sound pressure level depends on the nature of the sound content and time. Distortion can affect a speaker’s sound very differently depending on the type of distortion and the hierarchy of the generated harmonics. In short: for technical data to make any significant statements about a speaker, the conditions and parameters of the measuring process must be clearly defined and adhered to. That is the reason why PSI Audio spends a lot of time and effort on creating measuring tools and criteria to provide the most accurate listening experience in audio. Apart from ensuring the quality of existing products, the measuring tools also serve as the basis for the further evolution of the PSI Audio world, after all.

Measuring and the anechoic chamber

At PSI Audio, every incoming component is tested, every completed circuit board is measured, and every assembled speaker is calibrated, making sure that the products made in the Swiss manufacture will perform at their peak – as you would expect from PSI Audio. The measuring protocols shipped with each speaker are not the general measurements of a series or a prototype, but the actual values of the speaker they belong to. The company has its own anechoic chamber, and no speaker leaves the factory without first being put through its paces and passing the meticulous checks. This also means that PSI Audio products will last for years and decades.