CANADIAN LOUDSPEAKER BRAND PSB SPEAKERS CELEBRATES 50 YEARS

Established in 1972  Canadian loudspeaker brand PSB Speakers will celebrate its 50th anniversary with contests, events, and a surprise announcement.

PSB Speakers is celebrating 50 years. Founded in St Jacob’s, Ontario, in the summer of 1972 by classically-trained violinist and self-taught acoustics designer, Paul Barton, and a couple of his high school friends, PSB Speakers soon became a pioneer in marrying psychoacoustics research with loudspeaker design.

PSB Speakers’ Paul Barton

PAUL BARTON

The scientific approach Barton took in designing loudspeakers was considered rare at the time, and over the course of the late 1970s and early 1980s, he conducted thorough and detailed measurements of loudspeakers at the National Research Council (NRC) in Ottawa, Canada, utilizing its anechoic chamber and instruments to perfect the sound signature of his products. In spending so much time in and around the laboratories at the NRC, Barton found himself embedded with some of Canada’s leading scientific researchers in the areas of psychoacoustics and acoustic measurement, including becoming a close personal friend to Dr Floyd Toole, whom he would collaborate with until Toole’s later move to California. The acoustics research Barton helped to pioneer and commercialize would eventually become common industry practice, and the foundational principles first discovered by this research continue to be the basis of much of speaker design today.

“As a musician and acoustics designer, it has been such an honour to work with some of the top scientific minds in the field over the decades,” says Barton. “In academic research, like what was happening at the NRC, it wasn’t uncommon for research to get published and then just gather dust on a shelf somewhere. But I got the unique opportunity to take that research and turn it into real products that PSB customers could enjoy their favourite music on, and that has been the most satisfying thing for me throughout these 50 years.”

PSB SPEAKERS LIVE EVENT

The brand’s anniversary celebrations kick off with a virtual live event on June 1^st, including a live Q&A with Barton, plus a documentary of the brand, specially produced for the 50th anniversary, which will be released to the rest of the world 24 hours later on June 2, 2022. Friends of PSB Speakers, including IsoAcoustics and Bluesound, have offered up some door prizes, and there will be a grand prize draw for a pair of PSB Speakers AM 5 Powered Bookshelf Speakers at the end of the event.

NORTHERN LIGHTS FESTIVAL

The celebrations continue into the month of June, when PSB Speakers goes back to its roots – the love of live music from Barton’s childhood that inspired him to pursue a career in acoustics. PSB Speakers is committed as a Main Stage sponsor for the 2022 Northern Lights Festival Boréal, a music festival happening in Sudbury, Ontario, that is also celebrating its 50th anniversary. Small town Canada has produced some of the world’s most enduring musical acts and these two Canadian musical legends – PSB Speakers and the Northern Lights Fesitival Boréal – will join forces in a digital campaign in the weeks leading up to the festival to promote the festival’s exciting line-up of Canadian talent.

The anniversary celebrations will culminate in a very special announcement from the brand on July 1st, coinciding with Canada Day.

HiFi Pig Says: A very happy 50th birthday to PSB Speakers!