PSB Alpha iQ Streaming Powered Speakers

Comprising two wireless bookshelf speakers with built-in amplifiers, PSB’s Alpha iQ is an all-in-one audio system for the streaming age. There’s no need to clutter your living space with speaker cables. The left and right speakers communicate via a wireless link that can cover most rooms in an average-size home without delays or latency, so music stays synched and clear regardless of speaker placement.

The BluOS network streamer provides access to more than 20 streaming services, including several that offer lossless and high-resolution audio, such as Amazon Music, Deezer, Idagio, Qobuz, and Tidal. The Alpha iQ supports Apple AirPlay 2, so you can stream audio from any app on an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Spotify Connect and Tidal Connect are also supported, so you can cue up music in the apps for those services then transfer playback to the Alpha iQ.

The Alpha iQ has an audiophile-grade DAC that supports high-resolution audio resolution to 24-bit/192kHz, and has full MQA decoding and rendering capability for high-res streaming from Tidal. BluOS also gives you access to hundreds of Internet radio stations around the world, including Radio Paradise, which offers four stations with MQA-encoded hi-res music.

You can listen through the Alpha iQ alone or share your music over your home network with as many as 63 other BluOS-enabled devices.

Featuring a sleek, modern design, the Alpha iQ is available in satin white and satin black finishes. Inside each enclosure is a 4″ polypropylene mid-bass driver with steel basket and rubber surround, and a 0.75″ aluminium dome tweeter with neodymium magnet and ferrofluid damping.

The Alpha iQ employs a DSP-based active crossover. As with many PSB designs, the tweeter is placed below the woofer. With this arrangement, the blend between woofer and tweeter remains consistent whether you’re sitting or standing.

Each woofer has its own 60W class-D amplifier, and each tweeter its own 30W class-D amp, for total system output of 180W. Thanks to their powerful amplifiers, tuned bass ports, and DSP-enabled low-frequency extension, PSB’s Alpha iQ speakers deliver bass output that completely belies their diminutive size.

The Alpha iQ isn’t just for streaming. The primary speaker has a built-in MM phono preamp and RCA jacks plus ground terminal, so vinyl fans can connect a turntable. An HDMI ARC port lets you experience “True to Nature” sound with TV and movies. There’s also an optical input for connecting a disc player or game console, and a 3.5mm auxiliary input for connecting analogue sources.

The Alpha iQ has Bluetooth connectivity, with support for the high-quality aptX-HD codec, for wireless playback from smart devices. You use the BluOS app to play music files stored on an external drive connected to the Alpha iQ’s USB port.

The combined optical/headphone jack lets you connect a pair of headphones for late-night listening. For enhanced bass, there’s a subwoofer output. When a subwoofer is connected, you can use the BluOS app to engage a low-pass filter for the sub and a high-pass filter for the mains—this frees the Alpha iQ from having to produce deep bass sounds.

Available for Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows, the intuitive BluOS app lets you control every aspect of the Alpha iQ’s operation. Convenient touch controls on the top of the primary speaker let you adjust volume and pause and resume playback.

You can also control playback by voice using Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri (via AirPlay 2). And PSB’s Alpha iQ BluOS Streaming Powered Speakers can be integrated into popular smart home systems like Control4, Crestron, ELAN, RTI, and URC. IR command learning is available for listeners who use harmonised remote controls to operate multiple A/V devices.

Truly, the PSB’s Alpha iQ sets a new benchmark for modern, tangle-free, audiophile-grade listening. It’s beautiful sound made simple.