Energy RC-10 vs PSB Image B6

I am trying to help a friend out who is trying to decide between the both of these speakers. I have RC-10's which he has listened to but there is no where local to audition the PSB Image B6 speakers. I like PSB but have only owned the Alpha B1's in the past. I am a big Energy fan and believe the RC-10's are one of the best value's right now even if they were not on sale.

Anyone that has heard both of these, which one is better? Considering the price difference, I would probably steer him to the RC-10's but I don't know how they compare to the Image B6's. He will spend the extra money for PSB's if they are worth it. I tried to remind him that the RC-10's are at a closeout price and that they originally had an MSRP higher than the B6's (I think he is associating the closeout price of the RC-10's to mean that they are cheap and not as good as the B6's).

Any thoughts? He wants to order either one today. He would also be buying the matching center of either one and has a Denon 2112 and SVS SB12 sub on the way. Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the response. I had a good experience with the PSB Alpha B1's I had about a year ago. The RC-10's were better which is why I decided to upgrade. I still feel the B1's are some of the best speakers in their price range. I just wasn't sure if the Image B6's were dramatically better than the RC-10's.

It looks like the PSB's (with the matching center) are around $400 more compared to the RC-10's and RC-LCR. That's a decent amount more so I don't blame him for considering his options.

He definitely likes my RC-10's and honestly they are near impossible to beat for the price right now. I am honestly not that high on Energy now either, post Klipsch purchase. I think their RC line is great but I don't like how Klipsch has already started tinkering with Energy (new Veritas line). I don't hate Klipsch per say but Energy had a certain sound that I am afraid is going to get changed more and more as Klipsch fully gets involved.

PSB is a great brand and no doubt I am sure the B6 is a great speaker. I have a ton of respect for them. At the same time though I feel that the RC line is very impressive and should (in theory at least) keep up with the Image line. I don't have first hand experience though.

They are $550 a pair.

He was also looking at the Monitor Audio BX-2's but is not able to demo them locally. I have heard good things about those also.

I did advise him that he may have to buy the PSB's (or even BX-2's for that matter) and demo them. Then send them back if he is not impressed. He is on a budget but will spend extra if it truly blows away th RC-10's. He has heard mine countless times so he knows exactly what to expect from them.

Thanks Jim. I always appreciate your comments (you convinced me to get the boston vs 260's). I honestly think he would be happy with the RC-10's and save money at the same time. The reason I upgraded from the B1's over a year ago to the RC-10's was because something was lacking in the mids and highs for me. I don't crank up my stereo loud or anything but I want the option to turn it up if I choose. When I got the RC-10's, I was blown away especially for the price I paid. The RC-10's are not perfect (nothing is) but they are amazing for the closeout price considering the build quality (real wood veneer is unheard of at that price let alone pretty much anything under $700 a pair) and sound they produce.

I think he is still stuck on the closeout price even though he has heard mine many times. He has to make the decision but I personally doubt that the B6's are that much better than the RC-10's. I know they will have a different sound regardless (B1's sound quite a bit different than the RC-10's to me) but I guess he has to decide what sounds good to him.

No problem. You can get them for $299 a pair at Vanns.com

I am not sure about the ceiling speakers though.

I hate to admit it but I also thought that. I noticed that he added the extra line about the RC-10's after I already replied to his quoted reply. No offense to commsysman, but I just don't understand how he could think the RC-10's aren't even close sound wise to the PSB's or the other ones he recommended. To be fair I haven't compared the RC-10's to any of those so maybe someone else can chime in.

I know the RC-10's aren't the end all be all audiophile speaker but in my opinion, they can hang with pretty much any speaker pair $500 and under. Maybe I'm wrong or not that picky, lol. Who knows .

I agree. I was trying to think of any of brands he could consider (like the Monitor Audio BX2's, etc) but honestly I don't think he would get that much "bang for your buck" out of those or the PSB's compared to the RC-10's. I know they are both great speakers but we are talking about $200--$250 more for the PSB's compared to the closeout pricing of the RC-10's. I just don't know if he would see that type of return sound wise going to the PSB's. He is going to have a 3.1 setup and it is a small living room. He definitely doesn't want to audition a bunch of speakers because of return shipping costs. He doesn't have upgraditis like a lot of people on these forums (me included) but I think he also doesn't want to have regret down the road or feel like he has to replace the speakers in a year.

I wish someone had experience with both speakers so I could at least point him towards ones (even though I am kind of doing that with the RC-10's, lol).

He wants bookshelfs (WAF). I was trying to steer him to the RC-10's because I thought they were probably close to the PSB's sound wise and literally half price. When you start getting close to the $600 range, I would also start looking at tower speakers. I have heard great things about those Arx speakers though.

After owning Boston speakers now, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them but they are nearly impossible to find now (I actually like the look of those compared to the VS 260's I have). Heck if vanns still had the VS 260's, I would be telling him to buy those now.

I thought about that to. If you go to audioinsider's site though, they are out of stock and just offering a preorder for the updated 2b sometime in June (it has been pushed back a few times).

He called Vanns a few minutes ago and was offered the RC-10's and RC-LCR for $50 off their current sale price ($50 total, not $50 off each). So now it looks like the PSB's would be about $350 more (DMC electronics offered him a little bit off of MSRP on the PSB's which includes the matching C5 center). If he went with the Monitor Audio BX2 with matching center, it's about $300 more. I told him my preference but again that is subjective. I would want to save the money because I know how good the RC-10's are for the money. Then again maybe he would be less likely to upgrade down the line if he gets what he truly wants.

Yes you are probably right, lol. I was wanting him to maximize his budget as much as possible. He would really have a nice budget system with the RC-10's but without the budget sound in my opinion.

That's what I was trying to tell him. Finish honestly doesn't matter to me as long as they sound good. With the RC-10's though, you are getting an amazing finish, build quality, and they sound great. Plus they are an absolute steal at this price. He actually has a pair of Sanus NF30 stands so he is good there. He was going to swap those out also for the SF ones but I admit I really like those stands. I might even get a pair for my RC-10's. He got the 30" size because the 24" was way to low. The 30" are a few inches taller than his listening level but I think he will be fine.