The award-winning Canadian brands, PSB Speakers and IsoAcoustics have today announced they will be working together on some future projects.

Paul Barton (L) and David Morrison (R)

Today's collaboration announcement will mean that Barton and Morrison will continue to ensure Canada's influence in the audiophile world.

Renowned acoustics designer and PSB Speakers founder, Paul Barton and founder of IsoAcoustics, David Morrison are long-time friends who met through the National Research Council of Canada (NRC).

Paul Barton's Passif II speakers were the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) playback speakers of choice in the mid-80s and used in radio broadcast studios across the country. The selection was based on performance evaluations carried out by the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in Ottawa, Canada.

The famed NRC acoustic research facilities were ground zero for the development of Canada's loudspeaker and acoustics industry, in which Barton is recognised as among the pioneers.

Barton and Morrison crossed paths at the CBC. In fact, David Morrison was so impressed by the Passif II speakers that he purchased a pair for himself with Barton kindly offering to assist in setting them up. That evening saw the start of a long friendship as they chatted about speaker design, placement, and testing at the NRC. Inspired by his conversations with Barton, Morrison worked on design concepts over the following years and performed testing at the NRC, all of which culminated in the start of IsoAcoustics. The rest, as they say, is history with both PSB Speakers and IsoAcoustics becoming award-winning brands that cater to the audiophile community.

David Morrison comments:

I have great respect for Paul Barton. He was instrumental in building the audio industry in Canada and paved the way for companies like ours.

IsoAcoustics' isolation feet will become standard equipment on several PSB Speakers products in both its CustomSound installed range of products, as well as in PSB Speakers' traditional home speaker products.

Paul Barton told StereoNET:

Many variables can affect the way a speaker sounds – things like the size and shape of a room and what materials the walls and floors are made of, are things speaker designers like me cannot control. Usually, how a speaker responds to resonance feedback from the floors or shelves that the speakers sit on is out of our control too, since we can't know and compensate for the flooring and shelving preferences of our end users. IsoAcoustics' bases give us the opportunity to do just that, so this collaboration will give me another tool to enhance the accuracy of the speakers we design and build.

First PSB / IsoAcoustics Demonstration

One of the first PSB Speakers products to feature IsoAcoustics feet will be the CustomSound In-Room Subwoofer. The CSIR subwoofer will be shown at the Integrated Systems Europe show in Amsterdam, February 11-14, 2020.

For more information, check out IsoAcoustics and PSB Speakers.