Went for a demo of the Signatures (1 Viewer)

[AlanZ]

Well, any doubt I may have had that the sigs would be a noticeable upgrade from my studio v.2s was completely erased. I should have listened to the studio v.3s in comparison to the sigs, but completely slipped my mind. The Sigs are just awesome! Not to mention the fact that their glossy finish makes my laminate finished studios look like absolute crap lol. Anyway, I am going to spend the next month or so taking my time with some auditions, but I was in the area of my favorite B&M, so thought I'd drop in. I'd love to hear from anyone who has compared these to other brands such as Joseph Audio, Dynaudio, Thiel, etc. I spoke with Jeff Joseph on the phone briefly today and was told that they don't currently have a dealer in the metro Atlanta area. They do have a two week in home trial period if you buy directly from them, but not sure how I feel about that yet. Anyway, the Sigs were being driven by some Aragon gear (that stuff looks way cool), and they are definitely something to see/hear. The soundstage on them is HUGE, both in width and depth. I only listened to the S2s and S4s.....for my money, the difference between these two is only noticeable w/out a sub. I couldn't tell any difference when the servo was running in conjunction with them. I didn't have them run the Sig center with them, cause I prefer a phantom center and I can't justify the 3k it would take to acquire that monster.....it's truly a scary looking center.

Okay, that's it for now.....would love to hear other opinions on these speakers and others in the 2k range.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

“Signatures?” “Studio v.2s?” “v.3s?” “S2s” and “S4s?” Can we get a brand name here?

I know, I know - there are only like, several hundred speaker manufacturers out there producing only a few thousand models, and trust me, I’m really embarrassed to admit I can’t recite each and every one of them in my sleep. :b

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Scott Oliver]

That would be Paradigm, Wayne.

 

[AlanZ]

Paradigm it is Sorry, I figured talking about the sigs and the studios in the same post would be enough.....won't happen again

By the way, I forgot to ask today....does anyone know if the rosewood and black finishes are available on the sigs yet?? Not that the maple doesnt look good, cause it looks great.....just not my particular taste.

 

[PaulT]

C'mon Wayne, the only speakers discussed here are Paradigm's, and the only Subs are SVS you should know that by now.

AlanZ - I have 40v3's, 570v3 and ADP's and the Sigs blow them out of the water.

 

[Kevin. W]

But is it a 2-3x performance increase for the price? I have a 40/20/570(v3) setup and just think the sound is remarkable. Just make sure you have the amplification to power these beauties so they are allowed to sing.

Kevin

 

[PaulT]

I also wouldn't upgrade for the price, but that said, the Sigs still blow the Studio v3's out. I'm running 3x150 Parasound across the front and 2x125W Parasound for the rears. Plenty of nice warm power for the 'digms.

 

[John Garcia]

When I auditioned the Sigs, they had at least one of each finish. The cherry looks great, but IMO, the rosewood looked the best. They had the entire lineup except the subs. Yes, those centers are scary big.

 

[Levesque]

quote:
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But is it a 2-3x performance increase for the price?
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For me it was.

I went from a Studio-100, CC-570, 40 and 20 (all v3) set-up to Signatures S8, C5, and 2 pairs S2. And I use enough amplification for them '' to sing'' with a Bryston 4BSST and an Anthem Statement P5.

I was able to listen to the 2 speaker set-ups side-by-side in my totally treated and dedicated room, and the Sigs were blowing the Refs away, even with HT.

For me the difference in sound, after listening to them side-by-side for 2 weeks in my room, was more then justifying the difference in price. And the WAF absolutely love the Sigs and show them to her friend. A MAJOR plus in my book.

The Refs are awesome for the price. But the Sigs are simply better.

 

[AlanZ]

John: I can't imagine how nice the rosewood will look on these sigs. I'm jealous that you've already seen them

Kevin: I don't know if I can say it was a 2-3x performance increase, because I wasn't really thinking of it in those terms. I just know that the sound I heard was better than anything I've ever gotten out of my v.2 studios to the degree that I could certainly see myself justifying the price. Besides, my dealer will hopefully allow me a generous trade-in on my 100s, which will allow the whole thing to be a little easier on the pocket book.

Do you guys have any opinions on the ADPs? When I do make my upgrade in another month or two, I want to finally go to 7.1. I'm going to keep my 20's for the rear for now, and i was thinking of the ADPs for surrounds. My room is not ideal, but they would be able to be placed appropriately for the most part, on the side walls firing toward the front and rear of the room. I read one of the more recent pro reviews and they were saying how the ADPs sounded good even with 5-chanel music. Even if I can afford it, I don't see myself going Sigs all around....but I'd like to have mains and either one pair of S2s or the ADPs.

 

[TomF]

I have the S4s on order...should arrive this week or next. I don't consider myself a true "audiophile," but they sounded quite beautiful to my ears. I'm upgrading from Boston Acoustics CR7s which will become my surrounds. I also upgraded to the PW-2200 sub and a Reference center channel (I forget the model number).

The S4s did sound superior to the S2s to me, although the difference was certainly not huge (I listened without a sub). But the price jump from S2 to S4 is not huge, so I made that choice. It's the jump to the S6 that is really steep.

 

[John Garcia]

I even had my camera with me too, but it completely slipped my mind, or I would have taken pics of everything. Even in black the Sigs look nice. It was more of an upscale shop I was listening in, and the Studios were about the least expensive speakers there...

At ~2x the cost, I would say the Sigs do deliver a corresponding upgrade in performance compared to the Studios.

 

[AlanZ]

Tom F: What finish did you order the S4s in? And what amp/pre-pro are you going to use to power them?

 

[TomF]

I went with the standard cherry finish that they had on the displays. I like cherry anyway so it wasn't worth it to me to pay extra for a different finish. To power them, I have a Marantz MM9000 Amplifier and a Marantz AV9000 Pre-Amp. I bought them three years ago and have been very happy with them. I plan to stick with them for quite a while as my next upgrade will be the television in about two years.