Umit_C

Paradigm Studio 40s with a low-end receiver

Hi,

Like many of you, I moved to a new house. Now I have space for a good home theater and I've decided to purchase components one by one. My plan is to go with Rotel pre/pro (waiting 1098 to show up on my dealer) and amp, and Studio 40's for Front L/R, Studio CC, Studio 20's for surround and as a subwoofer PW-2200 (if I remember the model numbers correctly . I've decided to start with speakers and yesterday I purchased a pair v3 Studio 40s together with v2 Studio CC. I also needed a pair of surround speakers for the living room and I purchased a pair of Atoms. I've hooked up 40s, CC and Atoms to my old receiver Sony STRDE-945 (I believe). Well, I can definitely tell Studio 40s sounds better than my 4-year old Sony SS-MF515 speakers but not 5 times better to amortize their cost I had paid $200 for a pair of MF515 and paid $990 for v3 Studio 40s + $80 for stands. I've been telling myself it must be the receiver. Studio 40s have sounded amazing in the dealer with high-end pre/pro and amp. I fell in love with them when I compared them against B&W 60x, Studio 20s, Studio 60s (yes I liked 40s a little bit better than 60s). They still sound really good at home with my old receiver but so do my old speakers Should I expect a bigger improvement with a better receiver and/or pre/pro+amp? or have I started becoming deaf

I would appreciate any comments,

Umit

Steve_D

Yes, my Studio 40's needed an external amp to really open up. B&K is an excellent choice for their slightly warm sound and high current capabilites paired with Paradigm. If your receiver has pre-amp outs...my cost effective suggestion is to scout Audiogon for a nice B&K Ref 2 or 3 channel amp and add that until you can upgrade to full separates (down the road add another amp and pre/pro)

Mark Dickerson

Steve is correct, you may try an external amp if your old home theater receiver has pre-amp outs for all channels. The receiver is no doubt the limiting factor here and since you are doing this in stages, you might select a good amp while you wait to get your Rotel pre/pro.

You might try looking at the Outlaw 7100, which is really good and reasonably priced for a 7 channel amp. Nice thing about the Outlaw is that you can have it shipped to your home, try it out for 30 days, and if it doesn't get you the sound you want, just ship it back for a full refund.

Helder

I have as fronts a pair of Studio 20's, which I bought to replace my old JBL S26. My receiver is a Yamaha 530. The P'dimes were doing nice, although I expected more. So, I bought an entry level amplifier, the one I could afford - Marantz PM 7000 - and the P'dimes revealed what they really are ! What an improvement ! The punch and the dynamics of the sound increased a lot, the studio's are playing very nice... I recommend.

John Garcia

I have a pair of v3 40s at home right now for auditioning (Marantz 8300), and I must say, I was pretty pleased with them. Definitely on the bright side, but very clear and and clean with music. The sound from the tweeter is noticably improved, and the midrange seems less reserved than the v2s. Very nice soundstage, and plenty of room filling ability. Unfortunately, I am still not totally impressed for the price.

I ran a pair of v2 20s with a PM7000 also, and the results were very impressive, though the midrange had that odd reserved sound to me.

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