Anyone Explicitly Compared Studio's & Goldi's? (1 Viewer)

[Brae]

Hello All,

I was wondering if anyone has listened to both the Paradigm Studio 100's and the PSB Stratus Goldi speakers and determined the stronger/weaker (pros/cons) between the two.

Both can be had through serious alternative efforts, and both have their own, similar, high/low-cost cabinetry list pricing. Time is just getting a little close to when and I can and should be acquiring product, but like everything in my life I sometimes over analyze stuff.

No, I am NOT willing to consider product that I cannot listen in advance of purchase, but if there is something I should be listening to in addition to these that can be had through a myriad of alternative acquisitions for about US$1600-1800/pair, near-reference, and available product from said mfg. for surrounds and CC please feel free to let me know.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Brae,

Well you already know where I stand. If given a choice between the two I'd take the PSB's without question. I feel they're superior in every way. Smooth mids, nice highs without being too bright, excellent bass punch without being bloated. Pretty much complete opposite of what I thought of the Studio's I heard. I'll try to make a trip back to the dealer in the next week or two to give them an honest listen with my own material to make sure that I'm not totally off base here.

If you go through retail stores, there isn't another speaker in this price range that I like better than the Gold i's.

Brian

 

[Brae]

True, finding a reputable dealer that is willing to work with you is not always an easy thing to find these days. Actually, my task if I were to concetely chose the Goldi's would be to verify that the units being offered from a distance are not B-stock, demo, etc., but I have found to different dealers that are willing to let them go in wood veneer for $1600-1800/pair, which is a far cry from the $2600/pair that PSB lists them for.

Of course, I can also get the Studio 100's in rosenut veneer for the same as the Goldi's and their list is $3200/pair (but that entails a trip to Canada, which I am willing to make).

I did give a listen to the Goldi's this week. The dealer said they work from list because there was almost no markup on them (i.e. room to play with), but this totally contradicts the non-local pricing. Really puzzling.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Brae,

I think I know who you are referring to. And I must say that the full retail does bother me from time to time. But the level of service they give can be worth it, IMHO. I've had them trade out drivers in speakers for me before that I thought were defective even though they didn't hear a problem themselves. So there are some advantages. But I agree that it's tough to stomach full retail.

Also, PSB B-stock is simply cosmetic flaws and I would challenge you to find the blemish without being told what it is specifically.

Brian

 

[Brae]

Actually, it isn't the full retail pricing that bothers me. I am willing to pay the mfg.'s list, just not a) a Premium (which can be difficult as some mfg's like Paradigm do not publish online their list $$), and be +$1K in margin on a pair of $2500/mains from someone I tend to be a low-maintenance post-sales customer.
Yes, the place that wanted to 'work from list and with little markup' seemed like a great pre-sales kind of service shop and a total opposite from S&C shop up GA400, but I would also like to think that got a grand of margin I am paying for that kind of service.
BTW, do you know if PSB has the same dealer restrictions like Paradigm, which respect to selling online and advertising pricing below MFG's list? I am honestly going to try and hit three HT/Audio shops this weekend (Saturday). Two are up on GA20 near GA400 (you know which one's I'm probably talking about) and the 'other' sho over on Peatchtree Industrial, hehe.

 

[Brian Bunge]

I really don't know what type of restrictions PSB has and I don't know what shops you're referring to other than the first one if it's the one on Indian Trail in Lilburn. I think I know the one on PIB, as it's a real "Forest" over there!
Anyway, all this crap you're having to deal with plus the simple fact that much better can be had for the same or less money is why I don't and won't buy "finished" speakers from a retail or online company any more.
I'll step aside now and let those that can actually help you with this search do just that!
Brian

 

[Brae]

Brian, YGM!

 

[Martice]

Hi Brae. I've owned both the PSB Goldi's and the PAradigm Ref 100v2's and they are both wonderful speakers. My experience with both were in the same room, same amplification, same transport and DAC and speaker cable.
They both have power and dynamics to boot. They both are overall very good performers for the money but I've found that the PSB GOldi's were a little more relaxed in the mids and highs when compared to the PAradigms. The Paradigms are not overly bright but a little analytical for my taste.
I've enjoyed them both while they were in my system but I had to give the nod to my former PSB Goldi's. I listen to mostly Jazz, classical Jazz, Vocal music, R&B and light folk music for sake of reference.
If you noticed above I called the PSB Goldi's my former speakers and that's because I went with speakers from GR Research. I now own 3 AV1+ speakers for my front end catch phrases like smoothness, spaciality, sound stage, detail were all upgraded considerably with these speakers. Mind you, these are subjective findings and I didn't use any technical measurments to support any of my claims. However, I've always been a PSB guy but in my room (11x17x9), the GR Research trio and the custom sub that I had built by Rob Lloyd of Acoustic-Visions has far surpassed the performance of both of my former speakers.
Here's a review that I've written regarding my findings with these speakers as well.
Good Luck.
** Why are you willing to drive all the way up to Canada for either of those speakers? From Atlanta especially??
Review

 

[Nick V]

Brae,
Have you listened to the offerings of the Veritas line by Energy?? I have been listening to numerous speakers over the last week and I was pleasantly surprised by the Energy's. Mind you, I've been listening to bookshelves, not tower's, but I fell in love with the sound of the Veritas.
I compared them to Paradigm Studio Series (20's,40's) PSB Stratus Series (Mini's) and Monitor Audio Silver Series (S1's and S2's). Out of all those speakers, I preferred the sound of the Veritas 2.1's and 2.2's to all of them.
Here is a link to their homepage.

 

[wayne p]

Brae,

When upgrading my speakers back in '99 my short list came down to these two speakers as well. I was looking for a true full range speaker at a real world price. In store auditions had me leaning towards the PSB's. Then the 100's v2 became available and the improvement in the HF. I felt the 100v2's to be more accurate then the Goldi's, more truthful in their reproduction of the recording. I also felt the 100s to be more dynamic and as I often listen to classical, not to mention the nature of a movie sound tracks, I went with the Paradigims. The in store auditions were with Bryston amps. Bloated bass was not an issue with either speakers. In the fall of '99 I went with the 100's v2 with the Anthem MCA 5 (a few months later) for amplification (again bloated bass is not an issue) and made a short run of 27/9 Cat 5 (Chris V's recipe) speaker wires. Now, some three years later, from a audio/performance point of view I remain very happy with my choice. From a price/performance point of view I firmly believe I could not have done better.

I have since added a Studio CC, Anthem AVM 20, Panasonic DVD-A7 and another dedicated 20 amp circuit (one dedicated 20 amp outlet for the AVM 20, another dedicated 20 amp circuit for the MCA 5 and two 15 amp circuits for source/display equipment). All of these changes were made to make the system even more accurate and have served to enable/improve the performance of the 100's even further.

I hope 2 cents worth is of help with your decision.

Wayne

 

[Brae]

Well, the place I thought I would buy the Goldi's from if I went with PSB now says the Goldi's are DISCONTINUED! He could not tell me what they are being replace with, but I inspected the CEDIA website and it seems that PSB is introducing a Platinum series next week at the CEDIA show.

 

[Justin Doring]

I find the PSB Goldi to be in a league above the Paradigm Studio 100. For what the Goldi is going for, it's a superb bargain for the sound you achieve.

 

[Martice]

Hi Brae. Has anyone asked you what size room you plan on putting these speakers in? Room size is a major factor when using full size speakers and you won't experience the full potential of either of the speakers you're looking at or any full size speaker for that matter.

Also, what amplification are you using?

 

[Brian Bunge]

What happened to my post? Anyway, I was saying I will be at CEDIA next week so maybe I'll get to see/hear what PSB has to offer!

Brian

 

[Brian Bunge]

Martice,
From an email exchange Brae told me his room is 12'W x 26.5'L x 8'H. In other words, HUGE! I suggested the Adire Audio KIT281's and the LCC center channel like Rob Lloyd has. I figured with a large room a pair of towers and a nice big center channel (both being higher efficiency units) along with possibly the Adire KIT81 for surrounds would work well in that large of a room. I also suggested some dual DVC 15 or Tempest based subs. I feel this will beat anything he'll find from PSB or Paradigm. But then again, he'd have some trouble demoing all those speakers before purchasing. Well, except for the sub and center channel. I've got those covered!
Brian

 

[Brae]

Well, I hope PSB doesn't decide to go nuts and up the ante on their list pricing because of the 'Platinum is more expensive' craze.
BTW, sitting here at work I can say I am truly bored. With this in mind, has anyone listened to the B&W DM or CDM series?

 

[Brian Bunge]

Brae,

I just thought I'd drop in and let you know that I went back to the Paradigm dealer in Duluth today and checked out the Studio 100's in the yellow room in the back left of the store. They have a Pioneer Elite receiver and DVD player in there that I used for the audition. All I can say is that my first impressions still stand. The tweeters have too much sizzle, the vocals are muffled and the bass and midbass has no snap to it. It's just bloated. Drums weren't even remotely accurate. There's no way I'd pay $2500, not even $1500, for these speakers. Even at $1K it would be hard to justify. I'm sure they could sound better if they were pulled out into the room more and didn't have the huge entertainment center between them, but they shouldn't have sounded as bad as they did. I say if you must go with something that's from a local dealer and commercially available, PSB is probably a better bet.

Brian

 

[Chip E]

Here's an online PSB dealer that a friend of mine bought speakers from and was happy as hell with their service (if your interested).
http://www.reliableaudiovideo.com/re...bstratgol.html

 

[Scott Oliver]

Brian,
Sounds like you were really impressed by them
I have listened to the Goldi's once and felt close to the same except didn't notice too much sizzle on the top. Bass was huge and bloated kind of like a car audio sub system. Perhaps a huge room and a lot of air around the speaker could solve some of the bloated bass I heard.
Other used possibilities include:
Aerial Acoustic 7b's
Triangle Zerius
JM Lab Electra 915

 

[Martice]

Bloatedness is more of a room issue and not a design issue. At least not for the PSB's and the Paradigms. Infact, in my review of the AV1+'s I made a note that it was probably my room size that hindered the optimal performance of these speakers in the bottom end. Even with the room issue, bloated was not a real problem for me and if I were able to EQ the bottom octaves of the sound, I could've been happy with the PSB's by a long shot. However, I couldn't EQ them without obvious sound degredation so I invested in GR Research AV1+ bookshelf speakers and have never looked back. This move upgraded my overall sound in the mid and high frequencies as well as my bass by being able to EQ my sub for optimal bass performance at the sitting position.

Good Luck Brae.