folks with paradigm speakers: what's your HT setup? (1 Viewer)

[AlanZ]

I have gone up the Paradigm chain of speakers over the past year and a half.....and have never been dissatisfied with any of them. I started off with Atoms, cc-70 and PDR-10 sub. I agree with Chris that the Atoms are the best value Paradigm has. If you can afford better, I say go for it. But for $189 a pair, the Atoms are very satisfying little speakers. Anyway, I eventually moved into the monitor line with 5's in the front and mini-monitors in the back, paired with an outlaw 1050 receiver. This was a great system for my mid-sized listening area, but then we bought a house and this combination just didn't quite cut it. I initially just went to Monitor 11's, and that seemed to fill the room much better (twice as many drivers as the 5's). But then I came down with a very severe case of upgrade-itis and went nuts. I now have studio/100s in front....a studio/cc....studio/20's in back....an Outlaw 950 pre/pro....five Outlaw monoblock amps....an svs20-39pci sub....and newly aquired Denon 2900 dvd. Anyway, now that I own the studio line, I can strongly recommend it if you can afford it. Even the little 20's are amazing. The performance and monitor lines are great value, but I didn't really find fulfillment until I went studio all around

 

[Mike Parr]

My main HT setup:

Fronts - Monitor 7
Center - CC-370
Rears - Mini Monitors
Sub Woofer - Mirage LF150
Receiver - Marantz SR6300

I really like this system. Occasionally I wish that it could go louder - but usually only for music. For a HT setup this system is great. The Mirage sub does a great job

 

[Barry BB]

I'll join in on this Paradigm groupie thread.

Fronts - Studio 20, Studio CC
Surrounds - Atoms
Sub - SVS 20-39CS+
Receiver - Denon 2802

Why did I end up with this combo? My original plan was to get mini monitors all around. My budget did not allow for separates and I like the Denon sound so I was going to get a 3802. Then I decided to listen to the studio 20 just to hear what they sounded like and upon listening to them I knew that I had to have them. So I reworked my system to try and stay close to my budget although I did have to increase it. So the surrounds became Atoms, the 3802 became a 2802.

The studio 20's are great but they do need a good sub to complement them. I originally had an HSU VTF-2, great little sub but then I got the upgrade bug and bought the SVS.

 

[BrunoPC]

Studio 60s, CC, ADPs, and 20s in the rear. Subwoofer is the Servo-15. Speakers are powered by a Pioneer Elite 49Txi receiver, running all speakers small with 50Hz crossover. This sub is very good with music, as well as HT. Room acoustic treatments and the MCACC feature of the 49TXi also significantly improves balance and clarity to the already great-sounding speakers.

This setup is a result of advice from this and other forums. I am extremely satisied with this arrangement, I now listen to a lot more music than I used to.

 

[TommyL]

good choice in forums! I use paradigm 40's/ 20's/ studio center...teamed up with a marantz 8200 receiver, Denon 1600 dvd player, and a SVS B4+ subwoofer...I have to say it sounds wonderful to me in both music and movies...the studio line is a quality line, and I'll be holding on to them for a while I assure you TL

 

[Chris Demaree]

Studio 20's for mains, Studio CC for center and Titans for rears. Left, Right and center are powered by a Parasound HCA-855a, the rears are powered by my Outlaw 1050 receiver. The Outlaw is pulling duty as a 2 ch. amp and pre/pro. The sub is a wonderful SVS 20-39PC (w/ driver upgrade). Sounds great, I just need to spend some quality time with the BFD, some test tones and the SPL meter.

Other equip:
Sony DVD player (liked my old Toshiba better)
Sony 36" Wega non hi-def TV

Future upgrades:
Purchase Studio 40's for the front (move 20's to rear and Titans to the side)
Purchase Outlaw 950 and 3 Outlaw stackable Monoblock amps
....going to be a while, heh

 

[Clark F]

Fronts - Monitor 7
Surround - Esprit
Center - CC-170
Sub - PDR-10

Receiver Yamaha RX-V630

Reasons for my choices:
$$$$
Auditioned the Yamaha/Paradigms at a local A/V store and like the sound
Prefer floor standing to bookshelf or wall mounted

 

[chun howe]

thanks for the input folks.

BrunoPC: is the MCACC on 49 the same with 45?
i just recently trade in my lower end pioneer receiver to 45TX. (will get it this weekend) i believe it has MCACC also but might be different than the $3k unit.
i hear lots of music also compare to watching movie. hopefully i could fine tune it to my preference.

do you consider your pioneer to be warm, bright, neutral receiver? this is just a "trying to educate myself" questions.

 

[Todd_B]

I'll jump in and say that I use the Studio 40s for the L/R, Studio CC for the center, and Studio 20s for the rears.

All of these are mated w/a SVS 20-39 and powered by an Onkyo 575, which is getting replaced by a Pioneer Elite 45tx w/i the next couple weeks


Todd B

 

[Dan Driscoll]

I have a mid-range Paradigm set-up: Monitor 90P mains; CC-350 center; ADP-370 rears.

I plan to replace all of them in the next 1-2 years, but I'm not sure yet what with. I had been thinking either Studio 100s or something out of the up-coming Signature line. However, I find that after a 3-4 year shift from music towards HT, my tastes have been moving back to music, which was my 1st love. So I'm beginning to lean heavily towards more musical speakers, rather than HT speakers. That's not to say that Paradigms don't do a good job with music, but they are HT speakers first, music speakers second. If music is your priority you know what I mean.

Possible replacement brands are Westlake Audio, Magnepan, Meadowlark, Joseph or Vandersteen, among others. Budget will have a lot to due with my final choice, none of these are cheap. :frowning:

 

[chun howe]

out of the topic for the hack of it.

my wife always complaint that i have very very expensive hobby. first i was going into RC car (nitro) but it kind of cool off cos my friends aren't diggind into it. then i am crazed of modding my car, finally i gave up due to a recent hail storm. now i am into HT.

i see there are quite a few folks are using SVS.
my initial planning is to get the SVS 25-30pci, but then it's a little big for my living hall. i am sure it will fill it's surrounding (including my neighbours ) with bass.

anyone ever compare/audition SVS pb1-isd vs svs 25-30pci?
they have similarity on: $599.00, 320w bash amp, 12" driver

 

[Steve_Wingman]

Fronts: Monitor 9 V3
Rear: Titan V3
Sub: PDR 8
Center: Pioneer- soon to be a CC370 V3

I actually preferred the Monitor 9's sound to the Studio's and if I could I'd change the Titan to the Esprit or Mini Monitor. I tend to like the warmer sound of the Monitor 9
and couldn't justify the cost difference of the Studio line.
Amp: Yamaha RXV496

 

[Andy Young]

• Phantoms
• CC-270
• Atoms

For sub, I went with the Paradigm PDR-12. Sounds amazing and was quite inexpensive.

I had been driving the speakers with a Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX. When the receiver was working, it sounded great. I'm in the process of upgrading this to an Elite VSX-45TX.

I initially chose the Elite 26TX based on feature set to price ratio. At the time, it offered a good selection of processing and was THX Ultra. Then THX EX, DTS ES, DPL II, etc. came out.

I believe that the 45TX still represents a good feature set to price ratio. Also, I was given the opportunity to upgrade my 45TX at a very low price through Pioneer's exceptional customer service. Talk about standing behind their product -- offered two out-of-warranty free repairs and the option to upgrade at minimal cost.

I like the one-box solution and am not discriminating enough that I've ever been dissatisfied with my receivers' outputs.

 

[Matt_Doug]

2 pairs of Studio 20's for mains & surround and the studio CC for center with a Denon AVR 3802 as a pre/pro, Parasound 1205 for out board amplification and SVS 25-31pci. I couldn't be happier. I also use an outboard crossover to get the 20's down to 50hz but the sub goes up to 80hz using the 3802 crossover only. the overlap should produce bloated base but it dosen't, in fact this gave me the best base response ever, totally excellent for music. go figure.

 

[James Bergeron]

I have Paradigm studio 40's front cc centre and 40's rear, with Atoms for back surround. I use a Denon 4800 receiver and external amp poa-5200. I'm using a Velodyne CHT-15 subwoofer, and have tried the setup in my home with an HSU VTF-3 as well. Both very comparible with an edge to the HSU for clarity and quickness.

It all sounds great for everything although I use it 100% for Movies. Almost seems like a waste

 

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

Here's my setup:

Mains - 9seMkIII (older speaker, similar setup to monitor 9's I believe)
Center - cc370
Surrounds - Titan
Surround Backs - Mission 773 (I know, they don't fit in)
Sub - SVS 20-39PC+
Receiver - H/K AVR-525

Bought all of the equipment because I felt it was at the optimum price point for me. H/K was $300 cheaper than the Denon 3803 with similar features/etc. SVS and CC370 are the most recent purchases and they're both great upgrades from what I had previously (although my subwoofer driver died last week :frowning: ).

Only parts of the system that I think could use upgrading are the main speakers. In a stereo comparison, I think the little Titans sound just as good as the 9seMKIII's. While that's probably saying something good about the $200 Titans, it's probably also saying that I could find better speakers for the fronts.

 

[Bobpaul]

My cheapo system:

I mainly listen to stereo. I love the Audiotron and listen to a lot of Shoutcast stations over the system. Also some SACD.

Paradigm Ref. Studio 100v2 fronts
Bose VCS10 center (this one is on its way out to be repl. by
the Studio CC)
Polk MKII rears
Polk RT800 surrounds
Polk PSW120 sub (only used with the SACD player)
Denon AVR-3803 (runs only the surrounds rear and lateral)
Sherbourn 5/1500A biamped/biwired to Studio 100s with last channel for the center.
Audiotron Digital Music/Radio Server with optical out
Sony SCD-775CE (maibe i got it wrong) SACD
Junkie DVD, TV, VCR courtesy of Sony ( would be gone if it weren't for my better half's love of a savings account)

Like the other setups mentioned. The almost universal use of Paradigm CC with the Studios makes me wish i also had one. Soon i hope ))

Bob

 

[Thomas F]

What Thomas, if you dont mind, are you planning to upgrade to from the 40's, CC, ADP's?

I'm not ready to upgrade yet, but when I do, I want a significant step up. I'll be looking for something in the $5k - $7k range for a pair of speakers. There's a lot of good choices at that price range and I intend to spend quite a bit of time auditioning various speakers before I buy. I think the Studios are great, but upgrading is part of the fun of this hobby, and I want all the fun I can afford. I also want to jump into separates.

 

[SteveHenderson]

I'm using Monitor 90P mains with CC350 and Mini-Monitor surrounds and an SVS 20-39PC+. Originally bought the 90Ps because there wasn't room for a separate Sub in the room and placement demanded front-firing drivers and porting.
Since moved to different room and was able to get the SVS
(incredible sub for the money).

Originally powered by Denon 2700 and upgraded to Sony DA4ES three months ago. The variable crossover per channel in the DA4 has made me much happier since the purchase of the SVS last fall. I now cross over the mains at 50Hz with the rest crossed over at 80Hz. I used to have a hump in the response at about 80Hz around the Denon's crossover that is gone now.

 

[Chip_v]

Mains = monitor 7's
center = cc-370
surrounds = mini monitors
sub = pdr 10

right now i just have a denon AVR-1602

i'm in the market for a used 2802 when i get some extra money.