HTD Lvl3 Tower/Center vs Paradigm Monitor 9/CC-370 (1 Viewer)

[Tim_R_H]

Well after my wife nixed the norhs and divas based on looks I decided I needed to search for good traditional looking speakers. I have continued to be interested in the HTD Lvl3 speakers due to thier postive reviews and price. Since the HTD sub hasn't gotten as favorable reviews as the rest of the set and since I wouldn't be able to afford a new sub with the Paradigms I am thinking I will keep my current sub for now. My main question is of course how do the HTD Lvl 3 Fronts and Center compare to the Paradigm Monitor 9's and CC-370 sub? I am looking at almost twice the price for the Paradigms but if I'm only paying more because of the middle man then I would prefer to save my money and get the HTDs. If performance is noticeably better with the Paradigms I will pay the higher price.

My main concern I think is with the Center speakers. With my current setup I often have trouble with the clarity/volume of the dialog compared to everything else going on. As inexpensive as the HTD center is I'm concerned about the clarity. I haven't seen any reviews on the HTD center. At audioreview.com the Paradigm center is rated very good.

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

Your wife nixed the Divas because of their looks? I can't believe that! I recently upgraded to a set of Divas from my Home Theater Direct Level III system, and I will tell you that the Divas look better without question. Does she know that they come with a very classy front grille that covers up the drivers in front? If she saw the speakers like that, I can't imagine she would have something against them.

Anyway, as I said before, I am an HTD owner, and I have also had the chance to demo the Paradigm Mini-Monitors at a local A/V shop. If I had to pick the better of the two, I would say that the Mini-Monitors sounded better because of their improved clarity and finer detail. I know it's not a direct comparison to the HTD towers or the Monitor 9, but I figure that could give you an idea of what the difference sounds like.

As for the HTD Level III center channel, don't worry. It is a very fine speaker. It matches the Level III bookshelves very well and can clearly reproduce the vocals of a movie soundtrack. The only thing I don't understand about it is how they are able to charge only $139 for one of those things, when so many other speaker manufacturers have to charge so much more.

 

[Tim_R_H]

I know, my wife is very particular about the wood types in the house matching. She didn't feel the redwood would go very well with our birch cabinets in the bar area. I'm not as particular about matching woods up and I think they are great looking speakers myself so I was dissapointed.

It's good to here someones comments on the HTD center speaker. I have to admit the low price on it had me worried about the quality as I'm sure I paid more than that on my JBL CL-505 about 4 years ago and I haven't been very pleased with it. I wish cheaphometheater.com would hurry up and review it! Thanks for the input.

 

[Tim_R_H]

At audioreview.com some people have complained about the harshness/brightness of Monitor 7s/9s. Has anyone here noticed it? Also with my HT room being 16'x 14' am I going to be overwhelmed by the output of the 7s or the 9s?

If the only difference in the 7s and 9s is the 9s have more bass and I have a sub should I get the 7s?

 

[james e m]

I just got a pair of Monitor 11's 2 days ago, and yes they do sound pretty bright out of the box. It takes sometime to break these speakers in, I've had some other Paradigm speakers for about 2 months and there is a big difference, the "older" Paradigm's are much more laid back.

james

 

[BrianWoerndle]

I have the Paradigm Mini monitors for fronts, CC-370 for the center, Titans for the rears, and PS-1000 sub. They all sound excellent. The Mini Monitors put out an amazing sound. And the CC-370 center is a monster. It is basically 1 1/2 Mini Monitors. It handles everything with ease.
And yes, you do have to break them in. About 200 hours until they start sounding better.

 

[Trey Jones]

I have heard both the Monitor 9's and the HTD Level III's in the same setting. I believe in a bigger room, the Monitor 9's will outpace the HTD Level III's with ease. The monitor 9's I have are V.1's with the CC-350 center. They were brighter than the HTD Level III's at first, but after a few hundred play hours... just fine.

The HTD's could not go as low, and the center for the paradigm seems much fuller.

Remember though that opinions are like ********, everyone has one.

Look at Axioms also.

 

[Tim_R_H]

Would the 9s be to much for a 16x14 room?

 

[Tim_R_H]

And the winner is.....PSB. I coudn't convince myself that the HTD speakers would satisfy me in the long run even though the price was very attractive. I didn't have a way to audition these speakers so I based this on the few comparisons here between the HTD and Paradigm. I had all but made the decision to go with the Paradigm Monitor 7's and the cc-370 when I decided to look into the PSB lines. I looked through all of the reviews on both of these brands on audioreview.com and was very impressed with the reviews for the center speaker (Image 9c) and the 5T mains. I noticed in the reviews that it seemed that a significant number of people that auditioned both brands favored the PSB, especially the center channel which is of greater concern to me than the L/R Fronts. I would like to have auditioned both of these brands myself but the only dealer in my area for PSB didn't have them set up to demo, they only demoed the rbh(?) brand. Price wasn't a factor because they are relatively the same price. I found a PSB dealer in California that saved me about $150 over buying them from my local dealer, which allowed me to come in under my $1000 budget. Now I just have to wait until Thursday when they are scheduled to be delivered.