Paradigm Monitor Series (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Lock]

I took a couple of hours this evening and headed down to my local Paradigm dealer to audition some speakers. After listening to several discs on several offerings from B&W, Paradigm and Mirage, I settle on this system:

Paradigm Mini Monitors - Front
CC370 - Centre
Performance Atoms - Rears
and a Mirage LF100 8" Sub

Price: $1300 + the taxes.

Has anyone combined these with a HK525? A musical AVR + Musical speakers = great music and pretty kick ass HT in my book, but I'm looking for other opinions.

I also have a question about an 8" sub. It's a compromise between music and movies. I listened to some Paradigm 10 and 12" subs, but they were just WAY too boomy during some Squirrel Nut Zippers tunes (and they're mostly strings and horns). Does anyone have any experience using an 8" sub on the LFE channel? What's the general opinion here?

Thanks!

Aaron.

 

[Dustin B]

Driver size has nothing to do with the potential sound quality of a sub. Other driver parameters, more importantly the design (ie the allignment) and most importantly the room will be the determining factors here. Rooms can cause greater than 10dB swings in a subs response at various frequencies. If your room produces one of these swings in the mid to lower bass ranges, doesn't matter what sub you have it will sound boomy (with the exception of maybe a dipole).
Subs with larger drivers in enclosures that are too small and/or tuned too high (if bass reflex and bandpass subs in general) will also result in not so enticing sound. And some drivers are just bad producing aweful sound no matter the enclosure.
For those interested in more technical details give this a read. http://www.adireaudio.com/tech_papers/woofer_speed.htm
IMO no 8" driver can move enough air to do a LFE track justice. They also can't move enough air to do a lot of music tracks that have to be low and loud justice. Producing low distortion high quality bass at decent levels requires moving air linearly. The amount of air a driver can move is determined by the surface area of the cone and how far the driver can travel linearly (the farther a driver travels the more unlinear it's motion gets). A 12" circle has over twice the surface area of a 8" circle and a 15" circle has three and half times the surface area (which also means it only has to move a third as far as an 8" driver to move the same amount of air).
Not sure what you payed for the LF100, but given your other speakers I'd look into returning it and (edit: whoops, should have checked your local before typing what I did here, unforutunately us Canucks don't have any really great options for a budget commercial sub so only the last of my recommendations makes much sense) build your own. On a budget I'd build what I did for my parents and roommate (although I think it will be pushing what you'd like to spend as well):
http://dustin.bunnyhug.net/twinstart.php
For more ideas and info on DIY subs go the DIY Advanced section of this forum or this site:
http://members.tripod.com/~terrycthe...um/page12.html

 

[John Garcia]

Sounds like a nice setup.
I think Dustin more than covered the sub I have heard some very impressive 8" subs, but I have to agree with his assesment that 8" is not the ideal choice. If you are happy with the way it sounds, stick with it.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

Yeah, stick with the Paradigms. First off, they're great, and nothing in that price range touches them. At 350, i liked em MORE than the 450 B&W 601s which get raves. They should sing with an HK, I have mine on a Marantz, and I love it. Good choice to get better fronts, and save on the rears. A trade-in policy is also very nice, if your dealer has that. I think its gonna be MIGHTY hard to talk myself out of trading these in towards studio 20s a year from now.

As for the sub, a small sub can be fine for music, but it won't go deep, and it will still be boomy(as most are, but not all). I think something like an SVS would really be necessary for movies though, and well worth it. Make sure your sources are up to snuff too. I assume they are, but I know I was dissapointed when I got my 'digms home, even after break in they sounded harsh on my old cheesy temporary sony cd player. I know they have a good flat response through the highs, but they didn't sound harsh at the dealer. Anyway, I picker up an NAD 521i, and poof! grating sound gone. Now I find myself staying up late into the night just listening. Can't pull me away from the system enough.

 

[DonJ]

I would go with Mini Monitors for the rears also, that would give you better timbre mathcing throught the whole system

 

[Aaron Lock]

Well, I went this morning and bought the package. Set 'em up, and WOW. Night and Day difference between my old JBL (HTIB) set and these. In the room, the 8" sub is fine.

The mini monitors for the rears would have broken the bank, so for now, it's Perfomance series back there, but within a year, they'll be upgraded.

Thanks for the help all!

Aaron.

 

[ScottATL]

Would you recommend your setup to others. I went to a local dealer yesterday and undecided between the Monitor's and B&W. I am now thinking something along the lines of the Mini's up front due to space and a creative idea I have. Do you like the Mini's up front?

I have a AVR 520 receiver, and planning an SVS sub too.

 

[Aaron Lock]

I listened to B&W too. I didn't like them at all. To me they sounded terrible next to the Monitors. I thought they sounded muffled. I also listened to some Mirage speakers, and didn't like those eater. For me it was an easy decision, the Paradigms were cheaper and sounded better than B&W and Mirage.

I think they kick ass in my setup, I'd recommend it. But it may not sound good to you, it's a personal thing, of course.

Aaron.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

One recommendation to Aaron, which is, that instead of upgrading to mini-monitors a year from now, upgrade to studio 20s, or some other speaker in the front. You might be happier that way.

And for Scott, yes I strongly recommend the Paradigm performance, monitor, and the studio series for that matter. Now, I had been reading ALL the raves in the british hifi magazines about the 600 series, specifically the 601 and 602. I was expecting to go home with a pair of those instead of the cheaper Paradigms. I was very surprised. It's hard to explain what I heard, but its was like the B&Ws had a lot more "going on," but it sounded like someone had applied some wacky EQ or something, and the extra detail they had did not sound clean or normal, it was muddied and unnatural. When they came on, it seemed at every song I was turning down the volume, because they were very quickly fatiguing. The Paradigms seemed to lack a little of that extra "stuff" that was going on in the 601s, but what it was doing was clean, and great. It sounded very real, and they're cheaper to boot. I will say that you SHOULD listen to both carefully, with a variety of music, and don't listen to them in one of those rooms where they have all the speakers all lined up on a shelf. Take them into another room, put one pair on stands using nice electronics, and listen to a variety of your good cds for an hour or so, removing and switching pairs occassionally. You should readily hear the differences, albeit small. The 601s were great, but the Paradigms were better, and easier to listen to, to my ears.

That being said, the 602s were not really in my price-range, so I did not listen to them. I cannot pass judgement on those, but those mini-monitors are killer little speakers. As for space, the mini-monitors are slightly bigger than the 601s. The 602s are significantly taller. The mini-monitors are the same dimensions as the titans, except they extend deeper by many inches. The 601s are fairly shallow, perhaps even moreso than the titans. However, I've read that the B&Ws can be picky in their placement. I don't think they would go well in a cabinet or something like that, if you're looking at saving space. Both the 601s and the mini-monitors are rear-ported.

And as aaron says too, it's your decision, and your taste that matters.