Paradigm or JBL (1 Viewer)

[Kenny Booth]

Need some advice here guys. This is for music--HT is ok.

I had a JBL NSP1 5 speaker system. It was ok for awhile.

Then I changed my two main (N24's) for two Paradigm Titans.

That was ok for awhile. I'm still not getting that room filling sound. Now I'd like to change the mains again because that's where most of the music is coming from.

I can trade the Titans for mini monitors for about 150 bucks

or I can buy two JBL S38's for about $300.

Due to WAF I am stuck with bookshelf size and the S38's are pushing it hard.

Anyone have any experence with the Titan Mini monitor, Titan Titans, or JBL S38.

Are the Mini monitors really that much better that the Titans? Are the Mini monitors as good as the JBL S38s?

I'm running a Denon 2801 AVR. The JBL N24s do a good job for surround and I'd like to keep them as well as the JBL NSP1 center. The JBL PB10 sub will be replaced with a SVS soon.

Thanks

 

[BrianWoerndle]

The only difference between the Titans and the Mini Monitors is the tweeter. The Titans use a 3/4" Ceramic Metallic Composite tweeter and the Mini Monitor uses a 1" Pure Titanium Tweeter. I use the Minis up front and the Titans for rears. As far as the Mini Monitors giving more oomph, I don't think you will see a very big difference. The Minis will have a more crisp upper end, but the low range will be very similar. I haven't listened to the JBL's, so I can't comment on how they will sound. Hopefully someone else can.
A couple of thoughts, I would save and get a good sub. That will make the biggest difference in filling the room. The Titans are good bookshelf speakers and should sound great if you have a good sub filling the low end.
On the other hand, you might want the JBL's to try to timbre match the front soundstage. If you just listen to music you probably just use stereo and it doesn't make a difference, but if you listen to surround then a good matched front sound stage is necessary. Then you could move the Titans to the rear. (It is not as necessary to match the rears IMO). Then make sure your system is properly calibrated with Avia or Video Essientials. Hopefully then the center and rears can help fill the room without placing so much on the fronts.

 

[John Garcia]

For music, I felt the Paradigm Minis were the way to go. I also have Minis up front and Titans as rears. I originally had Titans all around. I did an in home demo with the Minis vs the Titans, and ended up going with the Minis as mains because they sounded noticably better for music.

The tweeter is not the only difference, the Mini also uses a polypropylene midbass driver, which gives much tighter and slightly lower bass extension. Midrange is much more clear, though the low end does not sound too much different, there is just more kick from the Minis. When set to small, there is very little difference. Overall, the Mini is just a more accurate, enjoyable speaker. The Minis are also much more happy with a lot of clean power, where the Titans started to "ring" at very elevated volumes.

Your center channel will be a bigger factor than the rears. I would expect you would definitely hear a difference using a JBL center and Minis as mains. You will likely want to consider a CC370 or at least a CC270 center. The 370 uses the same drivers as the Titan, the 370 are the same as the Minis.

 

[Everett A]

yeah, what john said! I've also got minis up front and titans in the rear,

and the minis are a much better sounding speaker imho.

 

[Phil Iturralde]

Every JBL Speaker in the "N" Series uses 3/4" Titanium-laminate shielded dome tweeter, and your options to maintain 100% 'timbre-matched' HT sounds is to choose within the "N" Series models like the N26 or N28.

Every JBL Speaker in the "S" Series uses 1" Pure-Titanium shielded dome (with rubber surround) tweeter, and although you can use any "S" Series model with in the "N" Series speaker mix, due to the different tweeter configuration, your front channel voice-matching will not be 100%. I've read that many uses the N24 or N26 for their surrounds in a "S" Series front channel arrangement, i.e. S38 & S-Center, and they are very happy with this setup.

I had my N24 installed in the surrounds for two days after installing my JBL S26 & S-Center front channel speakers, and after REF Calibrating that, the N24's did sound very good to excellent with DD/DTS 5.1 DVD's. But IMHO, it didn't match the 100% seamless timbre-match 360° performance of the JBL S26 in the same surround locations. My NSP1's is a keeper and it's going up to my cabin when we go spring skiing in a few weeks.

FYI: The JBL S38 was the CEA Innovations 2000 Design and Engineering Award Winner, along with the JBL S412P loudspeaker.

Since you want to keep the JBL N24 & N-Center speakers (save the other N24 pair for your 6.1EX setup), I recommend auditioning the JBL N26 or N28 speakers. By the way, the new JBL Mark II Series speakers are now available and the official word is that the changes are mostly cosmetic; driver cone finish, extra tweeter protection, slightly altered enclosure dimensions on some models. Interestingly, the biggest change is the Northridge N26II, which now uses a wood enclosure over the molded plastic enclosure similar to the N24II speaker. If you would like a copy of JBL "N" Mark II Series (PDF file) product line brochure, email me and I can send that too you. I also have the "S" Mark II Series product line brochure.

Hope this helps,

Phil

 

[Kenny Booth]

What I'm hearing here is that I will not notice all that much difference between the Titan & Mini.

I don't want to have to strain to hear any difference, I want it to be obvious.

Also--"Timbre Matching" which I interpret to mean the same sound, same loudness, same location, same everything will sound exactly the same on 100% matched speakers.

Will that matter that much? (Except when I'm grooving on some test tones)

Educate Me.

Thanks

 

[Phil Iturralde]

to achieve uniformity.

NOTE: A common practice is to use five JBL LSR25P (near-field application) or five (1999 TEC Award - Studio Monitor Technology) JBL LSR28P (mid-field application) studio monitors for recording, mixdown, and production for both stereo and multichannel audio. My JBL S26's (bought four S26 & one S-Center) takes its design queue after the JBL LSR25P, and so I'm fortunate enough to setup my HT room speaker locations after Dolby's Typical 5.1-Channel Room Layout.
Just food for thought,
Phil

 

[John Garcia]

There was a very noticable difference between the Titan and Mini Monitor, TO ME. Which is why I was OK with the $150 difference in $$.
The problem is, whether or not YOU will hear the difference. My girlfriend noticed the difference, and she is certainly not a critical listener (had I not mentioned that they were different, she probably wouldn't have cared). I did the A-B swap with a friend of mine (not telling him which was which, he has never heard of Paradigm ), who is not as particular about his music as I am, and even he picked the Minis, without question.
Again, with the timbre matching, this is entirely relative to the listener. I am sure that I would hear the difference between the speakers. I didn't think it really mattered, until my set was completely matched. This is a very subtle detail, and many people would not accept it any other way. Some even say that Titans should not be used as surrounds with Minis as mains, but I feel they sound fine together. I can hear a very slight difference, but they are so close that it doesn't matter to me.
Up front though, the difference will be more obvious, mostly with multi-channel music. For movies, it will likely not make much difference, but I would at the very least, match the fronts.
Timbre match refers to the actual physical sound characteristics of a speaker, also called the "voice" of a speaker. Cabinet construction, driver material, and crossover type and slope all affect this. Different manufacturers use different specs, and this will always be different. That does not mean two speakers from different manufacturers will absolutely not work together, just that some will work better together than others and vice versa. It has nothing to do with volume, which is a function of the amp/receiver.

 

[Dave Schofield]

Those of you with Mini's, how much did you pay for a pair?

Thanks!

 

[Ron Eastman]

I use Mini's for surrounds with Monitor 7's up front. My dealer sold them to me for $280 for the pair when I bought them with my Monitor 7's and CC-350, which he discounted a little more heavily. Overall, all 5 speakers worked out to be just over 20% off list price but if you are only buying a pair of Mini's or if you are buying from a dealer that you haven't established a relationship with you probably won't do better than 10% off list.

 

[Paul_Fisher]

I bought my mini's about a month ago for $300. I wouldn't spend any more than this. BYW, I love my mini's.

 

[BrianWoerndle]

I got my Mini Monitors in December for $297. I got my Titans for $196. The Minis are amazing, and the Titans are not far behind.

 

[John Garcia]

I didn't get a good deal on my Minis because I bought them all by themselves - $340, but I got my shielded Titans for $189 last month.

 

[Adil M]

I love how everyone describes the titans and minis as great and amazing, b/c that makes the studio line that much more appealing and is the reason why I'm going to mkae a run for the border in the near future.

 

[Paul_Fisher]

I will definately upgrade to the Studio series in the years to come. But for now, the Monitor series suits my needs just fine.