Paradigm Ref 20's (1 Viewer)

[Barry V]

Is anyone using Ref 20's all the way around for HT? My lovely wife doesn't like the size of the Ref 60's. How would the 20's do using a yam 1200 for processing and an anthem mc3 for power to the fronts and center, I do get to keep the cc center and we are using a 2200 sub. Will there be a big loss in the low and mid going to the smaller size?

thanks

 

[McPaul]

Compromise - get the 40's!! they blow the 20's away for sure...

 

[Daniel Martin]

Barry,

I compared the studio 20, 40 and 60 models before choosing the studio 40 as my main. Each model sounded really different to me in a music setup (cd + amp + front speakers).

The studio 60 had a lot more perceived bass than either the 20 and 40. Both are smaller units and are stand mounted. As Paul noted, the studio 40 may be a good compromise between the 20's and 60's.

Most people on this board recommend to set all your speakers to small, and let your sub take care of the bass. In this setup, the perceived bass difference using a good sub mated with studio 20, 40 or 60 should be minimal. Each setup will 'sound' different, so I urge you to listen to them and pick the one you prefer.

I do own a PW-2200 and find it does well on movies with my studio 40's. It's not as musical as I would like... but that's for another thread.

Daniel.

 

[Howard_S]

I am looking to add a small HT upstairs. And speaker size was part of my concern. But looking at the 60s compared to 20s I now can't see why the 20s will be any smaller than the 60s. I haven't really measured it but I doubt there is much of a difference.

 

[Andy Mah]

I'm currently using the 20's hooked up to Denon AVC-1SE, no problem so far. I'm still considering to upgrade to 80's and move the 20's to the rear for music surround.I'm using the CC as well. I tested the 20's with the Avia LF frequency sweep and it went down to 20+HZ. I was quite impressed by it. I'm a 65%HT and 35%music lover. The best I can describe about the 20's is it's somewhere between laidback and neutral.I'm using Kimber 4tc as speaker cable.

The rest of my setup.

Denon AVC-1SE-Amp

Pioneer DV-535K-Dvd

Pioneer DV-525-Dvd

Pioneer DV-919-Ld/Dvd

Panasonic A-450EN-Cd transport

Musical Fidelity X-24-Dac

Sony MDS-JE530-Md deck

Panasonic TX-51G85H- Tv

Kimber 4TC-Speaker cables

Kimber Illuminati D-60-Digital

Kimber Hero-Interconnect

Monster M1000Sv-S-video cable

Monster M1000v-composite cable

PS Audio-power cable

Paradigm Studio 20-mains

Paradigm Studio CC-centre speaker

Kef Cresta 2-surrounds

Kef Cresta Centre-SB

Kenwood SW-301-sub

Solidsteel 5.5-rack

Future upgrades-

Paradigm Studio 80-mains

Paradigm Studio ADP-surrounds

Paradigm Servo-15-sub

Pioneer DV-733-Dvd-Audio/SACD player

 

[Holadem]

I tested the 20's with the Avia LF frequency sweep and it went down to 20+HZ.

No, no no... You can't broadcast stuff like that, that is very misleading!
The 20's are bookshelves, they cannot go anywhere close to 20Hz!
--
Holadem

 

[Andy Mah]

relax, it was audible but not at reference level. I compared to the Kef's it was audible up to about 45+Hz. I was using radio shacks spl meter in conjunction with the avia lf test. If I'm not mistaken the manufacture figures are 35Hz.

 

[Evan H]

20's are my mains. I love them.... they leave a lot to be desired down low, but that's what a sub is for ... I plan to move them to the rear in another year or so after I graduate college and can afford something better. At that point the 40's or maybe the 60's (need to go and demo them both again) will be in my future... but until that point, I have no regrets with buying the 20's with the limited budget that I had 2 years ago.

 

[Holadem]

relax, it was audible but not at reference level

Exactly how do you know that the output was a 20Hz tone?

--

Holadem

 

[Andy Mah]

There is a test track on the Avia test disc. It has a decreasing counter for Hz on screen while we listen to the audible warble while it sweeps down the frequency range. In the meantime using a SPL meter, we are supposed to measure and see when it dips below 85Db(reference) or 75Db(home environment). According to the literature on the disc, this test is suppose to test 3 things,1)Detect any dip in output levels across the frequency range.2)Estimate effective frequency range 3)To listen whether any items in listening environment are rattling due to LF output.

All info are from the test disc. I'm sorry if I said something wrong. I'm pretty new to HT as well but I'm willing to learn.

I'm pretty happy with the 20's as far as music & movies is concern.

 

[Holadem]

I'm pretty new to HT as well but I'm willing to learn.

Andy,

I didn't mean to make you feel unwelcome (is that a word?). I apologize if I did.

What I was trying to get at is that what you are inputing is not necessarily what your speakers are outputing when they are strained. The output of your speakers @ 20Hz probably bears very little resemblance to a 20Hz tone. Gobs of distortion (higher frequncies in this case like 40Hz) are probably what is moving your SPL meter.

--

Holadem