Paradigm Studio 100 Owners! (1 Viewer)

[BrianSmith]

OK, I have a new pair of 100s I am trying out. On the CD of Hell Freezes Over by the Eagles on song 6, Hotel California, the bass drivers pop fairly easlily on the opening kick drum.

Can someone try running their 100s full range and try out this song to see if your 100s pop? Run it at a decent volume and let me know!

Help appreciated!

-Brian

 

[James Bergeron]

Brian, turn it down man. I'm guessing it's 1 of 2 things.

1) Your amplifier is clipping (ie. It's not powerfull enough)
2) The speaker is bad.

Chances are it's #1, hopefully not ALSO #2 because of #1. What amplifier are you running?

The 100's require moochoo power.

 

[BrianSmith]

I have a pair of Monitor Audio GR-60s on hand (6.5 inch bass drivers) and they play the song fine w/ absolutely no problem.

It is unlikely that the speakers are defective as both of the drivers are "popping".

I am using a Pioneer Elite 49TXi. Do you think it is clipping?

BTW, the woofers also overload on Cheryl Crowe's "Soaking up the Sun" song on the opening drum beat.

Can someone try the same songs?

-Brian

 

[Mike_T_]

I agree with James...what are you using to power them? The 100's are known for their ability to play loud...

 

[Ron_L]

Your receiver is 160watts per channel, I'd drive those speakers with at least 200. They need it.

 

[Greg_R]

The difference between 160W and 200W is minimal. Keep in mind a doubling of power is required for a 3dB increase. Now it could be that the Pioneer doesn't really put out 160W per channel but I'd doubt this is an issue (you're only driving 2 channels with a CD, not 7).

What levels are you listening at (SPL reading)? If the other speakers work with the same receiver and at the same volume level then I'd get the speakers checked. Since these are new, anything could have happened (shipping damage, etc.). Usually when a speaker blows it blows the tweeter...

 

[BrianSmith]

Greg,

I am 99.5% sure they speakers are not defective as they are both bottoming out fairly easily. I posted the same question on the AVS forum and a guy said his bottomed out around 95 db. I don't know what material, however.

I just have a hard time believing they can't play hotel california our Cheryl Crow's Soaking up the Sun w/out bottoming out.

 

[James Bergeron]

Brian, this just makes no sense. I can't see the Studio 100's bottoming at 95DB when the Studio 40's can play MUCH MUCH louder. I have studio 40's and can get over 100Db+ with my denon 4800, which is 125watts/channel.

Maybe you don't notice how loud it is . Sometimes a smoother speaker will seem less loud than it is.

Or as I originally said, it is possible your amp is clipping. The fact that it works with your other speakers means nothing, as your other speaker are probably easier to drive.

Heck I'm running Dahlquist QX-10's of the ASL Wave 8's at 8 watts a channel and I can get 100db of sound out before they start clipping!

 

[Martin Rendall]

Definitely odd. 160W is more than plenty. The issue could be poor impedence handling of the receiver amps. I have no idea whether that is the issue, though. Receiver amps tend to be less than what is claimed, and tend to have poorer impedence handling, but I don't know about the Elite receivers specifically. Maybe you could take home a "test" amp from your hifi store, just to see if that helps.

If it's not the speakers and not the receiver, I'd look at the CD player or DVD player or whatever you're using to play the source material. Have you tried a different player?

Martin.

 

[Scott_N]

I never had any problems when I had Studio 100's on either my Marantz SR-18 or Aragon 8008ST so I would say your amp is clipping. Studio 100's need a very stable amp because they tend to drop under 4 ohms from all the tests i've seen on them.

 

[Michael R Price]

Brian,

Did you measure the sound level? It's possible you were just asking for too much output and didn't notice because there was no strain otherwise. I agree though, they should be capable of pretty impressive amounts of bass in a normal sized room.

 

[Jamey F]

I would assume it's the amps inability to deliver current at the impedence that the 100's are dipping to. I use a denon 3803 to power My studio 100's. I run into the same thing with VERY HEAVY bass CDs. Turn it down like I did. Look for an amp that will deliver lots of power under a good strain. That should help things a great deal.

 

[Justin_collins]

I also don't think there is anything wrong with your speakers. I used to run my studio 100's v.2 with an onkyo tx-787 100x6 at 8 ohms. It pushed them pretty loud but not to the volume I like. My onkyo would turn itself off when I pushed it to far (a feature that I like). I now run them with an adcom 200x2 at 8 ohms and man they rock. I thought something was wrong with my right speaker one day because it was popping. To make a long story short, I got my amp fixed and everything is fine and dandy.

 

[Levesque]

I think Hotel California on DVD-A is a bitch for speakers, because my Studio-20 were clipping with my Yammie RX-V3200 receiver 2 years ago, and I remember it well (that push me to buy a new amp...)

But now, my Studio-100 are never clipping or having problems since powered by a Bryston 4BSST. Even at 120 db, the Studio-100 are rock solid. And this is a problem for me! because sometimes I'm at dangerous level and don't even know it because the sound is completely under control by the amp, and seems to be at normal listening level. I had to get use to this undistorded-never-clipping sound and learn to lower the sound at 85-90 db...

 

[Mike_Gr]

My very good friend owns Studio 100's. I have enjoyed countless hours at his placing listening to music and watching movies.

I have witnessed his speakers bottoming out on several occasions at very loud volumes. Now, I am not sure if this is what you mean by popping, but it sounded like popping to me when they bottomed out. His studios bottom out during the last scene of The Fast and Furious right as the Charger launches off the line at the beginning of the race. They also bottomed out when watching We Were Soldiers during some of the bombing scenes. These occurances happened within the same week.

He solved the problem by sending less bass to the mains. I am no expert, so maybe this sounds rediculous, but it did solve the popping/bottoming out problem. Of course, this was at very, very loud volumes. Those scenes didn't pop at all until very high volume was reached. However, he likes to crank his system to the very top so that is why he perhaps chose another route other than simply lowering the volume.