Paradigm Studio 100's......how good are they? (1 Viewer)

[Chas_T]

 

[Mark Austin]

Are they version 2's?

 

[Scott_N]

I have the 100's and they are a great speaker for the price. With a good amp you should be pleased with them. They are not like the Kharma Ceramique 1.0's I heard this weekend but still for the price they are hard to beat.

 

[Terry St]

If you liked the Paradigms, there was a board, where they compared them to the Rockets, and apparently Paradigm 100s got their clocked cleaned in the mids and highs.

Did you mean this thread?

 

[Jim_Lan]

I have the Marantz 8200 and Paradigm 100's.. They sound amazing. I don't know why people say they need 200, 300, or 350 watts. They obviously have not tried it with the 8200.

 

[Mikey B]

I have questions about the pricing on new versus the "slightly" used pair. Was the new pair offered at $2400 in real wood? I'm guessing yes. And was the $1300 pair in "veneer" real wood or laminate? I'm guessing laminate. If it's real wood (even in black oak), then that is a fantastic deal. If it's in laminate, then the deal is just your average very good demo bargain. Either way, they are darn fine sounding speakers.

Soap box statement: "Many people don't take into account the differences (albiet only cosmetic) between the real wood Paradigm offers and the standard laminate finish. The real wood offers vastly more pleasing looks, and that can be important when they are so large and take up valuable real-estate in your family rooms. The wood is an expensive option, but is worth every cent in my opinion."

 

[BobRoulier]

I have the Marantz 8200 and Paradigm 100's.. They sound amazing. I don't know why people say they need 200, 300, or 350 watts. They obviously have not tried it with the 8200.

or possibly you have not listened with a high current amp?

I own a 49tx receiver and it sounds fantastic through my studio 100s, but When I hook up my parasound 2205 the bass immediately increased and the sound stage grew as well as adding more depth not to mention that I have lots of power to spare sometimes I really crank my system loud and I never have to worry about shutdowns or damaging the speakers

I think they sound fine with a receiver but I like to tweak my stuff as much as I can . example,I plan on putting a sport exhaust on my new ram hemi, yea stock is fast but the add on will give me an extra little punch ,now if I could just put that 2205 and svs sub in my truck

Bob

 

[Mike Veroukis]

@Ted,

Don't worry too much about what people say about the power requirments. What it basically means is that you won't be taking full advantage of your speakers unless you drive them with a real powerhouse of an amp. It does not mean that they will sound bad. In fact they will probably make your current amp sound better then it ever has. You can always go for external amplification later on if you really feel the need for it.

One more thing... That's a huge price difference from $2400 to $1300. I'm guessing that the $2400 ones include the veneer while the $1300 ones are laminate? If you don't care about the looks then $1300 might be okay, but I would first ask how much the laminates cost brand new. That would give you a better idea of how much you're saving. However, if the $1300 is for the veneer then it's a pretty good price for slightly used - just ask about warranty and all the usual stuff.

And last but not least... you're still spending a fair bit of cash, is black really the colour you're happiest with? These things are huge, they will dominate the room (unless you have a 60" TV next to them), make sure you're happy with the black industrial look.

- Mike

 

[Martin Rendall]

Regarding the amp power claims...

Check this link out... try a few number and see what kinds of power you actually need.

http://www.myhometheater.homestead.c...alculator.html

For example, the speakers are rated at 91dB SPL at 1 watt and 1 meter. With a 19 watt amp 8 feet away, the speakers withing 2 to 4 feet of a back wall, you'll get 102.1dB peak SPL, which is more than enough, at least for critical 2 channel listening. Extra headroom is a nice thing, and to get and additional 6dB of "cushion", an 80 watt amp will suffice. A 40 watt amp will get you an extra 3 dB headroom (that is, a max SPL of 105.3dB).

It's not the extra power which makes the 100's really sing, it's the amplifiers impedence handling. The 100's have a very amplifier "unfriendly" impedence curve over the various frequencies, and it's the amplifiers ability to handle the curve which distinguishes it as far as the 100's are concerned. It just happens that generally high power amps tend to have better load handling characteristics.

Put it another way, most people who have 300Wpc amps never actually go about 50 or so watts, but the 300Wpc amp will still sound way better than a 100 Wpc receiver.

Having said that, I drive my 100's with a 300Wpc amp!

Martin.

 

[Chas_T]

Martin:

Having said that, I drive my 100's with a 300Wpc amp!

I don't want to turn the thread into a amp related topic, but this is an appropriate time I think for this question that I've wanted to ask considering your technical knowledge.

Are 300 WPC the same as lets say using two channels from an amp that is passive-biamped at 150 X 2 equaling the same power of 300 WPC?

 

[Ted_Wern]

You guys have been great, and to be honest with you I really do not like the wood finish on the speakers. They are going next to a 48inch silver Tv, and a silver audio rack and the black is really what I was looking for. We are right in the middle of eliminating all the wood items from the living room. I went down today and auditioned them with the 820 and they still sound awesome.....so tomorrow I am picking them up. Thanks again everyone.

 

[BobRoulier]

Ted, welcome to the club you will be amazed at these speakers for a long time, and at some point adding a quality two channel amp will bring out even more characteristics of the studio 100s


enjoy, Bob

 

[Martin Rendall]

Chas_T,

Kind words, but I'm just scraping the surface here. As to your question: I really don't know.

As an experiment I biamped my center channel (Studio CC, in case anybody cares) from my receiver's main amps... I saw a 6dB gain, but I really didn't perceive a difference in clarity. Bass extension or speed may conceivably have been improved, but running the speaker on "small" kinda makes that pointless. I would guess that the passive crossovers in the speaker would make or break bi-amping.

BTW: the 6dB gain suggests that the in-phase voltages from the amps are merely added by the crossover. Gain in dB = 20 log (v_out/v_in), or 20 log (2*v_in/v_in), or 20 log (2), which is to say, 6dB. A different speaker may work differently.

Anyway, doubling the power of an amp will yield a 3dB gain (formula is gain in dB = 10 log (P_out/P_in)). So biamping 2 150Wpc will produce 3dB more volume than running a single 300Wpc amp, at least with the 100's.

But I have no idea if it will sound better. My experiment suggests not. But no worse, either.

Martin.

 

[Chas_T]

Thanks Martin. I appreciate the response!! Happy listening to all.

Charles