Paradigm Studio/20s are good little speakers (1 Viewer)

[AlanZ]

I have had these v.2 20s for a little over a year now....but I've only ever had them in the back for the surrounds. I recently sold my studio/100s, so the 20s were relegated to front duties until I upgrade to the Signature line next month. I also sold my SVS, so basically it's just the 20s all by their lonesome.....but I tell you what, I'm more than a little surprised at how well they sound! If anyone is looking to pick up a used pair of speakers, consider checking for a pair of these on Ebay or Audiogon. I had no idea they were this good of a speaker.....I'm especially surprised at how accurate they are in the low end.....I didn't expect this much bass out of these little guys. I know the v.3's are supposed to be even better, but a used pair of v.2s may be a steal if you can find them.

 

[cabreau]

Seconded.

 

[BrianWoerndle]

I agree. I used them for awhile for full range stereo music and was very impressed. Now I have moved them to the front of my HT where they are strong enough that I use a 60hz crossover.

 

[John Garcia]

I'd take the 40s all by themselves, but the 20s are no slouch. Very nice speakers.

 

[AlanZ]

John: I remember when I had some mini-monitors (Paraidgm, Wayne ) in my set-up two years ago and I compared them to the Monitor 5s.....the 5s were so much better (at least in that particular room) that I couldn't believe it. Both speakers were solid, but the soundstage on the 5s was much larger. When I demoed the 40s, it was against the 100s.....not the 20s. Have you found the 40s to have similar advantages over the 20s as the 5s have over the minis?

 

[John Garcia]

Yep, pretty much the same thing difference, IMO. The 20s are close in bass output to the 40s, but the 40s put up a cleaner midrange and have more presence, especially in a larger room. The 20s sound a bit better than the 5s too though

Recently, when a friend was looking for a whole setup, I recommended the Studios to him, and he ended up with 20s and a 470. He has a large room, quite a bit larger than mine, and the 20s seem to do fine in there.

 

[AlanZ]

Wow, if the 20s held up in a larger room, that says a lot.....that was the main reason I got rid of my Montior 5s to begin with....they were swallowed whole when I took them into a larger, more open room. The drivers in the studios are superb....better than I thought, I guess

Now that I'm back in a smaller room again, It's funny how the opposite happened: The studio/100s all of a sudden were too congested, and the 20s outshine them in almost every way other than the low end. They disappear much more than the 100s did.....but when they had more room to breathe there was no comparison. The studio line is just great bang for the buck.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Hmmm. My experience is not the same. Of course, my comparison might not be fair either. I compared the 20's to Def Tech BP-30's. Book shelf vs "full" range, direct radiator vs bipolar. I did spend the time to position them correctly. I thought the 20's sounded too boxy, muffled bass, with a sort of "closed in" sound quality to them. I tried them "full" range, and crossed over to a sub at 80 Hz. Not much difference. Just didn't like them very much. Maybe it's just how I compared them...

 

[John Garcia]

The entire Studio line has a strange midrange characteristic. It may be that the tweeters are bumped up a bit making the midrange seem muffled or the midrange actually IS muffled, but I never felt they were boxy. They sounded nice in my 2ch setup. My Mordaunt Short 902s have smoother upper midrange, though they lack the extension of the 20s. I tried out v2 20s and v3 40s, and while I liked them both, they were not for me.

In my friend's room, the 20s hold their own, but I still feel he should have gone with 40s or 60s. That was what the budget allowed though.

 

[mackie]

I don't notice a lot of difference between the 20s and 40s. To me they sound very similar, but like what's been said above the 40's have more midrange presence. I use the 20s for surrounds and have recently been entertaining moving into my bedroom for a two channel system. Who am I kidding...pass up the chance to have different brand of quality speakers. If you read a lot of the reviews about bookshelves, you'll see reviewed speaker compared to the 20s.

 

[BrianWoerndle]

I think the issue is that the Studio v.2's tweeter is crossed at a very low 1.5khz. So I think there is a natural roll off of the tweeter causing the midrange to suffer a bit (all realitive of course, my 20's still have much better midrange than my Minis). The tradeoff is that the midbass driver does not have as much work to do so it can hit the lower notes cleaner.

 

[cabreau]

The amplifier you guys were using may have had something to do with your comparisons also, like the muddy midrange, etc. I was at the local B&M. I listened to 20's, 60's and 100's. Listening through an HK AVR-7200, Eric Clapton Unplugged, and Finding Nemo were the demos. Honestly, I heard a SLIGHT difference in bass extension from the 60s over the 20s, but not $700 worth of an advantage. When I listened to the 100s compared to the 60s and 20s though, there was a HUGE difference, and the difference WAS worth the extra $1400 to go from 20's to 100's, but I didn't have the money.

Right now, I have a 12 x 25 room with 7 ft ceilings and the Studio 20s and CC-470 are MORE than enough. I have those in the front, with a PW-2200 for the sub (very deep, very nice sub - not sure how it compares to the SVS line), and I kept my v.3 Atoms and used them for the four surround speakers. What a setup. I couldn't be happier. I think that the 20's will do just fine in a larger room.

 

[John Garcia]

My friend's room is more like 40x30x10; kitchen, dining, living area.

I was using a Marantz 8300 in the store as well as at home with the 40s. I most recently listened to the 20s with an Arcam A80, and heard more or less the same thing, so I don't think amplification was such a big factor. The Monitor line exhibits much the same characteristic, it's just the way Paradigm designs their speakers.

 

[AlanZ]

I think that my speaker preference follows along with my taste in beer.....tends to gravitate to the Canadian side of things. I'm pretty loyal to Paradigm, but the speakers from PSB and the Energy Veritas line are really nice speakers, too. The biggest disappointment I've ever had was B&W. I know a lot of others like them, which is a good thing. I just could not justify them for the money. Oddly enough, I've never heard a Klipsch model, so one day I'll have to include that.....but anyway, the point is that I really think the Paradigm lines are satisfying because you truly get what you pay for, and maybe a little more. I was very happy with my studio/100s, but these little 20s are one heck of a value. I think I only paid $649 for them last year new, and so now after hearing them as mains I can't help but be very impressed. The room I have them in is 15x25 with 9 ft ceilings, and they have done a great job of providing a seemingly entire wall of sound. There are, thankfully, lots of choices at every price point.....but I don't think you can go wrong with these little guys.

 

[Mark Romero]

I love my 20's.