Paradigm Studio 40's or 60's Owners Help (1 Viewer)

[Bob Cal]

I would like some feed back from some Studio 40's and 60's owners. I just listened to both set for about 1/2 hour. (not much time really). The music was Santana and the store was using a Denon AV Receiver can't remember the model.

I found both sets really nice, but what surprised me was they sounded a lot different from each other. Now I have read that they have the same speaker setup in both , and the major difference was the size of the speaker themselves. I expected to hear a bit more base from the 60's but basically the same sound. This was not so.

The dealer was selling the 60's for $1079 Cdn and the 40's were approx $880 with another $200 for the premier stands, so they would cost the same.

I do not have a sub, so I fully expected to get the 60's before I went in and the added base delivered by the 60's would do until a year or so until I could afford the purchase of a sub.

After listening for only 1/2 hour I kind of thought the 40's were more open sounding. Now I am unsure what to do as I don't know if this is only on certain music. I would use the system about 60/40 for HT/Music.

I am 200 miles from the dealer so I could not take them home and do an in home demo, also it is not a trip I make every month.

I will be going back in 2 weeks with some of my own music, but I was kind of hoping the 60's would jump out at me as, this would be a better setup for my home, (front ported would be easier to arrange). I will be getting one of them.

Anyway I was wondering if other owners could tell me if they listened to the 40's and 60's and had an initial impression like I did but after listening for extended periods they decided to go for the 60's .

I only have a Technics 950 AV Receiver , which will be upgraded at a later date.

Sorry for rambling.

Thanks

Bob

 

[Evan S]

Bob, I have heard both lines and prefered the 40's. They are presently the main L/R speakers in my HT setup.
I am a bookshelf kind of guy however, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt.
When I did a dealer demo, the 60's did not sound significantly different from the 40's with his setup except for the lower bass extention. Seeing as I was doing an upgrade and already had stands and a sub, I went with the 40's.
You really can't go wrong with either. I think if you are going to be listening 60/40 HT, you will NEED a sub down the road regardless, so don't let that factor into your decision.
As for the porting issue, I have had my 40's as close as 6" from the wall, and you really don't hear any difference from if they are given the appropriate 18-24" of clearance.
I know that's kinda vague, but YMMV.

 

[Mike_P]

Hi Bob,

I have a pair of Studio 40's that I use as my left front and right front. I also have the CC-450 Center, and a pair of Paradigm surrounds, I think they are ADP-170's? I had a Paradigm PS-1000 sub, but it basically had no bass below 30 Hz, so I replaced it with an SVS 20-39 with a built in amp. I power the speakers with a Yamaha RX-V995. My wife and I find the Studio 40's to be very musical, with clear vocals and natural sound. Musical instruments sound realistic, and we have been very happy with them. My wife has a much better and more educated ear for music than I do, and she really liked them as soon as she heard them.

The system originally didn't have really good "punch" with action movies, but it improved tremendously with the new sub. Using the Avia disk, I found that the Studio 40's response dropped off below 30 - 35 Hz, which I thought was pretty good, considering their size.

I also thought the Studio 60's were the same speaker as the 40's, but in a tower version. Is the difference you are hearing possibly due to slightly different locations in the dealer's showroom? I found location of the 40's to have a large effect on the soundstage and realism of the sound.

I highly recommend listening to your own CD's when you audition speakers. It is amazing how different the same track on the same CD can sound on different speakers. You said you couldn't take the speakers home to try them out due to the distance, but would the dealer let you bring your receiver in and hook up the speakers to it in the store? If they want to make the sale bad enough, maybe they would. Be sure to listen to female vocals, male vocals, and a variety of musical instruments during your audition.

Anyhow, good luck with a difficult decision. I think you would be happy with either the 40's or the 60's, it's just which sound better to you.

Mike P.

 

[Jedd]

If you save some money on buying 40s you can spend them on building your own sub and stands.
And 40s sounds just a bit better anyway. (and require less power to drive and much easier to transport)

 

[Bob Cal]

Ok. Thanks guys for the reply. I will have to give another critical listen. I must say there was a sizeable difference (not saying a lot better just different) in the sound, more than I figured. The dealer said he sells a lot more 40's than 60's and based on my listening I can see why.

I could not see how the placement favoured either speakers as they were set up in a line 20's, 40's 60's 80's and you could swap speakers with the press of a button.

The 100's were setup in a dedicated listening area.

Anyway thanks again.

Bob

 

[AaronG]

Bob,

Was that price for the 60's for the shielded or non-shielded version?

Thanks,

Aaron

 

[Bob Cal]

Aaron

The price was for non-shielded, laminate. You should be able to do a little better price wise as I am on the East Coast (NF) and we have only two dealers in the Province 450 miles apart.

So competition is non-existence.

Bob

 

[Mike OConnell]

Bob:

I am one of the few that preferred the 60's over the 40's for various reasons.

First, I felt the 40's were more open, but the vocals seemed a little "nasal" to my ears. The 60's were not as open as the 40's, but the vocals seemed more natural to my ear's.

Second, my wife preferred the 60's in the family room as she was concerned about little one's knocking over the monitor style speakers!

I would have been happy with either, but got the 60's!

Mike

 

[Bob Cal]

Mike

I was kind of surprised that I never had more replys from other 60's owners.

I will have a longer listen next time and bring a variety of music. That is the problem of not being able to drop down to the local dealer and listen for extended periods. It sucks to have have to drive for 200 miles to listen to audio equipment.

My wife is sort of leaning towards the 60's for almost the same reason. Not so much the tip over factor but easier to place in our family room, and she likes the look of the 60's over the 40's. Myself I would be happy with either. Both speakers look great.

Thanks

Bob