Paradigm Owners Thread - Page 746

I have listened to the studio 20v3 and v4 side by side and I didn't see much of a difference either way. I have heard the v5 on a separate occasion so I couldn't do a direct comparison. I will say, I have no plans to upgrade speakers anytime soon as I don't see anything cost effective that would be an improvement over the v3. If I was forced to upgrade I would get the Sigs before I would get a newer version of the studios. Also, the v5 have been out for a couple years now and it would not be fun to upgrade now if the v6 are around the corner. Not saying that they are, but it wouldn't surprise me if they were about a year away. To me, going v3 to v5 studios would just be a waste of money unless it's more for looks as the curved cabinets are very nice on the v5. There would have to be some other part of your system that would benefit more from an upgrade.

The cc590 is a better center but it wouldn't match the monitor 7s as much. If you plan to upgrade the 7s to studios then go for it. If you get the cc590 and hear how good it sounds I think you might be forced into some studio 20s or 60s. When I got my studio 20s I had to turn off my cc370 as I felt it was hurting more than helping. Once I got the cc570 everything was great. I still use monitors as surrounds as the rears being timbre matched is not as important.

Ok thanks alot. Now u got me thinking of upgrading my mains. It was hard enough to convince the wife for the center now I can't imagine for the mains. So there's really a big difference on the studio line compared to the monitor line?

Yes, that's probably the biggest jump between lines across the Paradigm range. The Studios are a big step up, which makes sense since that's moving into their Reference side.

Room size is about 25 by 14 in an apartment, with the living room/home theater section being about 15 (out of the 25) by 14. Listening distance should be around 12. Primarily, I use my speakers for home theater, but I do play music, as well, so that's still an important part. Not positive how to quantify how loud I listen, but not so loud that filling the need with my 5.1 setup, including studio 20s and Denon 4308, has ever been a problem.

I don't know of any deficiencies I'm trying to address -- I simply haven't upgraded any speakers in 7 years or so (and haven't kept up with new models in the meantime) and was curious if any upgrades at this point might be worthwhile.

Thanks, mjpearce023, for letting me know that simply upgrading from Studio 20 v.3 to v.5 wouldn't make much sense.

It sounds as though I'm hearing now switching my 20 v.3s for Sig1 v.3s might still be a worthwhile upgrade, so I'm going to consider those, although it still might be hard to make the jump with the speakers unheard. But, as long as I'm gaining significant quality and not losing anything with the size difference in terms of filling the room. S2s, as great as they are, might still be too expensive for me to try -- although if I did consider them, I wonder whether pairing them with an S1 CC might still make sense -- not sure I can find room for a bigger one.

Again, thanks very much for all the feedback.

machas74,

I don't disagree with mjpearce023's post regarding the 590 to the monitors very much. Anything regarding music listening, absolutely correct. I would however suspect that for movies the impact of the 590 vs monitor drivers wouldn't be a "very bad thing". Set-up would be a bit of a challenge, but could work out.

Certainly should sound much better than the opposite problem (which I have), where the center is inadequate to the L/R's. YMMV, and upgrade or not, that 590 is going to be a monster challenge to the infamous WAF!

mmm... 590 leads to studio L/R's, monitors to surrounds.... oh Joy!!

Best of luck. Let us know which way you jump.

Mkard

Well what would you guys do in my position? Both will be about same price the cc-290v6 is new from local Paradigm dealer and the cc 590 v4 is from a local classified ad who is the original owner since new.

Hi all
I'm not sure if i am posting in the right thread or not if not maybe some one can direct me.
I just bought a new sub12 with p bk, just brought it home and hooked it up .I ran the EQ
to smooth things out a bit . I am surprised at how the EQ sucked out the bass (rumble)
that i am use to when listening to a sub.
I sold a pair of sunfire hrs 12 to go with the paradigm as a change .

Dose anyone know is the center position on the gain dial act as the natural pass through volume setting .

I have heard this sub is great for home theater wont get to try it in that mode for a while music for now, I have a large space about 6000 cf .

I wanted the sub15 but the dealer didn't have one and i hate to wait and the deal was good on the sub12

i would be interested to hear how long it will take to settle in and do the EQ again

So please toss me your impressions good bad indifferent

thanks all mike

I think there is a difference but how big just depends on the person really. To me, I could hear a lot of differences between the monitors 3 v3 and studio 20 v3 that replaced them. I actually set them up as a/b so I could switch back and forth to listen to the details. The biggest thing for me was the imaging. I had never really heard instruments that clear before and it actually made me start listening to different types of music like Jazz. I had never liked Jazz before but now it was like the band was in the room playing. When I changed music from 2 channel to pro logic music it didn't sound as good so I realized the cc370 just didn't have the clarity that the studio 20s have. I decided to try a phantom center for movies as well and I liked the sound much better. I ended up using a phantom center until I could get the cc570.
I think your system will sound better overall with the cc590 but I just wanted to warn you that it will be very tempting to upgrade the fronts once you have the 590. At least that's the way it worked for me. Once I heard the studios I had to upgrade my center as well. The cc570 and studio 20 combo created a more cohesive sound field. I also didn't have Audyssey back then so that also helped my love for the studios and made things gel even better. Ok, that's enough of me blabbing on about how much I love the studios. You just have to hope your mind doesn't start wondering "If the studios are that much better than the monitors, I wonder how much better the sigs are than the studios." Luckily I made it through that phase so hopefully it doesn't come back.

Pardon me for butting in here, I agree with Mkard and mjpearce. The CC-590 would be the best choice, a large jump in dialog quality in movies, and would probably be OK with your Monitors. Much better than the other way around. Later on find some matching Studio L/R speakers to go with it.

Hey guys I was wondering if I order and get a PBK for my subwoofer can I use the same PBK for a friends same Paradigm subwoofer?? (DSP-3200) Curious since I want to order a PBK for us to share but reading the operating guide on the Paradigm website it says this :

"PBK can be used with up to four Paradigm reference Subwoofers. The frequency response of each PBK microphone is measured precisely and this data is used to create the microphones calibration file included on the PBK software disk. The microphone can ONLY be used with matching calibration file."

What does that exactly mean?? Confuses me! Anyone with info is greatly appreciated! Thanks

Won't be a problem. You load the software onto your laptop,then run PBK.
It then calculates the correction and loads the solution into your sub.
Then take your laptop and microphone to your friends house,start a NEW
measurement and follow the same procedure.

I split the cost of mine with a fellow forum member on the east coast,he used it on his 2 Paradigm subs,sent it to me and I used it on my 2 Paradigm subs.

Ok awesome sounds good!! Thx for the info!!

Old manual. Paradigm unlocked the four subwoofer restriction in the PBK software quite a while ago.

Is the PBK capable of calibrating dual subs? From the documentation I've looked at it doesn't seem like it's possible, but I don't own it so perhaps I'm wrong.

Not together, no. I was emailing back and forth with a Paradigm technical rep a few weeks back regarding my dual DSP-3100's and he said it is not capable of calibrating two subs at the same time.

I have been half tempted to buy an extra USB to mini-USB cable to hook both subs up to my computer at the same time and test this statement but I am pretty positive it isn't possible. Only ARC (which is what PBK is based off of) can do multiple subwoofers at the same time. Part of the reason I have been half-tempted into getting an Anthem receiver (the other part being that ARC is a kick ass room EQ software from what I have heard...and based on how well PBK tames my subwoofers I believe it).

Not sure where you received your information but the Signature W5 has not been discontinued to my knowledge. After making some changes to their website they weren't as easy to locate, but are currently listed under "Products by Series > Signature Speakers > LCR" as well as under "Products by Category > LCR".

The Sig W5 may be on the Paradigm website, but I can assure you that they are indeed discontinued, and are not included in the latest 8/15/11 price sheet.
I checked with Paradigm, and inventory is extremely limited on the Sig W5, so if anyone wants/needs one, I wouldn't hesitate!

Any idea why, or what the replacement will be? They seemed like an intriguing speaker, and I was considering them for some point in the future.

I am not privy to that level of information; but I'm sure if people were buying a lot of them they wouldn't have been discontinued!

Yeah, true. I can see them not being as popular as the more conventional speakers. I'd imagine there must have been more of a market for "really, really thin good-sound speakers "than for "somewhat thin excellent-sounding speakers", based on the discontinuing of the W5 and the addition of the Millenia LP. Kinda makes sense.

Or a bigger market for "really, really thin good-sounding INEXPENSIVE speakers" than for "somewhat thin excellent-sounding EXPENSIVE speakers."

Yes, also a very good point, and I'm sure that entered into it. The market for expensive speakers tends to lean more towards very large speakers for a dedicated HT.

I have millinea30 for l/c/r/ and they sound excellent! very detailed,nice mids,and even abit of low end out of them. I had cinema 330 before these and have to say night and day difference between the two.the millineas play nice with my paradigm sub 12

Sorry to interupt,
but when do y'all suppose the v.6 studio line may come around?
I know it's too early to speculate, but given the past time frames it seems to be about a 4-5 year turn-around.
Reason beeing I have auditioned a few brands over the past year and came to like the Digims quite a bit. Some bad things have finacially haulted my next step and opened them, ...long story short lets say I have a comfy 5k to drop (possibly more). I came to love the studio v.5 100/690 for front port (placement) and audio bliss (pleasure-town).
Naturally I need to spread my dollar out for other Equipment and such, so I had an aching splinter in the back of my head. I should probably wait 'til the end of the year for some possible anouncement? Why? Better odds for an Audiogon bargain. Maybe I'm just over thinking things too much but, after a year of speculation I really want to take the plunge and say f#@k-it.
On the other hand I have come this far so...?

-also I was thinking of just saying screw-it and go all-in on some Dali Helicons 400 or 800 mk.1-2, and every year a new piece of eq.

I'll just say I want to grab a bargain on some studio v.5, if not Helicon.

There haven't been any rumors of Studio v6 on here that I've seen. As for your other concerns, I would suggest that you be careful to not put yourself in a bind financially for something as secondary to life as speakers.

Your post seems eerily familiar. You weren't named anubis in a previous life were you?

I was thinking we would see a v6 studio in the next year but that's based solely on speculation as I have no inside info and have heard no rumors at all. Looking at the v6 monitors came out in late 2008 and I think the v5 studios came out in early 2009 but I can't remember. If Paradigm follows that again this time we might not be far away. I really don't know how much better the studios can be because Paradigm still wants to sell the sigs. I just can't see selling my v3 studios unless the new ones are a substantial upgrade.

I am trying to find dealers in my area. I found one, but (as I stated many pages back) he is only selling Paradigm on the side and his main business is huge venue sound - such as rock concerts, political rallies, etc. Sure, I can buy them through him, but without a discount. I live in Harrisburg, PA.

The closest other dealer to me is a 3 hour drive.

Just to see if their dealer finder software is crappy, I decided to look for dealers in the Philadelphia area. Philly is not a choice in the city drop down for PA.

Undeterred, I looked for dealers around the Baltimore area. Baltimore is a large enough city, and it is in the drop down. Sadly, I see the only dealers for Baltimore are hours away from that city.

This leads me to wonder if Paradigm is going out of business - of if their sales model is such an elitist one that they assume people are willing to either pay list price or drive several hours to buy their speakers.

Of course, the final (and hopefully correct) option is that their dealer finder software is simply horrible.

Anyone know how to actually buy Paradigm speakers in south central PA without paying list price?

I highly doubt Paradigm is going out of business, seeing as they're updating product lines, adding new lines...
I agree about the dealer locator being crappy. I'm glad I have one in my town.
As far as price goes, all dealers have 'wiggle room' as far as speakers go. It's up to you to ask. My rule of thumb is take the list, subtract 25-30% off, and tell them you'll pay that right now. Most will want the business, and let's face it they're obviously still making money. It all depends on how greedy the dealer is. It's always worked for me.
-Peter

Thanks, I will try that. Since he is the ONLY dealer for well over a hundred miles, he can charge whatever he wants...especially since selling Paradigm is a side business for him.

Anyone know the current list price for the MilleniaOne set of two? I read online they are $249 each...but sold in a set of two. Does that mean $249 for the set or $498 for the set?