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Paradigm Owners Thread - Page 777

post #23281 of 28075
1/12/12 at 6:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by benzjas View Post

And now considering a few more options around the same price as the RTI A5s.
Paradigm Monitor 7 v 5 (audiogon)
Kef iQ70 + IQ1 (local pick up)

I have not heard either the paradigms or the KEfs. But i have heard the A5s. I was just wondering what others think.
Thanks

I had Paradigm Monitor 9 v.5's and I flipped some KEF IQ1's not too long ago... The Paradigms and KEFs have very different character. I would say the Paradigms are closer to the Polks in terms of sound. The tweeters will be more forward and "sharper" sounding. The tweeter on the KEFs was more reserved/laid back/"softer", with a more pronounced mid-range. Of the two with no EQ, I preferred the Paradigms.

I eventually sold the monitors and went with some used Paradigm Studio 40 v.2's which are somewhere in between...very balanced. If you're not married to the idea of towers, Studio bookshelfs would be a nice upgrade from the Polks, I think.
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post #23282 of 28075
1/12/12 at 2:10pm
Any one have an idea about my previous post?
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post #23283 of 28075
1/12/12 at 4:40pm
What's the difference between Studio 40's and Titans? Looks like Paradigm got rid of Titan series. Also what goes well as surrounds with Titans?
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post #23284 of 28075
1/13/12 at 11:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregLett View Post

I plan to use 5 of the same speakers for my HT setup. LCR.
The 10's seem pretty close to the 20's spec wise so I an looking
to them as an option instead of the 20's. The dealer I spoke to
told me the 10's are only sold in pairs so I was just checking on that.

They only have a 5 1/4 driver though. The 20s pack more punch and would be a better option for theater then the 10s. I've listened to all of mine separately when I was setting up zone channels. IMHO the 10s are great for the rears and that's about it.
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post #23285 of 28075
1/13/12 at 1:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Venomous View Post

They only have a 5 1/4 driver though. The 20s pack more punch and would be a better option for theater then the 10s. I've listened to all of mine separately when I was setting up zone channels. IMHO the 10s are great for the rears and that's about it.

OK. That's good to know. I am looking at ways to keeps cost down as well.

Thanks.
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post #23286 of 28075
1/13/12 at 4:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by GregLett View Post

OK. That's good to know. I am looking at ways to keeps cost down as well.

Thanks.

Well look at the cost of 100s and 60s.... The 20s don't look to bad after that

I got a pair of 20s with the j29 stands for 1400 jalapeños
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post #23287 of 28075
1/13/12 at 5:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Venomous View Post

Well look at the cost of 100s and 60s.... The 20s don't look to bad after that

I got a pair of 20s with the j29 stands for 1400 jalapeños

You got that right
This hobby has cost me a bundle already!
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post #23288 of 28075
1/14/12 at 9:29am
Hey fellow Paradigm owners. I could use some advice on a center channel dilemma I've found myself in.

I recently got the MilleniaOne 5.0 set paired with an SVS PB12-NSD. This setup was replacing a crappy, 5 to 10 year old Polk RM surround setup with an upgraded Polk CS10 center. Ever since I hooked everything up I thought the center channel sounded a tad weak, but didn't ever check to confirm this.

Well last night my wife and I were watching Crazy Stupid Love, and I noticed the dialog didn't sound all that great. I paused the movie and quickly swapped out my Polk CS10 center, hit play and as I was afraid it would, everything sounded SO much better!

I'm kinda disappointed that my cheap-o Polk center that I got for $80 when Amazon had a deal on it sounds drastically better than my $250 MilleniaOne as a center.

I know they say there's no replacement for displacement, and to it's credit, the CS10 is at LEAST 4 times, probably more like 5 times the size of the MilleniaOne, but still. It's 1/3 the price! Luckily the fronts and rear surrounds sound infinitely better than the really cheap-o Polk RM speakers they replaced.

So now I'm seriously considering returning my 5.0 system and ordering 2, 2.0 systems and keeping my CS10 as the center. I know they're not tonally matched, but they sound pretty nice together IMO.

My main question is:

- Would I be better off getting a Paradigm center that would be a better match for the MilleniaOnes than my CS10? If so, can you make any suggestions? My size constraints are 20" wide x 7.5" high x 24" deep.

I would think anything Paradigm has that is comparable size to the Polk I have is going to sound way better. Maybe. Or is the CS10 from Polk really THAT good of a deal??? Thoughts?
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post #23289 of 28075
1/14/12 at 9:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rattmobbins View Post

Hey fellow Paradigm owners. I could use some advice on a center channel dilemma I've found myself in.

I recently got the MilleniaOne 5.0 set paired with an SVS PB12-NSD. This setup was replacing a crappy, 5 to 10 year old Polk RM surround setup with an upgraded Polk CS10 center. Ever since I hooked everything up I thought the center channel sounded a tad weak, but didn't ever check to confirm this.

Well last night my wife and I were watching Crazy Stupid Love, and I noticed the dialog didn't sound all that great. I paused the movie and quickly swapped out my Polk CS10 center, hit play and as I was afraid it would, everything sounded SO much better!

I'm kinda disappointed that my cheap-o Polk center that I got for $80 when Amazon had a deal on it sounds drastically better than my $250 MilleniaOne as a center.

I know they say there's no replacement for displacement, and to it's credit, the CS10 is at LEAST 4 times, probably more like 5 times the size of the MilleniaOne, but still. It's 1/3 the price! Luckily the fronts and rear surrounds sound infinitely better than the really cheap-o Polk RM speakers they replaced.

So now I'm seriously considering returning my 5.0 system and ordering 2, 2.0 systems and keeping my CS10 as the center. I know they're not tonally matched, but they sound pretty nice together IMO.

My main question is:

- Would I be better off getting a Paradigm center that would be a better match for the MilleniaOnes than my CS10? If so, can you make any suggestions? My size constraints are 20" wide x 7.5" high x 24" deep.

I'm would think anything Paradigm has that is comparable size to the Polk I have is going to sound way better. Maybe. Or is the CS10 from Polk really THAT good of a deal??? Thoughts?

Before you return anything, what is your crossover set to? I had an older Hardon Kardon setup with small satellites that I thought sounded a bit weak, but the room correction setup had set the crossover about 40Hz too high --lowered it down and they all opened right up.
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post #23290 of 28075
1/14/12 at 10:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tank_PD View Post

Before you return anything, what is your crossover set to? I had an older Hardon Kardon setup with small satellites that I thought sounded a bit weak, but the room correction setup had set the crossover about 40Hz too high --lowered it down and they all opened right up.

I've got it crossed over at 120Hz per Paradigm's recommendation. I tried 100Hz and 150Hz as well and 120Hz seemed to be the sweet spot.
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post #23291 of 28075
1/14/12 at 10:13am
My new Millenia One 5.1 system sounds great. I am shocked these little speakers are so good. They replaced my Klipsch RF7's RC7 and RS7's. With my Sunfire true signature sub they as good as my RF7 system and save so much floor space.

My center sounds fine.
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post #23292 of 28075
1/14/12 at 10:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rattmobbins View Post


I've got it crossed over at 120Hz per Paradigm's recommendation. I tried 100Hz and 150Hz as well and 120Hz seemed to be the sweet spot.

What about trim level? Do you use any type of EQ software like Audyssey?

What didn't sound right to you? Dialogue too soft? Underpowered?

I ask because you said you just unhooked the Millenia and swapped in the Polk without any adjustments during the movie and everything was fine.....does that mean when you first got the 5.0 system you didn't make any trim level adjustments (i.e. just hooked them up, changed crossovers, and proceeded to use them)?
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post #23293 of 28075
1/14/12 at 10:30am
Does it matter if your speaker wire lengths are the same? My left main is closer to the AVR than my right main by at least 6ft. I will have a similar issue with my surrounds. Also will YPAO correct the difference when I run it?
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post #23294 of 28075
1/14/12 at 10:39am
No, you'll be fine
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post #23295 of 28075
1/14/12 at 11:58am
Pappa, what type of avr are you using?
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post #23296 of 28075
1/14/12 at 12:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigCoolJesus View Post

What about trim level? Do you use any type of EQ software like Audyssey?

What didn't sound right to you? Dialogue too soft? Underpowered?

I ask because you said you just unhooked the Millenia and swapped in the Polk without any adjustments during the movie and everything was fine.....does that mean when you first got the 5.0 system you didn't make any trim level adjustments (i.e. just hooked them up, changed crossovers, and proceeded to use them)?

Yes, dialogue was way too soft and muffled.

I ran Audyssey when I initially hooked everything up, but didn't run it again after swapping the center. I've got a Denon 591 which just has the basic, entry level Audyssey on it. Pretty sure it just calculates speaker distance and crossover frequency though...
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post #23297 of 28075
1/14/12 at 1:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Venomous View Post

Pappa, what type of avr are you using?

Yamaha RX-A2010
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post #23298 of 28075
1/14/12 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rattmobbins View Post

Yes, dialogue was way too soft and muffled.

I ran Audyssey when I initially hooked everything up, but didn't run it again after swapping the center. I've got a Denon 591 which just has the basic, entry level Audyssey on it. Pretty sure it just calculates speaker distance and crossover frequency though...

Your 591 has MultEQ, which does rudimentary room correction as well as auto setup.
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post #23299 of 28075
1/14/12 at 1:20pm
Has anyone found a banana plug that works with the adp-390's and 190's when wall mounted? The shortest one I've found so far is 1 5/8" and it is to long by about a 1/4". Maybe I'll have to go with a pin type connector, but I was hoping to go banana? By the way the short ones that I have allow me to insert the wire from the back or the side. Still to long.
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post #23300 of 28075
1/14/12 at 6:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pappaduke View Post

Yamaha RX-A2010

I would suggest running ypao then manually raising the center db +2. Ypao is no where near the caliber of the audyssey xt32. I'm moving to the denon 4311 myself.
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post #23301 of 28075
1/14/12 at 6:21pm
I have been searching the internet unsuccessfully for the past hour trying to find a specification sheet for the v.2 Paradigm Studio Reference series that provides an overview of all the speakers in the v.2 lineup.

If anyone could please point me in the right direction or post a link it would be greatly appreciated!
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post #23302 of 28075
1/14/12 at 10:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by pappaduke View Post

Has anyone found a banana plug that works with the adp-390's and 190's when wall mounted? The shortest one I've found so far is 1 5/8" and it is to long by about a 1/4". Maybe I'll have to go with a pin type connector, but I was hoping to go banana? By the way the short ones that I have allow me to insert the wire from the back or the side. Still to long.

I just used regular wire with my 190's. How often are you unplugging them that you need the convenience of banana plugs? They're just for convenience, after all. You arguably get a better, more secure connection with just plain wires, and no issues whatsoever with barrel length.

I definitely want banana plugs on the receiver side, where connections are tight and crammed, and where adjustments are far more frequent. But once my speakers are on the wall, they really don't move enough to justify banana plugs. (I wouldn't mind having them on general principle, but not having them isn't really an issue, again, speaking solely of the speaker end of the connection.)
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post #23303 of 28075
1/15/12 at 4:48am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kalani View Post


I just used regular wire with my 190's. How often are you unplugging them that you need the convenience of banana plugs? They're just for convenience, after all. You arguably get a better, more secure connection with just plain wires, and no issues whatsoever with barrel length.

I definitely want banana plugs on the receiver side, where connections are tight and crammed, and where adjustments are far more frequent. But once my speakers are on the wall, they really don't move enough to justify banana plugs. (I wouldn't mind having them on general principle, but not having them isn't really an issue, again, speaking solely of the speaker end of the connection.)

I agree with you Kalani on the frequency of moving mounted speakers. I just figured since I'm in the process of installing new speaker wire I would make use of the banana plug terminals on the speakers as well as at the receiver. If I can't find shorter barrel banana plugs I may go with a pin or spade connector. None of this is probably necessary, but once you start moving towards high end, you tend to want to keep going in that direction. Since I purchased my Paradigms and my new Yamaha AVR I've been spending money on every silly little thing trying to be Mr. High End. Maybe it's time to just start enjoying what I have, as soon as I terminate my speaker wire connection. Thanks for bringing me back down to earth. Your common sense wisdom is greatly appreciated.
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post #23304 of 28075
1/15/12 at 7:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pappaduke View Post

I agree with you Kalani on the frequency of moving mounted speakers. I just figured since I'm in the process of installing new speaker wire I would make use of the banana plug terminals on the speakers as well as at the receiver. If I can't find shorter barrel banana plugs I may go with a pin or spade connector. None of this is probably necessary, but once you start moving towards high end, you tend to want to keep going in that direction. Since I purchased my Paradigms and my new Yamaha AVR I've been spending money on every silly little thing trying to be Mr. High End. Maybe it's time to just start enjoying what I have, as soon as I terminate my speaker wire connection. Thanks for bringing me back down to earth. Your common sense wisdom is greatly appreciated.

I set mine up with banana cables and bi-wired the speakers and I would do it again.







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post #23305 of 28075
1/15/12 at 8:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DenonLover View Post


I set mine up with banana cables and bi-wired the speakers and I would do it again.







I did use banana plugs for my fronts and my center. The problem was the banana plugs were too long for me to wall mount my surrounds. I found some very nice spade connectors that did work, so problem solved.
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post #23306 of 28075
1/15/12 at 8:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pappaduke View Post

I did use banana plugs for my fronts and my center. The problem was the banana plugs were too long for me to wall mount my surrounds. I found some very nice spade connectors that did work, so problem solved.

I ran into the same problem with my rear and did the same thing. I still wanted to bi-wire the rears though too.
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post #23307 of 28075
1/15/12 at 11:24am
Well I swapped the center back to the MilleniaOne, re-ran Audyseey, and tested it out. Still sounded slightly weaker than the Polk. So I went into the settings and bumped up the center channel output by 2dB, and wow. All it took was a tad more volume to make this baby come alive!

Voices are still ever so slightly more muted than the Polk, but everything else sounds SOOOOOO much better! Crisp, clean details that the Polk just skipped right over are now being pumped through my MilleniaOne center. It almost seems like the Polk was engineered to maximize voices and skip everything else, it's crazy.

So anyway, I'm back to being a VERY happy camper. I watched the plane crash scene from Flight of The Phoenix like 6 times LOL! I cranked it louder and louder each time, and these little speakers never distorted or begged for mercy. I think my ears would say uncle before these speakers do. Unbelievable.
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post #23308 of 28075
1/15/12 at 11:24am
Quote:
Originally Posted by pappaduke View Post


I agree with you Kalani on the frequency of moving mounted speakers. I just figured since I'm in the process of installing new speaker wire I would make use of the banana plug terminals on the speakers as well as at the receiver. If I can't find shorter barrel banana plugs I may go with a pin or spade connector. None of this is probably necessary, but once you start moving towards high end, you tend to want to keep going in that direction. Since I purchased my Paradigms and my new Yamaha AVR I've been spending money on every silly little thing trying to be Mr. High End. Maybe it's time to just start enjoying what I have, as soon as I terminate my speaker wire connection. Thanks for bringing me back down to earth. Your common sense wisdom is greatly appreciated.

LOL no worries.

(and for the record, I'm totally with you on this, and it still bugs me in the back of my mind and I wish I had banana plugs there, too! Considering they're already mounted without them, though, it's not an issue that I let bother me TOO much)

Fortunately, this is one thing that is super easy to add any time you want later down the line, even after they're connected with bare wires...
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post #23309 of 28075
1/15/12 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rattmobbins View Post

Well I swapped the center back to the MilleniaOne, re-ran Audyseey, and tested it out. Still sounded slightly weaker than the Polk. So I went into the settings and bumped up the center channel output by 2dB, and wow. All it took was a tad more volume to make this baby come alive!

Voices are still ever so slightly more muted than the Polk, but everything else sounds SOOOOOO much better! Crisp, clean details that the Polk just skipped right over are now being pumped through my MilleniaOne center. It almost seems like the Polk was engineered to maximize voices and skip everything else, it's crazy.

So anyway, I'm back to being a VERY happy camper. I watched the plane crash scene from Flight of The Phoenix like 6 times LOL! I cranked it louder and louder each time, and these little speakers never distorted or begged for mercy. I think my ears would say uncle before these speakers do. Unbelievable.


Did you rerun your room correction on the receiver when switching speakers?
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post #23310 of 28075
1/16/12 at 12:16pm
Just wanted to chime in and say I just replaced a Polk monitor 70/CSi5 center with a pair of Titan monitor/CC-290 setup and couldn't be happier. They sound so much better than the polks, it was a huge upgrade. For being paradigms bottom line it actually makes me think even less of the polk monitor series now as its not even comparable. I'm very impressed with the center, there are absolutely no dialog issues like I had with the csi5, I can hear everything very well now and dont have to put the avr on night mode just to hear the dialog.
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