Paradigm Owners Thread - Page 9

Now that I'm a working man, I'm thinking about going from a 2 channel setup to 5.1 (bought Titans back in '94, they must be V1's). I never really loved their sound as they I think they sound too nasal, but being the cheap bastid that I am, I am willing to expand on them as a foundation for 5.1. I had half a mind to throw a bunch of Atoms around them as some have said the vocals are smooth and amazing (ie not nasal) and that they preferred them to the Monitor line. So armed with this knowledge I went to the local Paradigm dealer for some auditioning...

First off I get settled in for a comparison between the Atoms and Titans. Well, all I can say is they sounded vastly inferior to the Titans. It must be that they are lacking in bass? I'm no expert but there is no way I could be happy with them.

Next was an A/B comparison between the Titans and the Mini-monitors. IMHO there is a huge step up in performance going to the Minis. I am forced to spend at least the 'monitor level' now. Should've stayed home...

Wanting to hear an A/B comparison between the Minis and Studio 20 was gonna be hard since the 20's were kept in a separate room. 'No problem', the sales guy said. He went and got them with the stands and wired them up. Nothing like working hard to extract those extra duckets. Anyway, there is a definate improvement going from the Minis to 20's, although the I could be happy with the Minis, and the jump wasn't as drastic as going from the Titans to Minis (which was Drastic). However, I don't want to be yearning to upgrade like everyone else on this forum, so I think I'm going with the Reference line. No one seems happy with the 370 on here (from my limiting reading here) and they seem to eventually upgrade to a 470 or 570, so thats another reason to go Reference rather than Monitor line

With that being said, I have to ask, why is it that the cc-470 gets mentioned alot more than the cc-570? I have to figure that the CC is the most important speaker for HT, so why skimp on it...

And my other question is, should I go for the 20's or 40's? I'm gonna use it for 95% HT and 5% music (if at all). I can't go 60 or 100 since I live in a condo and may move out of this city, so I need smaller speakers for easy transportation...

You mentioned cheap, then Reference. You might want to look into the used market then.

www.audiogon.com
...................................type Paradigm in the search box.

Still though, 3 pairs of Mini's get's you a 6 channel surround sound speaker set, with quality, for not too much $$$... if you bought 3 pairs at once from a dealer, you should get a pretty good deal.

EskimoPie & redlin65: I was in the same position earlier this year. Bought 60 v3's, CC470, and ADP470s. My couch is against a partial wall with the dinette open behind. I did not like the sound of the ADP470's as surrounds. I experimented in many ways (placement, height, loudness, etc), but still could not get them to my liking. I exchanged them for 20's on speaker stands. In my opinion, the 20's were a big improvement. Others here swear by the ADP470's, so I would suggest to go do some critical comparisons. The 20's on stands are about the same cost as the ADP470's; both less than $1K/pair.

Ditto except for the partial wall with dinette open behind.

Thanks for the advice. So do you place the 20's against the back wall facing directly at the listening position?

I hear a lot of people preferring a Mini Monitor compared to a CC-370, is it the same with a Studio 20 and a CC-470? Anyone can comment on whether they like a Studio 20 as a center better then say a CC-470, or even a CC-570?

I like my 570 as my center. I have not tried my 20 as a center so I can't give a direct comparison. The 570 is purpose built as a center so you would hope it would sound better than a 20.

When I run the auto set up EQ on my Denon 3805 it sets my Mini & large speaker and the CC-350 as small . I would think they should be set the same -the cc has 2 drivers @ the same size HUMMM

I just recently upgraded from monitor 3s, mini monitors, and cc350 (all V1) to monitor 11s, minis, and cc370 (all V4 in light cherry).

Love my Paradigms.

-Eli

Is there a place to find out the MSRP on Paradigm speakers? I can't seem to find it on their website, and many sites like audioreview and audiogon don't list what version the price is for.

Does the CC-370 come in cherry ?

I do not know a place where they are listed...however, here are the MSRPs for the system I just bought...

monitor 11s $1099

mini monitors $399

cc370 $379

EDIT: I have the Monitor 11s... not the 9s. Sorry....brain fart.

-Eli

No. mine is black "Magna shield" i wish it came in cherry.

-Eli

No, Brushed Platinum or Black Graphite. Although I was at a dealer last night and he indicated that there is a big electronics show next week where Paradigm is introducing 50 new skus. He thought some of these were going to be other colors/finishes for the center channels.

http://www.bradfordshifi.com/prices.htm#Paradigm

My dealer said the same thing last week when I went in to listen to some of the Monitor V.4, but instead listened to a pair of S4's..SWEET!
The show would be CEDIA

For me it was simply a case of the CC-570 being too wide for where I needed it to go. Otherwise, I probably would have paid the extra $200 for the CC-570 over the CC-470.

I've got the 20's placed on the sides, very slightly behind and angled slightly ahead of the optimum listening position. They are very near the back wall on J29 speaker stands. They are placed about 6~8 feet from the listening position.

Bradfordshifi was already provided by redline65 above. Here is the page on the Paradigm site for their recommended system packages with suggested MSRP for the packages.
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/Site...e/systems.html

Here is the same thing for the Reference series.
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/Site...e/systems.html

Which speaker in the Monitor Series do Paradigm owners here think is the best value in the series? From what I have read elsewhere, people usually the prefer the Monitor 7 or Mini-Monitor for the money.

Also, has anyone heard the difference betweent he V.3 and V.4 and is a noticeable improvement?

In my opinion the Monitor 7's are perhaps the best overall value (Price/Sound/Qualiy), however when properly motivated (powered) the 11's are still awesome and seeing as how I could'nt entirely make up my mind....

I bought both

Oh yeah.. My experiences are mainly with the Performance/Monitor Lines, I beleive the Studios are the superior speaker, just more $$

No. horizontal speakers wont sound as good, as an equally sized bookshelf speaker. Off axis problems with the tweeter being in the middle of 2 mids is the problem.

I noted the difference in a previous post in this thread.

What are off axis problems?

off-axis response A loudspeaker's frequency response measured at the loudspeaker's sides. Contrast with on-axis, the loudspeaker's response directly in front of the baffle.

With a tweeter in the middle, it negatively effects the tweeters response.

When the path distance to the listener from 2 drivers reproducing the same sound is different, they will constructively and destructively interact. This is a concomitant of a horizontal array if you sit off-axis. Not the same with a vertical array.

Kal

Thanks Kal for further explanation.

I agree, the Monitor 7's are really great for the money. They were my #1 choice...until the sales guy swapped them out for the Studio 60's and I listened to the same songs on them, which blew me away. The Studio 60's cost me about twice as much, but at least I know I won't have the itch to upgrade later.

Have you heard the Signature series?