Paradigm Owners Thread - Page 880

That won't be a problem at all in a 3' deep cabinet. As long as you have about 1.5 times the port diameter in distance to the back wall of the cabinet you should be OK. Another option is to have a cut-out in the back or just leave the back of the cabinet open in that section. Also I'd leave a little room over the top of the center, just a couple of inches, so you can tilt it up a little to aim it at ear level.

BTW, I love my CC-690. Best center I've ever had.

Just auditioned the monitor 7. Seems strange that I find it sounded better than a Studio 60 Do you think there's something wrong with my ears?

Preferences are subjective - there's nothing strange about that.

Hey y'all. I'm having a house built and I'm wiring the living room for either 5.1 or 7.1 and due to the less than ideal room area I'm having trouble determining not only the wire outlet positions but also what speakers I'm going to use. I have to tell my builder my final choices by tomorrow. I'll be re-using my SE3 fronts and SE center for the front stage but I have to switch my SE1 surrounds to something else.
The picture of the model home below shows the living area. The front wall will not have a fireplace so the media alcove will extend to the front left corner, the left wall you can see, the back is open to the breakfast area and kitchen and the right side is open to the dining area with an arch across the ceiling that's about 1 foot in height separating the living from the dining. I went to my dealer yesterday and asked if they thought mounting Surround 3s or Studio ADPs very high on the left wall and along the arch on the right wall would work for side surrounds (blue positions in the first photo) with ceiling mounted back surrounds and they said no way because the right side surround would not have a wall to reflect off of.
I would prefer not using any direct firing speakers with angled mounts so that leaves me with in ceiling options. The second image below shows a portion of the floor plan and potential speaker positions. I asked my dealer what they thought about 4 speakers in the red positions to make a 7.1 and they recommended building only a 5.1 with SA-15R's (studio series equivalent) or AMS-150R's (monitor series equivalent) in the blue positions. Their 5.1 recommendation was based off there being a lack of very much true 7.1 content available and therefore the extra channels would be a waste. I was going along with them until they said that. While that may have been true when Blu-Rays were new I know there are over 300 now, as well as some games I play, with 7.1 audio and knew I needed some second opinions after that was mentioned. Anyway, here are my actual questions;

1) Would Surround 3's or Studio ADPs sound good in the marked blue locations in the first picture below or should I use in-ceiling AMS-150R's or SA-15R's which fire directly downward in a cone soundwave shape for the side surrounds?
2) Should I stick with 5.1 which I've always had and been happy with but also never had the option for 7.1 due to previous room layouts, or should I convert to 7.1 and add the back surrounds?
3) If I add the back surrounds should I use two additional down firing cone soundwave shaped speakers or should I use the 30-degree angled in ceilings so they can be aimed towards the back of the listening area rather than firing straight down behind the listening area?

I'm sorry for this long mess but would appreciate any input. Thank you.

As @eljaycanuck mentioned, this is what you like. Even better as it will cost you 2-3 times less in cost! Monitor series is just fine for many folks here. Don't let all the Studio talk on this thread deter you otherwise. Go enjoy! What sub are you pairing with these?

Awesome. I'll have at least 12", but I can bump that up a bit. We're still in the design phase. Thanks for the reply.

I'd probably go the ceiling mount route. I don't like in-ceiling speakers, but that's just me. I'd probably go with something I can mount on the ceiling and turn and pivot as I see fit. Not ideal, but if your significant other is like mine they'll not appreciate speakers on speaker stands in that room.

Either Hsu vtf3.4 or a dayton titanic sub. Leaning closer to hsu

I told the the salesman that and he express shock and disagreement... and he went on to explain how the internal crossovers are so much different or better and the such.

I finally got my Studio 10 after a long hunt:





I'm quite surprised about its bass considering the small 5.5in mid/bass woofer.

I loved my Studio 10's.

That's funny - a salesman disagreeing with you about your preferences.

"I like the Monitors more than the Studios."
"No you don't."
"Ummm...yes, I do."
"But you can't! The Studios have better crossovers! You're wrong! You only think you like the Monitors more!"

I'm loving them too

"I think I will spend my money at another store."
"Oh no you won't."
"Oh yes I will."
"You WILL buy these Studios from me..."

Is there anybody in this thread in the vicinity of southern Saskatchewan who is looking to sell a pair of Studio 40 v4?

I just thought I'd ask, as they're hard to come by in this neck of the woods.

Just wondering how many are waiting for their 30th anniversary order.

So Ive had the chance to audition a few paradigm speakers. I thought I was dead set on getting B&W 683's.. but due to the terrible center IMO, and not wanting to use a 685 for a center channel, I was on a hunt for local stores that sold paradigm after all of the good things ive seen on this forum.

I got a chance to Demo the Monitor 7's, the Monitor 9's, Studio 100's and the Studio 10's

Unfortunately the store does not really have an acoustically friendly room, the speakers are on hard concrete floors with no sound treatment so a bit of an echo.

I am in the market for the monitor series, but enjoyed hearing the studio 100's and Sutdio 10's all the same..

First let me say, I imagine all of these speakers sound WAY better in a proper listening environment.

The Monitor 7's and 9's, I cannot tell a difference aside from some slight bass, and the mids on the 7's seeming more detailed to me. I switched back and forth between the Monitor 7's and 9's doezens of times between songs and they sounded pretty much identical in the basic footprint, but again I belive the 7's had a little more detail compared to the 9's...

I then swtiched between the Monitor 7's and the Studio 10, I was impressed, I honestly think again, the had the same almost similar sound footprint, you could hardly tell you were on different speakers, though the studio 10's throw out quiet a bit of bass for their small size, and they have an amazing punch about them...

I am crossed between getting Monitor 7's and Monitor 11's.. Though I am not pulling the trigger till I hear the 11's. I asked him about getting a pair in for demo, not mentioning buying them, and he said he was going to order a pair and call me after they've had some break in time. I am looking to see if there is a big difference in sound detail between the 7's and 11's. Im not so much concered with the low end bass outpuit as much as I am with mid and High end detail... if they sound as similar as the 7's did with the 9's switching back and forth, I might save myself the money and get the 7's..

The studio 100's were setup in a different room, and while they did sound amazing, I just dident hear as much of a difference as I was expecting, I was expecting a night and day sound between the two, and while I will give the studio 100's credit in the ammount of low end clarity they put out, and the better detail overall, just not worth it for me to spend the extra coin.

with a good sub; it's hard to justify going above the big bookshelf (Studio 20 in that line). At the price of the 100: I'd look at the S2.

"Stands are annoying" is the best counter I know; but that only gets you to a Studio 60.

Having owned monitors and studios, I can tell you that if you are planning to use a sub, go for the 7s.

I would also agree with Jerry that having a good pair of bookshelfs with a sub is more rewarding than a floor stander.

I recently upgraded from Titan Monitors (v5) to Studio 20s (v4) for my front left and right. Even though the Studios are smaller, I was amazed at how much more punch they had.


This is why I'm searching for Studio 40 v4. They stopped making them when v5 came out. I love my 20s, but would like just a little bit more muscle for my front L/R. I don't have a dedicated HT room. The area in which my HT system resides is open to pretty much the rest of the house (open concept design).

Studio 60s would probably be easier to get, and I wouldn't have to use stands, but my room constraints require that the front L/R be placed pretty close to the wall behind them. With both a front and rear port, the 60s would do better further away from the wall, I think. The Studio 40s, like the 20s, have only a front port, which should make them more forgiving of placement close to the wall. And I already have the stands anyway.

So, if I ever get my hands on a pair of 40s, I'll move my 20s to the rear for surrounds (currently using mini-monitor v3s).

I have 40v3s I'd be happy to sell; but I'm in FL.

I honestly prefered the sound from the 7's more than the 20's.. The 7's seemed to sound a bit brighter than the 20's and I liked that a bit more, but the 20's are amazing speakers none the less.

I had the Monitor 7 v3 many many years ago and loved them. They were very efficient and didn't need much power.

I upgraded to the Studio 60s a couple of years later but needed a good amp to make them sound great.

However if you ask me if the cost of upgrading to the studios and amp was worth the increase in fidelity / sound quality, I would say no.

Paradigm makes amazing speakers though. The 60s have been gone 2+ years and I miss them. Very patiently waiting for my order of the Inspirations. I was told yesterday that its now February :-(

Does anyone own the Tribute model yet.......my local dealer has them on display........but the Inspiration will not come out until the end of February.

I too would love feedback on the Tribute if someone has them.

What is this Tribute and what lines are coming out for the anniversary?

Monitors will sound great, just make sure you pair them up a good sub. Enjoy all monitor buyers.

Normally Id say yes (kidding), but after hearing the Studio 100's and the 7/9 monitors myself.. I prefer their sound more.. simply because they sound a bit brighter than the studios did to me and I liked that.. Im waiting for the local AV store to get in some monitor 11's for me to hear. Guy was nice enough to order a set with his next order simply for me to audition them with no guarntee of me buying them

When I moved my HT to my newly-finished basement, I upgraded from my 7se's to gently-used Monitor 7v4s. The M7s were brighter, and they had much more "presence" than the 7se's - that is, the soundstage seemed to jump out at you. But they lacked the bottom-end of the 7se's and their overall "warmth". Nevertheless, it did seem that they might be better suited to HT and, aside from becoming a bit harsh at high volume levels, that proved to be the case.

Then I upgraded to gently-used Studio 60v4s. First thing I noticed was that the big, open top end of the M7s was gone, and that was a bit disappointing. But the S60s more than made up for that by having better mids and a better bottom end - an overall better balance of sound. And the tamed brightness proved to be beneficial to higher-volume situations, where harshness was essentially non-existent. (To be fair, at very high volumes, the S60s can still get a bit harsh/shrill/fatiguing, but I almost never play them that loud, because I don't see a need to.)

After having moved from 7se's to M7s to S60s, I went out and bought a gently-used pair of 5se MkIIs (essentially 7se's re-badged) for my two-channel home-office set-up. Their big, warm, clean sound is just so sweet...

I was in your shoes about a year ago. Demo'd the 7's and 9's side by side. Really other than a LITTLE bit on the low end I couldnt tell the difference. My local shop didnt have any 11's to listen to, but realistically they should sound near identical and were more than I was comfortable spending at the time. The setup was going to be 5.1 (now 5.2) so I went 7's and saved a few dollars. I compared them to some focal's that were about 50% more and the focals had a strange resonance to the bass that wasnt there in the paradigms. decision made.

Since then I have listened to a few more speakers and my thoughts are this. The monitor series 7 is a great line up of speakers, worth the money. I struggle with the increased costs of better speakers tho, I have heard better and want better but in most cases, to my ears, the differences have been subtle and dont justify the price tag (yet).

The Tribute and Inspiration are the models being released to commemorate their 30 year anniversary.

According Paradigm, they are only going to make 200 pairs of the Tribute towers and 300 of the Inspiration Bookshelf speakers. Once they are sold, that is it, no more will every be produced.