Paradigm Owners Thread - Page 888

without getting into a spitting contest..... While NOT at the time of the excitement of the purchase, resale does play a part for future plans and improvements

Is it the "be all and end all"....Of course not. My reference had to do with the general history, satisfaction and good press the specific model or even the brand plays in a assuring a quality purchase.

I have been a dedicated Thiel speaker owner since the introduction of their model "03a back in 1981... and while it required the use of their equalizer, it sounded significantly better than anything in the price point...... I sold them to friends who owned them until I bought the CS-3.5's another unit that used an equalizer.

I had those f or years (1986 -1992) and sold them to friends. I then moved up to the CS-3.6, which served me until 2007, when I took home the Demo pair of CS-3.7's from our showroom. The CS-5's and others never sold well, nor was there a good resale market for them. But, I do have a line-up of buyers for my CS-3.7's when I either die or sell them!

Thus resale ( for a line of products which have proven themselves over time bodes well)

This myth has been busted elsewhere, but I'll repeat...

It is a fallacy to assume that because a product is sold directly to the customer it is certain to be a better deal. Yes, customer-direct avoids the added cost of dealer markup. ..But people who believe this myth are not taking into account the all-important economies of scale advantage that accrue to larger companies. ..And this advantage has significant implications not only in the cost of parts, but also in the ability to commit resources to R&D.

As for you point about PSB having better resale value, what are you basing this on? Some industry 'blue-book" that dealers use? ..Audiogon?? What? ..Looking at Audiogon I don't see any huge differences in resale b/w the two brands. ..And I'm a fan of both. I owned PSB Stratus Minis for years, and now own Paradigm Signature S8 v2's.
Edited by syd123 - 2/8/13 at 12:05pm

Those upstate New Yorkers are pretty smart!

Paradigm Studio resale Sucks???

On agon. there are two pairs of Paradigm Studio v.3's; both are used, both listed as 8/10 condition. One pair is listed at $1395, the other at $1800. If the sellers get their prices these USED speakers will have retained 60% and 78% of their new price of $2300.

By comparison, there is a brand new-in-box pair of PSB T6 Platinums with an asking price $2499, which is just 50% of their new price of $4999. These are brand new!!! ..Never opened boxes!!!

Granted, this assumes all sellers get their asking price and that this is just a single example, but how does this square with your view that Paradigm Studio speakers don't hold their value as well as PSB??
Edited by syd123 - 2/8/13 at 12:33pm

As far as I am aware of only the Monitor Series 7 were produced
In China. I believe that the STUDIO series have always been produced
In CANADA! I heard that Paradigm was going to move production
Of the monitor series back to CANADA....possibly due to QC issues.

the Studio 60's are fine speakers,glad you got to listen to them.

The subject has been worn out.....it's like asking which performance version of Chopin's Polonaise you prefer, Richter or Cliburn.... Askanayz or Rubenstein ? The subject is closed for me....

Nice dialogue...

You are correct. Only the Monitor Series 7 were made in China.

I can definitely attest to the fact that the Chinese made Monitor Series 7 ARE plagued with issues. Two shipments, Check these out:

Paradigm 4.jpg 243k .jpg file
Paradigm 15.jpg 229k .jpg file
Paradigm 11.jpg 249k .jpg file
paradimg center channel flaw.jpg 247k .jpg file
Paradigm surround flaw 1 (second replacement).jpg 465k .jpg file
Paradigm surround flaw 2 (second replacement).jpg 277k .jpg file
Paradigm tower flaw (second replacement).jpg 276k .jpg file

Horrible customer service, and terribly run company all of the way from the top. I contacted the CEO, President, etc... They all could care a less. They did take the gear back and issue a full refund though. But the entire organization is terribly run. None of the upper management wanted to deal with the issue, and kept delegating it to staff down the food chain, which had even worse values and business ethics.
Edited by addictaudio - 2/8/13 at 2:31pm

As the proud two week owner of a Studio CC690 - - I can't tell you how happy I am with this center speaker. It is flat out phenomenal. I have it matched to a vintage pair of Studio 60's - V.2, and the soundstage is "seamless."

Very crisp, clear dialogue. For grins, I moved up close to the center channel and listened to it and then moved to the left and then the right - - all different sounds emanating from a movie mix. When I sat back in my usual listening position - - it came through as one, unified soundstage.

The biggest issue for anyone buying the beastly Studio CC690 is where to locate it. I just recently mounted my 65" Sammy LCD/LED to the wall, which freed up space on the cabinet to locate the CC690 at closer to an ear level. Very happy camper!

Just got home from auditioning some speakers. Heard some b&w cm8s, studio 60s and 100s. Unfortunately they were all in different rooms. The cm8s sounded good in a minimally treated small room. The 60s were in an untreated large room with a c590 and the bipolar surrounds. Sounded really good, big and open with really good extension. One of my demo tracks, along with various rock, metal, bluegrass and acoustic songs, was Saint-Saens Organ Symphony. This track has a series of good 16hz organ notes which it played very well. The b&ws didn't hit that low. The 100s were in a very small room treated to the nines floor to ceiling all the way around. I think it was too much as it completely sucked the bass out of anything I played. I thought I'd have to with 100s to get the extension I'd like to have but I'm glad I was proven wrong. The price difference would make it a no-brainer for me. The 60s and cm8s I'd have to get in the same room to really be able to A/B fairly. Unfortunately they didn't have any sig s2s to listen to as I'm curious how they sound too. The search continues, but so far I like what I'm hearing!

The S1 with the Seismic 110 sounded excellent. I would say it sounded better than the Studio 100's without the sub. The issue I have with going to the Signature line is that I will have to spend a lot more money to eventually match the centre and surrounds to the Signature line. No question I liked the way the S1 sounded, but I feel like if I start looking at that line, I'll be thinking hmm maybe the S2 will work and then getting super upgrade-itis and look at the towers too. The Studio line is more affordable since I can start out with the 20's + a center and then eventually get the towers.

Once you move to the S2, the S6|S8 will sound identical except for bass extension. The S1 has a slightly smaller mid-range. I could hardly tell the difference between the S6 / S2 in my home theater because I crossover at 60Hz anyway, which the S2 can handle no problem.

I already have the CC-690 and was told the S2 would blend nicely with it. But hopefully the dealer in Ohio has the S2 on display.

If you had to do it over again, would you of just gotten the S2 instead of the S6?

My Sig 2v3's blend very well with a 490 CC.

I've recently been thinking the same thing, and we're getting ready to build our next house. My thought process is to get high efficient speakers for home theater use, and spend some of the savings to create a two channel listening room.

I wanted Triad Gold In-Walls (maybe on-walls), for their great sound quality and efficiency. At $2k each, a 7 channel system hits $14k and no subwoofers yet. I can get the JBL 3677's for $1k each. Not only is that a $7k savings, but you can drive the JBL's with an iPod

Sure the home theater will be dynamic and fun for a movie, but fatiguing for music listening. So I can take the $7 - 10k in savings (speakers plus cheaper amps) and get a some Signatures in a smaller dedicated listening room. It's the way I'm leaning now, because a stunning SIG center speaker seems a bit overkill for movies, and except for multi-channel music, useless when I listen to 99% of my music.

I have Paradigm Studio 40's that i would like to mount on the wall. Have a little guy who loves to touch. The Paradigms fall easily within the specs except for height, which they are 2inches higher. I would utilize the screw holes on the bottom to attach a safety wire to, to ensure they don't fall forward, after clamped. Heres the link

http://www.btechavmounts.com/product-range/products/bt77

I got a package deal including both, so I didn't really make that choice even the first time. I listen to both in full range 2-channel mode without a sub and I find both very enjoyable.

Without the package deal and knowing what I know now I probably would have gotten a smaller signature system all around until I had a bigger room for floor standers. The bigger system puts out much more bass; Bass that my room correction just tones down / attempts to remove. It's very noticeable turning off room correction or powering the speakers with a straight analog integrated.

I might have gone for S1|S2 in the front and a C1|C3. I have the C3 now with the S6 and it's fantastic, but it's so effortless in my room I wonder if the C1 would have sufficed. I could definitely see someone making the choice to get S2 + Sub 1 at ~ $8K vs. just the S6 @ $7K or the S8 @ $9K or whatever it is up to.

I would love to try a C3 with my SIg2 v3s. Not sure if the bigger C3 would fit where my 490cc is as you can see in my post above.

Kevin, I use those same mounts for my surrounds...they are great! The largest speaker
I used on them was the Mini-Monitor,had no problems.

However, I also have some Studio 40's and I can't imagine putting the 40s
On those brackets mounted to the wall. They may spec the bracket at 50
Pounds and the 40's are 35lbs ea but I think the weight may be too much.
My biggest concern would be the weight on the studs the brackets are
attached to. You might need to drill larger holes and use some serious
HD wood screws.

Maybe a bookshelf with at least 2 sturdy L-brackets on different studs?

I'm also a proud owner of a cc-690 for about two weeks now! Lol. LOVE it! Upgraded from the cc-570 v.3 What amp are you running your 690 off of?

Studio 60 owners: There are a set of speakers at a dealer that have a scratch and are thus discounted (broken grille as well). Being that I like a good deal and could care less about the cosmetics, I am interested in purchasing. I listened to them side by side with another studio 60 pair to ensure that the damage was just cosmetic. However, in the songs I listened to, the voices sounded much more muddled. There just didn't seem to be the same clarity with respect to the voices. This is an expensive purchase for me, so naturally it gave me pause. But, maybe my fears are unwarranted. Would just like to hear some feedback about the normal break in process of Studio 60s, assuming they do have one.

With that said, I listened to the Studio 20s and 60s back to back and I really did prefer the 60s. I felt there was more clarity across the spectrum, not just at the lows. I went in ready to buy some 20s and left waiting to save a bit longer for the 60s when the dealer alerted me to the "damaged," pair.

The studio 100's LOVE the Xpa-2. It's definitely not too much power. I listen to my music and movies at near reference level, and have never heard any type of distortion at all. I had an Anthem MCA-2 powering the studio 100's before the xpa-2. The anthem did a great job, but the Xpa-2 does better.

I'm powering my cc-690 with an Emotiva UPA-1 Monoblock. Seems to power it just fine. I might purchase the XPR-5 one day to run everything off one amp.

The cc-690 v.5 is going anywhere from $1,000 to $1,300 used. I paid $1,075 shipped used. I feel i needed a larger center channel do the my family room size and acoustical nightmare. The center definitely is a notch or two improvement over the cc-570 it replaced.

Upgrade question. I have a larger multi use room, and will be using the system for 95% Home Theater.

What am I better with??

Option 1: Sig 2's and the C3 Center
Option 2: Studio 60's and the CC-690 Center

The system will be run from a Denon AVR-4520CI, and I will have a dedicated Sub (Paradigm 15 or something similar).

Thanks

Below is a quote from hometheater shack review of the cc-690.

"First, I specifically requested the CC-690 for this review as I suspected my complaints about the C3 last time were largely due to cabinet size and driver count - not a design flaw. It turns out that the CC-690 outdoes the C3 in every way that matters, especially given the primary purpose of this channel is for movies. The CC-690 is absolutely effortless at reproducing dialogue, at any volume level I could stomach it didn't even break a sweat. This combined with the dynamic capabilities of the Studio 100's to produce an incredible home theater listening experience that in every conceivable way, was superior to the Signature series. Keep in mind that the advantages the Signature series speakers have (higher quality driver, tweeter, and beefier cabinet) aren't really relevant when watching movies - airy ultra-refined treble and extra smooth mids are pretty hard to pick out amidst the many other things occurring in modern surround mixes. For these reasons, the home theater buyer is likely to be extremely happy with the Studio series, and in the process save about $6000.00."

Read more: Paradigm Studio v.5 Series (Studio 100,CC-690,ADP-590,SUB 15) Review - Home Theater Forum and Systems - HomeTheaterShack.com

The 690cc would cost much less than a C3.