Paraidgm Cinema Series Owners Thread

Good to see you got this thread started. As you know, I am about to jump
into a similar config. I might get cheap on the Sub and opt for the Dayton.

Maybe you can tell us what other speakers that you auditioned and what
made you to chose the Cinema Series.

Thanks

When they finally arrrive I will have:

3 220's / 2 ADP / SVS PDB10(Already here awaiting friends)

The 220's must be popular because they are on back order from my dealer. Hopefully I'll hear something next week

Great Thread! I look forward to hearing comments.

I have installed two sets of the cinema 90's for my brother and they sound fantastic for there size and application.

I just installed the cinema 110's in my master bedroom and I am super impressed with the sound.

I will be looking at cinema 220's or the 330's this summer when I re-do my living room.

I have B&W in my main HT.

I have a Cinema 110 for a center channel and four Cinema 90s for R, L, RS, and LS. Very happy with the sound for the intended application and budget. Everyday TV and occasional movies sound very good. Music only is a bit lacking, but the system is not really intended for critical listening. I chose the white finish, very clean looking, mounted on the Paradigm articulating brackets. I went with the sub in cherry finish. Matches the stained oak trim of the adjacent wood work. WAF is very high.

I was fortunate enough to be able to do A/B auditioning of the Cinema CC, the 110s, the 70s, the 90s, and the ADP in all sorts of combinations. The 90s are noticeably better than the 70s and the 110 is noticeably better than the regular CC. To my ears, however, the 110s were not better than the 90s, in fact maybe the opposite. My room didn't lend itself to the dipole surrounds, but it's cool that they have affordable dipoles in the series.

IMO, the Cinema series is a much better solution than that other well known brand of satellite/sub system. Appearance, sound and cost are all, IMO, superior.

I just checked out the 110, 220 and 330s today. I am leaning towards their HTIB w/110s. The dealer quoted me $899 US... but all the reviews I've read say the MSRP is $799. Any thoughts on this? What did you pay? It's 5.1 system.

If you go with the 110's ADP's and the CT sub, which is essentially the PDR-8, you should be looking at $800. The difference might be in the sub but I'd doubt it. I think the key to success in the CT series is the sub. As a group the 110 thru the 330 can all handle the tweeter and midrange very well but who handles to bass is a big factor in the enjoyment of the system. Size of your space is important as well. I would go for the biggest set managable for your space. Hopefully you wouldn't be living in a box forever

Thanks for the update..... I am still waiting for my local dealer to complete their move, so I can audition these speakers.... The waiting is killing me

Thanks for the feedback. I looked at more reviews and the 110s look like a good deal for the price.

I will be mounting a 42" plasma on the wall. How far should the R and L front speakers be from the tv? The pictures seem to show them pretty close. The couch from the tv will be about 8 ft. Same question for the center. I will mount them below the tv. How much space between the tv and the speaker?

For my surround, the couch is right against the back wall. The dealer recommended putting them on the back wall.. high up. Thoughts on how high they should be? I'm posting an picture of the room. Sorry, it's not so clear.

lcohen999, how much did your speaker set up cost you?

So I guess you can use the Cinema 220 as a Center speaker too? Does it sound better then the Cinema 100?

First time building my own system and was thinking about going with 2 330's 2 adp's and a 110 for my center. Dont think I need a bass, I live in an apartment and sound travels easily, I have a cheap onkyo sub which I think will be enough. Also lcohen do you think I should go with the 220's instead of the 330's? Theres gotta be some noticable difference between the two

I have a small set up in my family room and if you're setting up for a HT, most of the sound seems to come from the center. So, you may want to think of using a 330 for center and 220s for fronts. If you're going to be doing more music listening...stereo listening, then you would probably want the fronts to be the higher model.

Other thoughts?

What I think I might do is get the 220's and sink some real money in a sub. This thread has been very informative.

Bob

I think ill do just the opposite as I think a sub is too much for my apartment, but smaller speakers with a bit more bass seem just right to me. I think ill go with your advice lchohen, 2 330's for fronts and a 220 as a center, I agree the center speaker should be less "bassy" since that is where most of the dialog will come from. And of course adp's for rears.

Now I all I need is a reciever. Will the Yamaha RX-V459 do well with this setup? Id like to keep it in the $300 - $500 range if possible.

IMO, the system you're describing (220 CC, 330s L/R, and ADP surrounds) alone is not going to be close enough to a full range system. I think you should consider a small sub like the PDR-8. Without any sub, you're really going to be missing a lot of sound info. If you could do some A/B auditioning with and without a sub, I think you might agree. I'm not implying that you need a sub in order to shake the entire apartment complex. Just something to reproduce the frequencies below what the other, relatively smaller, speakers can reproduce.

Also, I really wanted to use the ADPs for my surrounds, but when you have the main listening position near the back wall of the room, ADPs pretty much can't be located to function as they are intended. I assume you don't have this problem in your apartment.

Why not buy 3x 220s and used the saved $$ to buy a sub?

This is the situation I'm facing now. My couch is against the wall so mounting the ADP's on the wall is not the best way to go.

I'm thinking about putting them on the stands and then pointing them toward the listening area.

I'm sure wall mounting would still provide fill sound and this is not my main HT but I will probably still mount them on the paradigm stands.

I have a cheap sub, from an onkyo skw-330 system, that I would use with this setup, would that be enough?

Im pretty new to all of this, my main listening postion is close to the back wall, why isnt this a good thing when it comes to adp's? What do you suggest instead?

I believe the ideal location for ADP surrounds in a 5.1 configuration would be to the sides of the listener. For each ADP, one of the speakers would be pointing mostly forward and the other would be pointing mostly backwards. The idea being that neither side of the cabinet is pointing directly at the listener and therefore the surround sounds are more diffused. This is supposed to give a more enveloping, wider, and less directional sound field. ADPs can be placed behind the listener, but this requires some distance between the back wall and the listener so that none of the speakers in either of the ADPs are pointing at the listener(s).

If your seating location is near the back wall, and the ADPs are at your sides, then the rear facing speaker in each ADP will be very close to the back wall and firing directly into the back wall. This will not give the diffuse sound that's intended. Most likely you'll be hearing a lot of directional, reflected sound off the back wall. Of course, it would work but it really defeats the purpose a dipole speaker.

With seating near the rear wall, IMO, a speaker like the Cinema 70 or Cinema 90 would be a better choice for surrounds. They can be located to the side and a bit behind the listener, (like on the back wall or on the side wall near the back corner or on stands) and aimed at the listening position. Yes, they are more directional, but IMO it makes more sense to use the 70s or 90s the way they were designed to be used, rather than forcing the ADPs into a situation that they were really not designed for.

I'm not familiar with the Onkyo sub you mentioned. I just think that the Cinema series, as with any small speaker system, really needs some kind of sub.

That's great that the ADPs are working so well for you. I kind of figured they could still work well in that situation.

So I decided to order the 220 for F/L/C and the PDR10 for my sub. I went with the 90's for the rear.

This is for my living room and I'm sure it will sound great. I really think the Cinema 110's sound great in the bedroom.

I was going to try the ADP's on the stands but decided the 90's will work great.

I have 2 110's for my Zone2 audio, and it is entirely my fault but I didn't realize how low they (don't) go. They're only down to 120Hz, and I wasn't initially planning on getting a sub for that room. Obviously the sound leaves me unsatisfied, but that's my own doing.

If you go down the Paradigm Cinema route, get the sub!