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Paradigm/Wharfedale/Infinity?What to Buy?

2133 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by avguy1272, May 25, 2007

bluelighter

Discussion Starter · May 24, 2007

Hello Everyone,

I need recommendatins on whether these floorstanding speakers at these prices are a good buy. Which one would you go with?

These are being paired up with Onkyo TX-SR504 receiver and Athena MK-II Series.

1. Paradigm Phantom v.4 - $630/pair

2. Monitor Audio Bronze B6 - $500/pair

3. Polk Audio Monitor 50 - $400/pair

4. Wharfedale XR-5000 - $650/pair

5. Wharfedale Diamond 9.6 - $590/pir

6. Paradigm Esprit v. - $500/pair

7. Infinity Beta 40 - $480/pair

I am leaning towards Paradigm Esprit, because I've always heard good things about Paradigms.

Some background info: I am trying to build a budget sound system for my parents basement. It is a fairly large basement. I just set up the Athena + Onkyo setup yesterday, and i feel the current setup doesn't deliver. I am looking to add a pair of floorstanding speakers that could compensate for this + the lack of a subwoofer.

Which one of these speakers would be the most bang for your buck speakers (keep in mind the setup would not include a subwoofer). These are prices I have obtained from a dealer (I am currently not in US).

P.S., Should I feel bad matching up the MK-II's with these speakers?

thanks in advance!

My Setup:

HK DPR 1005

Athena F1

Hsu Research STF-2

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1 - 8 of 8 Posts

89vette

· #2 · May 24, 2007

Please take my response with a grain of salt because I'm not an expert but I LOVE my Paradigms. I have the Cinema 90 series with a CC center and PDR 10 sub. Tomorrow I'm pickign up a new set of Paradigm Montitor 7's and a CC290 center. I'm always disgusted at the quality of most products I buy. I can tell you that Paradigm quality is top notch. You can tell that they take pride in their craftmanship and I don't think any of their speakers will disappoint.

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bluelighter

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 24, 2007

Hello

thanks for your reply. Only thing that is making the decision difficult is lack of reviews on many of these speakers except more well know one's like Beta 40's.

It was impossible to find reviews on the Paradigm Esprit or Phantom's, even on Paradigm owner's thread.

thanks in advance for your help

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jostenmeat

· #4 · May 25, 2007

In what way do they not deliver? What do you want more of? What does your dealer think or offer as an opinion?

The choices you list are generally pretty darn close in pricing. Speakers being the most personal and subjective part of the AV experience, I urge you to listen for yourself and post what you think

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bluelighter

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 25, 2007

Hello,

Sorry I probably should have elaborated a little more, but didn't want the post to get too long:

About testing out the speakers before I buy, as I've said, I am not in US, and I don't have the luxury to be able to walk into a Circuitcity/Local AV shop and audition all of these speakers listed.

The "dealer pricing" I meant was a local online website. Although I could ask them for advice, the motto over here is to sell whatever has highest margin, and would rather trust the opinions of those on AVSForum. (Keeping in mind that this is asia, where I don't know the same laws of customer service applies over here).

If I were in the US, I would just buy a pair of AS-F2's to complete the system, but over here, the cheapest I could find were $800/pair (which is a little overpriced don't you think?)

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armystud0911

· #6 · May 25, 2007

You haven't heard any of these speakers and you are about to go out and buy the ones that we tell you are best based on our own subjective reviews?

I will tell you what I know about each of these from my experiances

Paradigm Phantom - Never heard these

Monitor Audio Bronze - Good speakers, a decent value, but not so much on this list imo

Polk Monitor 50's - By far the worst on this list,these do not even belong here

Wharfedale XR-5000 - Never heard these

Wharfedale Diamond 9.6's - Very good speakers, however, I find the sound too laid back and therefor unengaging

Paradigm Esprit - I haven't heard these either but paradigm makes very good products, unfortunately I find them a bit overpriced in general

Infinity Beta 40's - An exceptional bargain, these speakers have very tight, clean bass, possibly the best in this group, the midrange sounds very realistic but is bit more ragged than the wharfedales or Paradigms, highs are a bit on the bright side and the vocals suffer from some sibilance problems, but overall, these are very very good speakers for the price, I used to own a pair of the beta 50's

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bluelighter

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 25, 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by armystud0911 /forum/post/0

You haven't heard any of these speakers and you are about to go out and buy the ones that we tell you are best based on our own subjective reviews?

Haha, sounds crazy right? I just have to live with what I got. I have heard very good things about Infinity Beta's as well, only thing I heard is that the 40's lack in bass compared to the 50's, since we aren't planning on getting a sub with our system for now due to budget constraints.

thanks for your advice. You have really hit the spot on what I needed to hear. I just wish if any Paradigm owners can comment on those Phantom/Esprits.

thanks again

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avguy1272

· #8 · May 25, 2007

Purchase the Paradigm Monitor 7 v4. What about B&W 600 series 3?

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