Great highs, good bass,

Kind of big. I'd like them to make a smaller PTD tweeter speaker for my rears. They really aren't mini. They're large bookshelf speakers in my opinion.

These are my rear speakers. It's a little overkill for the rear on movies, the guy at the store was trying to get me to buy the Atoms for less money, but the tweeter isn't the same in the Atoms and I wanted perfect panning. They work GREAT! The arrows in the "Unleash Hell" scene on Gladiator are great going over your head and around you. Very clear highs and good bass for a rear speaker. If you want to go 6 channel audio, these are the speaker to get unless you can go higher end B&W and pay a lot more.

Excellent highs (once broken in...) Solid mids and bass for a "small" speaker Looks, removable front grill cover

Somewhat long break-in period

There isn't much more to say than what other reviewers have said. I have owned other brands of bookshelf speakers from Polk Audio to Sony, to Pioneer, to Mission and finally, Paradigm. I thought the Atoms were "as good as it got". Excellent speakers!! That held true until I got the Mini Monitors. Once broken-in, there is simply no better sounding bookshelf speaker out there. To some, they may sound a bit "bright" out of the box, but give them time and break them in. The change in sound is very sudden.

Similar Products Used:

Other Paradigm bookshelf speakers such as Micro and Atom, Polk Audio, Sony, Technics

Clear... did i mention clear. nice base for the size. Remember Break in time is important. I just left them on all the time when I was home the first few days.

For a small speaker, not much. they are a bit deep(shallow shelves don't like these guys). They need break in time, but it is well worth it. Lesser speakers need no break in. Think of it as a fine wine... time makes it better. Lesser speakers are like beer. The get worse over time.

Clear as a bell for the price. My girl friend could not beleive the clearness of enya on my system. But then she has a sony speaker system. She had never heard such detail. I have heard better but not for the money. I would have gotten them for twice the price... No kidding. Get these and pair them up a bigger pair of monitors (i have 5s to go with the minis). I matched them up against the most expensive Bose system and they just destroyed Bose. Big surprise. The salesman flipped back and forth between the two and wow. It proved two things: 1. Bose has the best marketing in the industry 2. Bose just flat out sucks...even at half the price. my system Denon 3802 Klipch sub 12 inch JVC VCR JVC DVD/CD Rm-sxvfa95j JVC tape deck (a older one...no need to upgrade this) I looked at Energy, Klipsch, Infinity, JBL, Boston A, Polk, and Def Tech. If I had more money i would have considerred some more expensive brands. Maybe some day. But Paradigm is really nice :)

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Boston A, Paradigm, Cerwin V.

Loud, smooth highs, bassy

boomy, insensitive, positioning problems due to rear port, requires many breakin hours, expensive (axiom maybe a slightly better speaker for the money), overall a quality speaker

Like all paradigm speakers they sounded horrible right out of the box. I seriously thought I had gotten a defective product the first few months I listened to them. After they started breaking in the tweeters began to open up and the bass smoothed out quite a bit. The one inch tweets are very smooth and detailed, but not bright or harsh. The lows are have a nice fullness that you wouldnt expect from a speaker its size. The only real problem I have with these speakers is they are difficult to position without them becoming boomy, a minor problem if you have flexable positioning options. To conclude I want to outline the changes that have happened to the monitors during their break in period, so future buyers do not panic as I did. 1) Initially, the tweeters were muffled and distorted, but not bright or harsh. The speakers seemed to severely resist the power of my HK 520, and sounded like they had a blanket over them when i cranked the wattage. It took literally three months for them to open up, and they are still changing. The people who say there is not a break in period for speakers must not understand what quality sound is, or they just simply have not heard paradigm.

I have had the Mini Monitors for close to 9 months already and I use them to listen to CDs and to watch TV everyday. After 9 months of fairly intensive use, I have to say I like them more and more everyday. They give very clean, crisp high frequency and solid, controlled mid range. I listen R&B a lot and the Mini Monitors plays this type of music very well: clear, vivid vocal, not too intrusive mid range and bass. Before I purchased the Minis, I listened to Tannoy, Mission, B&W, Paradigm Phantom and Boston Acoustic bookshelf speakers. Tannoy (MX2) was the worst (and it is still the worst speakers I have ever heard in my life…) because it sounded like music coming out of a hollow cardboard box. Mission and B&W were ordinary: listenable but imaging and sharpness nowhere as good as the Minis. In my own opinion, the Minis and the Boston Acoustic have the best fidelity and imaging. I choose the Minis over BA because of its more superior high frequency and lower price. I have learnt two important things about speakers since I bought the Minis. 1. NEW SPEAKERS NEED BREAKING IN. When I first got them, they didn’t sound as good as they are now. Actually, nowhere as good and I was worry that they were from a bad batch. In my case, they took about two weeks to break in to sound good. 2. GET THE RIGHT SIZE SPEAKERS. I find the Minis perform better in smaller room. I used to listen to them in my parents’ TV room, which is big and has a high ceiling, and it didn’t sound too good. Now, in my apartment lounge (about 3x4 meters), which is half the size of the TV room, the Minis really shine. Finally, I just want to say different people have different taste and requirements for sound. The only way to find out whether a speaker is good or not is to listen to it yourself. Bring your own CD to the shop and ask them to put it on. I am very happy with my Minis and I would recommend them to others. But don’t just take my words, go out there, listen for yourself and you be the judge.

Good price, good sound, better sounding than speakers that cost even more. New design looks cool. n

Possible quality control issues. The first pair the dealer unboxed had a separated dust cap! Make sure to check your actual speakers before leaving the store.

THIS REVIEW REFERS TO THE V3 (VERSION 3) EDITION OF THIS SPEAKER. Paradigm is now shipping the v3 version of the Mini Monitors. The version 3 model has a new, third generation high frequency driver coupled with Paradigms advanced Waveguide faceplate design that was developed for the Studio Series.  Upper harmonics and ''air'' are reproduced with stunning clarity and accuracy. The mid/bass drivers have newly designed motor structures, ''bullet'' dustcaps (like B&W) and larger magnet structures providing more openess and detail along with greater sensitivity and power handling. I tested these speakers against the B&W 601 S3 and B&W 303 speakers and the Paradigms sounded clearer, with better stereo separation and a more accurrate sound. Not toney or muddy. You should listen to them for yourself, but I really like them for the price. They practically tickle my ears whereas the B&Ws strained my ears. Note that with any of these bookshelf sized speakers, you will need a subwoofer.n

Similar Products Used:

Original Paradigm Mini Monitors, B&W 303, B&W 601 s3i

Clarity and depth.

none.

After reading a lot of reviews I have come to the conclusion that I must be spoiled rotten. I''m using my Mini Monitors as surrounds. I have them matched up with Paradigm 11SE fronts. A Paradigm LCR350 center and a Paradigm PS1000 sub. It''s all powered by a Denon AVR2800 reciever. I couldn''t ask for a better and affordable home theater system. Before I bought the Mini Monitors, I had Paradigm Titans for rears and there was always the sense that something was missing in my sound field. After blowing one of the drivers in one of my Titans I was faced with the dilemma of replacing the driver or buying a new set of speakers. I went to my local Paradigm dealer and asked for his professional advice on what I should do. Of course he suggested that I should attempt to timbre match my fronts and have a speaker that could handle the soundbursts that my Denon will give while watching action movies. It was an easy sell. I wanted to upgrade the rears for two years. I was totally amazed at the clarity and the tight bass that these little beauties gave. Now that they are broken in these babies perform. My sound stage is crystal clear. I was watching a movie with my woman and she ducked when a progectile flew from behind her (in the movie of course), scared the crap out of her! I won''t be thinking about changing this setup for along time. Anyways these speakers are an absolute plus to my system.

Similar Products Used:

Pradigm Titans, Sound Dynamic Cinemax

they fill a medium sized room very easily. clarity, value, and the fact you reach a new level of sound that you wouldn''''t with speakers that are more expensive.

not a good match with the 170 for music.

to be more accurate i paid 400 cdn taxes included. i just wanted to add to the already great reviews these speakers have received. these things are absolutely incredible. although i do believe there are other quality speakers in this price range (ie PSB and klipsch) i heard all of them and finally decided on the paradigms because they give you more for the money. also i really believe that the others did not reach the level of clarity that the minis did. on another another note i am not completely satisfied with the mini cc170 combo i have right now. i am convinced that they give out a distinctly different sound and i am going to put the 170 as a rear center and put a 370 as a front. for ht there is absolutely no problem but for music you are way better off with 2 channels. (my dealer told me that this is true whenever listenning to cds that were specifically designed for two channels

Similar Products Used:

i upgraded from satellites which obviously do not compare

Everything but very deep bass. ,

Bigger than the name _Mini_Monitor implies..

Not much to add. Mine sound fine a mere 9" from the back wall in a small room. Definitely don''t want them any closer than that. Nice tight bass, crystal clear, open sound. Sounded great driven by a 20 wpc NAD 7020 receiver. Recently borrowed a Forte Model 1 Amp, and the improvement was noticeable. These deserve the best electronics you can get to drive them.d

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Atoms, ADS L-710s, Polk RT800s.

EXTREMELY affordable, spine-tingling accuracy. Sound like they''re 3X bigger than they are, and the depth is breathtaking on Enya, Maren Ord, Stone Roses, ... well, all the music I''ve thrown at them. Movies bring out an incredible ability to throw sound where it doesn''t seem possible. Love. Joy.

My knees. I wish only that I could''ve got these sooner, but now I have the 5''s to look forward to, as well.

Well, what can I say. I love ''em!! I auditioned these a couple months back, and jumped at the opportunity to buy them when it was financially feasable. My system consists of all Paradigm speakers: Titans, Micros, a CC-150, and a passive Paradigm sub on it''s own amp. I also have Aura bass engines on my couch - very sweet HT effect! The Minis are taking place of the Titans for now, but will be moved to the rear when I can afford the Monitor 5''s I have my ears on. My receiver is a Yamaha RX-V496, with a Panasonic DVD-RV30 and PV-S9670 S-VHS machine providing signals through hadmade cables (mostly HT use - but I do feed CD''s and vinyl through, too) oh yeah: Sony PS-T25 turntable. (mmmmmm . . .turntable) Anywho, I''m lovin'' the Paradigms. I have been exposed to many different speakers in my short life, and the Para''s are my fav''s in my price range (which I would be willing to artifially extend if it were worthwhile - it just isn''t necessary with Para''s so easily accessable!) Still waiting for them to break in, but the pair I auditioned were broken in already, so I know the elation i''m in for!

Similar Products Used:

Other Paradigm (see above), Sony, Yamaha, Tannoy, Energy, A/D/S, Alison, blah, blah, blah. The Alison''s were my friend''s (very nice), the Tannoys were missing something, the Sony''s were underwhelmi