sound quality for the price

none

These babies are a great sounding speaker, the highs are clean,
the midrange is true, and the bass is tight . You can't go wrong with
the Monitor 3's.

overall : great quality , price and sound at $ 350-450 cdn.

Similar Products Used:

PSB

MISSION:To purchase a entry level ($1000-$1200) HT system. I needed to buy a A/V Dolby Pro Digital Receiver, CD Player and some upgradeable speakers that may serve as rears sometime in the near future.Go to it Erogenous!!
PLAN: Well, I first managed to find some half decent hi-fi shops...I don't mean Future Shop or Radio Shack either. Take the time to find a good hi-fi shop, where you can rely on them for help, advice and most of all the balls for you to crank the volume. My hunt ended at Kromer Radio....and Frank, the salesman with the biggest coglion's any customer can wish for. If you need honest advice, talk to Frank.
We listened to Klipsch 3.1, Boston's Cr-9, Paradigm Phantom, Paradigm monitor 3's. I also auditioned some PSB 400i, 500i, Dahlquist (can't remember the model again)and Tannoy M2. Let's get one thing straight....speakers are VERY subjective, and my opinions may not be shared with other viewers/listeners. I listen to everything:- alternative, classic, hard core heavy metal, hip-hop, jazz, R+B, latin (basically I'm a very diversified type of guy...chics like that!).
Drum roll please.....Now this is how I felt the above speakers sounded like, I even rated them for anyone who actually gives a sh** to what I'm writing.
Klipsch 3.1- well rounded speaker, although their midrange isn't as evident as
others I tested. nice looking speaker. 8 out of 10
Boston Cr-9- another good looking speaker, altough their sound is too crispy for my likes. It needs a bit more bass to have a complete Hz range. (7.5 out of 10)
Paradigm Phantom- Floor standing speaker, it had a muddy, almost muffled sound to them. Mid is indistiguishable, and bass is also unclear. (7 out of 10)
PSB 400i- Nice sounding speaker although their soundstage is lacking, and if you're not listening to them in the right spot...GOOD LUCK!. I also felt the quality of the "box" was lacking. I saw some varnish runoff on the exterior...C'mon PSB guys....remember THIN coats! (7.5 out of 10)
PSB 500i- Really nice sounding speaker but the bass was a bit too deep and profound for my listening tastes. The PSB guys need to make a "450i" i.e blend the qualities of the 400i and the 500i into one....then they'll have a great little speaker on their hands (8 out of 10)
I am not going to give you my listening impressions on the Dahlquist, just because I can't remember the model #, and it may be unfair to the unfortunate few who have bought this speaker.
Tannoy M2- I don't about their modelling numbers (M2, M3 etc) Is this a speaker or a BMW? Anyway, this is a half-decent speaker, comparable to the PSB 400i, but I also felt thier soundstage wasn't enough to fill up a half decent sized living room. It'll probably sound good if your listening area is about 8 X 8 or maybe if you want a kick-ass garage system (7.5 out of 10)
I'll leave my best for last.....

I chose the Paradigm Monitor 3's for the following reasons: the had a great overall sound, with sufficient sound stage that if I'm sitting off to the right of these puppies, I can feel confident enough that the sound is honest. I enjoyed their bass, which is adequate to my listening tastes. I also like the fact that you can remove the front grill from the speakers...somehow I recognize the sound difference with the grills on & off....must be my acute hearing sense...or my ergoneous powers??? And at $400 Cdn, you really can't beat the performance/value of these speakers. Make sure you get yourself some half-decent stands for them. (9 out of 10)

By the way, I also bought a Yamaha Dolby Pro Logic Digital RXV-495 ($440) and a Yamaha CDC575 ($225) to complete my MISSION. Personally, you can't beat Yamaha for bang for the dollar.

Next mission please!!

I recently purchased the Monitor 3 after all the review that I have read and I agree: These are the best speakers in this price range. I had Infinity SM 65s for the past 5 years and although they have served me well, it was time to get something better. After much research it was between these and the B&W 602. I saw that they got similar reviews and are priced similarly as well. The Monitor 3's were my winner, hands down. Cleaner and crisper highs, stronger bass, and it handled a wider variety of music better as well. Combined with my Infinity HPS-250, my PlayStation has now come out of the closet and I am enjoying the games with a renewed audio passion. Knockout Kings is the bomb as you can feel each painful shot ring and rumble clearly. Get them now and save yourself some $$ so can spend it on your significant other and their candy asses.

These speakers are excellent! As a college student I wanted speakers that sound good without cleaning out my bank account. I ran across the Paradigm Monitor 3's for $350. The sound is really anazing. The speakers put out the cleanest sound I've heard in a while! The bass is good, but it's easy to overpower the speakers. Take the time to listen to these!

Lots of bass and clear sound.

Diaphraghm melts very easily (had to get a circuit breaker put in)

I am only a teenager, and I think after working for the summer I spent my first $450 (Canadian) very well. I have my speakers hooked up with an old pioneer amp and they still sound great. When I borrowed my uncles $2000 reciever it sounded amazing. The only problem I have had is the diaphragm kept melted (2 times), but both times paradigm replaced it free of charge (it was my fault that it melted).

GREAT SPEAKER! I'VE OWNED PARADIGMS FOR YEARS, THESE RIVAL ALL COMERS AT THEIR PRICE POINT. Compare to B&W, Boston, NHT, definitive, etc. they win hands down. I didn't include klipsch and other like Cerwin Vega, because if purchase these your simply deaf, and you don't deserve a good speaker. The B&W 602 has nothiing sonically or soundstaging wise on the M3

The Paradigms Monitor speakers are superb. Clean, tight sound, with tight bass and wonderful highs. I compared them to Boston and Definitive Technologies, and while these two are also great speakers, the Paradigms have them beat when it comes to VALUE. They are well-constructed, good looking and very fine speakers.

I don't care for these speakers. I have had mine for two years now and have almost stopped listening to music.
I am now in the market for a better speaker. I feel both Mission and B&W have better models in the price range.

The highs are vague with to much enfasis around and above the cross over frequency for my taste. There is a lack of dynamics plus tonal enfasis in the mids. The bass lags, is ragged, and is hard to fix by positioning due to the rear port.

I have tried the speakers with several higher quality recivers. I have a Luxman rated at 55 wrms per channel with high currant capability.

I have been listening to music for many years and throughmany great speakers such as Polk audio Klipch Boston acoustics
Bose,JBL,B&W etc.but the Paradigm especially the reference
series tops them all.I say its one of the finest sounding
loud speakers to hit the market today including price value.

I would like to repost my comments about the Monitor 3 speakers. I recently bought a new amp - a Marantz PM-68, and I would like to upgrade my rating to 5 stars! These speakers ROCK with this amp. I can push these speakers, and they have yet to break loose! The sound is phenomenal, and the quality is outstanding. I would highly recommend these speakers.