I've had the monitor 5 for some time now. I got them for $400. I originally planned on getting the mini-monitors but with stands they would have costs same anyway. For anyone thinking about getting the mini-monitors as fronts I would suggest looking at the Monitor 5's once you figure in the cost of speaker stands the price difference isnt' that much. And you get a nicer looking, better sounding speaker too. I have mine coupled with a Yamaha RX-V992 reciever and a PS-1000 sub. It all sounds very nice. A sub isn't acutally all that necessary, but it is nice for effects watching a movie. The speakers on their own handle bass rather well. At rather loud volumes though the bass quality will go down, as to be expected with speakers of that size. But once adjusted with the subwoofer they are flawless.

Timbral Balance, Imaging, depth, soundstage

Low end a little weak with over-bearing music

These are the epitome of the "bang for the buck" class of audiophile speakers. I tested everything out there for the same price, and walked away amazed everytime I auditioned the monitor 5's. Breathtaking sound stage and dynamics that put speakers three times its' price to shame. If you want good sound buy something cheaper, if you want paradigm sound pay the little extra and get the monitor 5's.

Similar Products Used:

NONE

Price, Sound quality - especially bass

none so far

Since these incredible speakers are made in Canada, they are a bargain here. In the States, they cost 50% more and are still worth the money, win awards, and sound better than anything in their price range. I have them hooked up to my NAD T760 and use the CC350 as a center channel and the pdr10 subwoofer. One of the best things about the monitor system is that you can mix and match the speakers to suit your needs. In a smaller room I might have chosen to go with the mini monitors for my front channels, or the cc170 center channel speaker which is smaller.
The sound is crisp and full - my only problem is that I'm in an appartment and my neighbours don't like the noise.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 602, Monitor Audio (Mercury 2), Tannoy

quality for the price

No "punchy" bass

Very happy with this product! Fair price. Compared favorably to others at much higher prices.

Similar Products Used:

compared to JBL, Yamaha, Boston Acoustics

Great midrange and highs. Bass better than some cheap subs.

Bass - but it doesn't matter if you have a good sub

Great sounding speaker for the price I paid. I got them for around $460 with tax which isn't that special but I'm happy. I was amazed at the clarity and detail that these speakers can produce for music. I don't have my CC-350 yet so I can't comment much on imaging and panning with HT. They do however sound great in stereo mode when watching TV. If you want great overpowering bass from your floorstanding speakers then you won't like these but for those who have a sub (or will be getting one) these speakers are excellent.

Very smooth highs, crystal clear midrange, excellent mid-tweeter transition

Low bass (It's a 6.5", what do you expect?)

Excellent speaker. I got mine for $450 CDN, I was going to go with the smaller mini-monitor or monitor 3 but apparantly this model is being phased out so I got it at pretty much the same price as the 3. I have had it for a short period of time now but I am already very impressed at the clarity of this speaker, especially the upper mids and highs. Midrange frequency response is ruler flat in-room and the imaging is well above average for this price range.

The only real shortcomings are moderate power handling and not an incredible bass output (-3db point is around 40Hz) in my room. Of course, you have to expect this with a 6.5" driver so I purchased it knowing I was going to pair it with a DIY sub I am working on. All in all an excellent value for the money.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Alpha Series

Good price, clear sounding speaker

A little short on bass, spike wouldnt fit in one speaker

I have had these speakers for around 4 months now and I bought the Monitor 5 basically by reading the posts mentioned here. I paid $450 Canadian for them and wouldn't hesitate to pay for them again. They sound very clear and crisp to both home theatre and for my music choices (basically rap/hip-hop). For $500 you cant go wrong with these, there is very little distortion when the volume is raised to over 100 dbs.

One of the downsides to them is a lack of bass, which is evident when playing any rap album. But I knew this going into purchasing them so I bought the ps1000 for any lfe signals. For another $100 you can buy the Monitor 7 series, which has a sub built into them, but if you already have a sub, you dont really need to pay the extra $100. Another compaint I have about them is that one of the spikes that go into the base of the speaker would not go in. The grooves were all stripped and filled in with some sort of material. So I have one speaker with them in it and the other with no spikes.

In review they are a very good, economical speaker that sound very good in both a home theatre environment and in a music environment. I give 5 for value rating as they are quite inexpensive to buy but a 4 for overall rating as they above mentioned downfalls, and plus there are better speakers out there, but at a lot more money.

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood