Sound New cabinet Improved crossover

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I've been very pleased with the Monitor 7's v2. Whether for movies or music, these speakers do a superb job. These speakers produce crystal-clear highs, solid mid's and the bass is tight. The crossover was improved from the version 1's and the cabinet is taller and better built.

Similar Products Used:

Yamaha, Pioneer, Mission, Paradigm Monitor v1's

Excellent reproduction of any musical or home theater source. These speakers do what a good speaker is supposed to do: provide a flat response across the audible range (but I seriously recommend that you make sure to drive them with an ample power source [amp or receiver]). With a proper source driving them, they are efficient and ''''flat'''' regardless of whether you''''re listening at high or low volume. That’s why the use of an equalizer is only adding distortion to the signals to compensate for speakers which are not flat (or an amplifier/receiver with cheaper components).

I''''m sure you could find better speakers by paying much more $$$. A low current power source (receiver) will not have the *punch* to drive these and make them sound as they are intended.

Configuration (to let you compare reviews and equipment): ------------- (Onkyo) Integra DTR-6 receiver Onkyo DV-C501 5-disc DVD player Pioneer CLD-D505 Laserdisc player Numark TT-100 Turntable Paradigm monitor 7 v2 main L/R Paradigm CC-170 center KLH model 970A rear L/R Yamaha YST-SW60 active subwoofer Liberty, Acoustic Research (AR) Pro and Monster Cable interconnects medium grade Monster Cable speaker wires After setting up the room, and playing with placement and room layout for a month (which served as time to break-in the speakers), I was able to really just sit back, relax and enjoy the speakers. I’m sure that self-proclaimed audiophiles have technical means of testing imaging and soundstage (on/off axis measurements?), but I prefer to use my ears and appreciate the music. Well mastered recordings/CDs sound wonderful on these speakers in stereo. The Onkyo/Integra receiver has the nice feature of WRAT (their acronym for Wide Range Amplifier Technology) which delivers the music as intended to the speaker. A favorite test disc of mine is the ‘Immortal Beloved’ soundtrack. All the instruments sound life-like and the tracks range from quiet to crescendo. For music listening, I definitely prefer the direct mode which only drives the two channels (not even the subwoofer is used). For vocals, I love to listen to Nina Simone singing ‘Sinnerman’ and Willie Dixon on his ‘I am the Blues’ CD. Closing your eyes, relaxing, and listening to these speakers on any volume is really a treat. It becomes very difficult to pinpoint ‘where the sound is coming from’, and the sound envelopes you (yes, even in two channel mode). This is my version of ‘testing the soundstage’ of the speakers (but I don’t use any SPL meters to do the test, just my ears with my eyes closed). For home theater, these speakers perform very well. With DD or DTS 5.1 soundtracks, the set of Paradigm speakers across the front manage to move sound effects seamlessly from channel to channel. Dialog comes across clearly and the speakers are matched well. Note: The Paradigm CC-370 s supposed to be the ‘matched’ center channel speaker for the monitor 7s, but I feel the slightly less costly CC-170 is timbre matched well to the 7s also (and the speaker placement is easier than the CC-370, especially if you don’t have a big screen television/monitor). The powered subwoofer does help you ‘feel’ t

Similar Products Used:

Mission, Pioneer, Cambridge Soundworks (sub/sat). Also, tried out Totem, Klipsch, and Celestion side-by-side at the store.

- Good sound for playing both music and movies. - They are a lot of speaker for a little price.

- A little bright

First of all I owe my Monitor 7’s an apology! Why you ask? Because I bought these speakers less than a month ago, and I was ready to trade up to the Monitor 11 or even the Studio 100! Then something wonderful happened. I discovered the world of power amps. I hooked my 7’s to a Rotel 1080 power amp and they came to life. I hear detail in both music and movie soundtracks that I never had before. I have a large room and filling it with clear crisp sound is hard but monitor 7’s do a very nice job. Don’t get me wrong I probably will upgrade to the monitor 11 or the studio 100, but it will be because I’m trying to take my home theater to the next level. At this price I don’t think you can find a better speaker that the monitor 7’s.

Crystal clear highs,excellent mids,and punchy bass.

Needs to be equalized to get full potential.

When auditioning these speakers I thought the moniter 9''''s sounded better. With the addition of a sub however, the 9''''s sounded boomy. So I chose the monitor 7''''s. I didn''''t bi-wire them at first. A week later, I bi-wired them and noticed more sound coming out of the bottom speaker.After about a month, I took out the center channel speaker, and immediatly noticed more high end. Finally, after almost 2 months I thought I''''d try them with the equalizer on. I set the crossover frequencies for the tweeter at 2.0 khz, the Mids at 3.9 khz and the bass at 99 hz, Wow!! It now pumps out the bass, and the highs are crystal clear, and envelopes you in sound. I''''m considering getting monitor 5''''s for rears,to balance the soundfield.

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Clarity and price. There is no better value.

They are so clean, you can really tell the difference between a poorly recorded CD and a well recorded piece. If anything, they can be a bit bright for the ears but I suspect it''s just a testament to the accuracy of the speaker.

I made the mistake of selling off my giant old Kenwood speakers to downsize. If you''re married, you''ll under stand. Mistake number two was the illusion that a Sony home theatre system 500 series would fill the void. There just wasn''t enough speaker there to fill my large family room (30 x 40). I realized I would have to start over. I auditoned nine sets of speakers including Klipsch, Pro Tech, PSB and Cerwin Vega. I thought the Pro Tech and the PSBs were impressive, but after hearing the Paradigm Monitor 7, I realized that they were an amazing value and certainly in the same league as the PSBs and Pro Techs. I went with the Monitor 7s over the Monitor 3s I listened to because I wanted a bit more punch on the lower end. As I put together my home theatre system, I had illusions that I would not need a subwoofer. It''s very hard to find a main speaker with enough thump, the assumption being that everyone is going to get a sub anyway. I wanted to stay within a budget so I had to put the system together piece by piece. The reciever was next. I listened to Onkyo, Denon, Harmon Karden, Pioneer and Yamaha. I suppose if you were really tight on money you could do quite well with a Pioneer 710 and some Cerwin Vegas. Really a lot of sound for the money, but not in the class I was hoping to achieve (within a budget). My 10 year-old 100 watts per channel Technics receiver had no video functions and not enough power to do the Paradigms justice. You need the power to push them and you need to know that watts per channel rating by different companies is very misleading. I thought the warmest sound came from Harmon Karden but the one in my budget had only 40 watts per channel and I just didn''t believe there was enough punch to push the Paradigms cleanly. I listened to a new Yamaha 5-channel x 80w stereo RX-V520 on the very same Paradigms and it was very good. Not great. I spotted a closeout floor model, a RX-V995. 100wpc Wow! it made the Paradigms just sing. Plenty of power and very close in sound to the HK. I picked up a used pair of Monitor 3s for $295 and later filled out the system with a CC370 center speaker for $250 and a PS 1000 sub for $350. The center speaker is crucial for home theatre so don''t skrimp! The PS 10 really fills the room with a rich low end. I just keeps sounding better. Go Paradigm!

Similar Products Used:

Kenwood, Bose, Jensen, Pioneer speakers

Clean sound but not overly bright. Excellent base extension. Superwide soundstage. Outrageous value.

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These speakers are part of a 5.1 surround system. They accompany the CC370 center, ADP370 surrounds, and PW2200 sub. What a system they make. The sound is so clean. Much better than any movie theater can produce. In 2 channel mode, the imaging and soundstage are expansive. I often find myself checking the center speaker to see if there''s anything coming from it. The highs are clean but not overly crisp. The mid range has amazing presence. And the lows...subwoofer is optional on CDs. It covers the full range extremely well.

Similar Products Used:

Infinity RS4

natural

cold sounding

Anyone tried bi-amplifying these? These speakers can be loud on cheap amps, but they expose all hardware faults dammit. Cheap cables, no bi-amplification... no amperage. It will all come back and bite you in the ass. Someone suggested driving tweeters with tube amp(s)... this will definetly make a difference. Digital amps sound too chilly on these speakers. And oh my god. crossover on this thing is piss poor. Other than that speaker is rigid and uncoloured ... very good party speaker as these have wide dispersion... have 4 of these, it will be like having singer in your living room.... also you may want to consider appartment/house with higher/dampened ceilings... Natural sounding, you get what you pay for. Better amp/tube amp will definetly improve situation. Digital should be fine for woofers. And yes these speaker have alot of bass, when it is in the recording these speakers do not color the sound... period... Anyone tried to biamplify these babies? cheers.

Similar Products Used:

sony, curtis

Clean upper treble and mids. Wonderful imaging and crisp sound reproduction for the price. It's a steal at $600 and beats some top B&W.

Bass is clean but not full. Lacking in this capacity. Needs a subwoofer.

These speakers rock. The monitor 7s are a great value and formidable competitors to some more pricey B&Ws. Since test setup makes a huge difference, here's mine:

Mains: Paradigm Monitor 7s
Rears: Monitor 3s
Center: Monitor CC370 Center
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V800
DVD/CD: Toshiba 5-Disc changer
7 guage speaker wire all around

No subwoofer. That's the first thing not on my list. And it's the first thing I noticed with my all-Paradigm system. The bass sucks...except in their best monitor and reference studio speakers that come with powered subwoofers. I will be adding one soon. However, the all-digital yamaha receiver makes these 120 Watt speakers sing. Movies are a joy to watch. The Matrix sounds better on this system than I've ever heard it except at the Chicago Navy Pier IMAX theatre.

Detail is incredible, not only in movies, but also in music. I run an optical cable to the receiver from the toshiba, using the yamaha's superior d/a converter output to the speakers. I hear things I would only otherwise notice on my Grado SR-225 headphones. These speakers which come with a 5 year warranty have no real weaknesses in my book when used in a system with adequate bass supplement.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM604V2; Paradigm Mini Monitors, monitor 3s; phase tech

Clean, clean sound with full lush mids. Highs are sharp but not tiring. Bass is good but I do find better with subwoofer

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This is a supplement to my review below. I have now had these speakers for a week with untold number of hours on them and they continue to impress me.Had the opportunity to watch a few movies over the weekend and it looks like these speakers have found a permanent home as full time fronts. Originaly they were to be used for music only and my Paradigm mini monitors would be used for home theatre. With the Monitor 7's as my fronts and my mini monitors without a home I now have to sell my wife on the plan to buy a Denon 3802 so my Paradigm ADP 170's can go to the side walls and my Mini Monitors can be the new surrounds for 6.1 as well DVD Audio. Good thing Christmas is nearing. Do yourself a favour, if you are on the market for an excellent multi purpose speaker the 7's have to be the logical choice.

Highs, mids, upper bass, imaging, and clarity. Great Engineering and solid cases. Very stringent factory testing.

May not have a dealer in your area. Not really sold online.

I've been searching for speakers for about three years. I had never heard a pair of Paradigm speakers before. I had many surprises:

1) They are inexpensive for what you get ($600 +/- $50)
2) They sound like $4000 speaker systems
3) You don't have to buy the best (most expensive model to get your sound).

I listened to Monitor 9's (Big bass -- Good for people who like Heavy Metal and Hard Rock). I also listend to the Monitor 11's ($1000). They were great, but they lacked the crispness in the mids.

I was set to buy Acoustic Research AR1's (With a 15" 500Watt subwoffer in each speaker), but this changed my mind. I auditioned the speakers with Manheim Steamroller, Mike Oldfield, Nature Sounds, and a bunch of acoustic New Age. I listened in the store to each pair (Alpha's, Typhoons, Phantoms, Monitors 1-5, 7's, 9's and 11's.)

At $600pr these are a no brainer.

Similar Products Used:

None really. Perhaps some PSB or high end Boston Acoustic VR towers.