Excellent speaker for the money. This speaker has plenty of bass but balances it well with the treble and mid-range. I would recommend this speaker to anyone not looking to spend a lot of money but still wants quality.

Overall, a great speaker for the buck. I've had mine for going on three years, and I have yet to hear a speaker in anywhere near this price range that sounds as good. Good midrange sound, and the treble is amazing. The bass which can go very low is good, with some trouble handling heavy power loads, but this is to be expected for a value priced speaker with only an eight inch woofer. I have a few friends in the market for good speakers on a limited budget, and they are hooked on the Paradigm Phantoms from listining to mine. For under $300 these speakers can't be beaten. Way to go Paradigm!

sound for the money is ok but you can do better!

All I can say is these are great speakers for the money!

I just bought this great speaker from the Paradigm distributor here in the Philippines and noticed that the Phantom models we have here is different compared to the phantom on this website which is a floorstander. Tested a few paradigms and this one is the best pick...

Before finally decidind on these speakers, I listend to JBL 620s. AR 328PS. CV, I don't know why. Infinity RS-4 and RS-5, Paradigm Mini monitors, monitor 3's and 5's. I finally decided on this speaker. And when did I do this? About the minute I listened to it. i bought them for 350 new. They were by far superior in Mid's that all the non paradigms (besides the RS-5, they were close) The bass was deeper than the other Paradigms, and the mids and highs were nearly the same. For 350, this speaker is a steal, nice deep bass, Great mids and highs. Way better the Jbl or AR of a higher price. Better than other Paradigms that cost 150 more. If you are looking in the 400 and under range for a pair of speakers, buy these.

I've had these speakers now for about 2 weeks and am very pleased with their performance. I'm using it primarily in a home theatre setup (as fronts with a Yamaha AV receiver), but I've been going thru my CD collection also, and as most speaker reviewers seem to say "I'm hearing new things". The highs are crisp, there's plenty of bass (although having a Paradigm PDR-12 sub really helps), and the soundfield is much more expansive than what I was used to. I compared these with some NHT Super 2's (but not an A-B, unfortunately), and the Phantoms to me sounded just as good. With the difference in price, I was sold! I also applaud Paradigm's website for listing Fair Market Value prices for their speakers and recommended packages. Great sound (about 4.5 stars) and a great value (5 stars, easy).

A couple of months ago I purchased the Phantoms to go with my CC-170 Paradigm and Titans. They provide a seamless sound field when listening to HT and really come to life in DD 5.1 . When listening to music they provide a vibrant and to my ears, a nuetral range. I've heard some criticisms on these smallish floor models and I can only state that for what I gave at my local dealer here in town (under $300) there is NOTHING that can touch them. They do provide more bass, as they should, than my Titans do (which are great speakers also) and really shine as fronts. If you're an enthusiast then this line of Paradigms are exactly what your ears AND your wallet will appreciate. Five stars for value and quality.

5/25/99: I got it last week ($350). Excellent sound for the money if you pair with sub. Good starter speaker. Lacking bass. My next upgrade will be Monitor 9 ($ 650), got more bass. After that Studio 60 ($ 1200), for excellent sound and image. (I did test Bose 501 v ($518) and Boston ($699). My dicision was base on price and upgrade plan.). Where I bought my speaker, I can upgrade within a year. My setup were:
Video: Yamaha rxv 995, sony DVD,TV,VCR and Sat.
F: Phantom C: cc-170 S: Titan Sub: Marage (Excellent DD5.1 sound)

Audio: Yamaha rxv 850, Yamaha cd,tape and EQ.
F: Phantom (Great, need to tweak the EQ for better bass.)

i picked up a pair of phantoms for $330 locally, and am rather pleased with them. i was on a tight budget, and wanted a fuller range speake to replace the atoms i had up front. obviously, they aren't exactly lighting the world on fire for the price i paid, but i find them to be much like the rest of paradigm's performance line: extremely neutral sounding. for a near-full range speaker, i really don't think you can do any better at this price point. i agree with other comments here: paired with a sub, they sound even better. when i let my sub handle the very lowest frequencies, the phantoms blend perfectly, and really sound exquisite. one note with the phantoms, they do seem to have a real break in period. before i gave them about 50 hours of play, the bass wasn't as full as it is now.
perhaps if you're looking to pair with a sub at all times, a tighter sounding speaker at a similar price is the mini-monitor. but, they don't have the range of the phantoms, so it's a bit like comparing apples and oranges.