Paradigm Reference Studio 20 Floorstanding Speakers

Paradigm Reference Studio 20 Floorstanding Speakers 

USER REVIEWS

Showing 91-100 of 126  
[Jul 27, 1999]
Alex Yang
an Audio Enthusiast

Awesome speakers, worth every penny. Plus, they blend really well with my Paradigm PS-1000 sub. Def. a 5 star rating!!!!

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Aug 14, 1999]
Paul
an Audio Enthusiast

Excellent bookshelf speakers blew away equivalent/more expensive NHT's and B&W's. Studio 20's delivered a richer, more full, smooth sound with better bass performance than either the NHTs or B&Ws. Excellent soundstage and imaging for HT or stereo listening. For HT, I had matched with Studio CC-450 to create a seamless, large soundstage. I have since moved the Studio 20s to another room for stereo listening and have replaced them in my HT with Reference Studio 60's. Studio 20's are great speakers delivering a great sound at a great price.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Oct 14, 1999]
Anak
Audio Enthusiast

When I first listened to them, it was hard to believe that they were bookshelf speakers. Excellent soundstage for its size, great for home theater, bass is decent (I live in an apartment). Best of all, I paid for $400 the pair.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Nov 13, 1999]
Matthew Anderson
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Very good detail. Smooth sound and never tiring. Full rich bass with good clean treble. Biwirable.

Weakness:

Bass can be boomy if placed too near the wall.

These speakers sound very nice with exceptional detail. This is what I like about them the most. They reveal so much detail in your music, espically on well recorded CDs. They can reproduce with such great clarity and smoothness. I have never had a problem with any harshness even with just having used them for a little over a week now. They are breaking in very well. These are version 1 and I will be getting version 2 for the fronts and then move these to the surrounds. I will also be getting the Studio CC along with some new speaker cable-Audioquest CV-4. The bass is very full and robust and I will be birwiring them to see if I can improve the definition in the bass. I have had a little bit of boominess with them but this has been corrected some by turning the bass control down a bit on my receiver and moving them out a little more from the wall. I am very satisfied overall with these and can't wait to get my full setup. Paradigm makes a great product and I had the Titans before these which were very good but the Ref.20s are really a cut above. Just listen to them and see. My setup is as follows:

Fronts:Ref.20's
Center:Ref. Studio CC-coming soon
Surrounds: Ref 20's-coming soon
Sub-Paradigm PS-1000
Receiver: Yamaha RX-V795
DVD player: Pioneer DV-414
VCR: Proscan PSVR-70
TV: Proscan-27"

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Titans and CC-170. PS-1000 sub

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 09, 2000]
Martin
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Price, Looks, Mids and Highs

Weakness:

None

These are an all-around wonderfully sounding speaker. The highs are clear, the mids are well defined and the bass is surprisingly adequate from speakers of this size. I auditioned several pairs of bookshelf speakers from the $300 to $2000 price range (just to get an idea of what was out there and narrow down my price range).

Of all of the speakers I listened to, the only ones that impressed me as much as the Studio 20s were the Dynaudio Audience 50s and the B&W 805s. The Dynaudios had a more laid back sound than the Studio 20s, but I actually prefer the more forward sound of the Studio 20s. I must admit, I think the Dynaudios did a bit better job with imaging than the Paradigms, not to say that they don't image well, just that the Dynaudios did it better.

The B&W Nautilus 805s, at around $1600 a pair, sounded wonderful, but not for the money. Especially since I was able to get the Paradigms for $550 with the light cherry finish.

I am currently using an 8 year old Denon receiver and an even older Denon CD player (probably one of the first ones ever made!), but plan to upgrade both pieces of electronics now that I have purchased these speakers. I have them bi-wired with DH Labs Silver Sonic wires and have conducted blinded tests comparing the DH Labs with and without bi-wiring. There is a subtle, but noticable improvement with the bi-wiring, primarily in the higher frequencies. The sound was clearer and more open overall with the bi-wiring.

Overall, these are a great speaker... now that I've listened to them for over a month, they sound even better... a particularly favorite track is "Fragile" by Sting... the acoustic guitar and his voice sound magnificent... give these speakers a try... and look around, I've found that prices do vary and many stores will sell you demos at a good price too.

Similar Products Used:

B&W DM602 and CDM 1 and Nautilus 805, Linn Tukan, Dynaudio Audience 50, NHT 1.5, PSB Image 2B and a few other comparable bookshelf speakers.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 16, 2000]
John Ross
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Bass, Mids, Highs, Detail&Clarity, Build Quality, $Value$

Weakness:

None considering the price

My review is based on an in-home audition (side by side) of the Paradigm Monitor 3, B&W DM602, and the S20. Well, I have wanted to audition all three this way for quite some time now and finally, I have the chance. My supsicion is confirmed, the S20 blows them all away (well I am hyping a bit).

All three were sourced from a Sony DVP 600D feeding a Sony DA90ESG AV/Receiver pre-amped out to a NAD THX2700 (150x2). All, fairly good quality mid-fi components in my opinion. All music types and recordings were reviewed including Jazz, Blues, Classical, and of course ROCK. CD quality ranged from early 80s recordings to 1999 HDCD to Chesky Classicals.

To my surprise, both Paradigm models were in a different class with respect to bass response (tighter, deeper and just plain more enjoyable to listen too) than the B&W. I certainly didn't expect that after reading all the reviews of the DM602 on this board.

The Monitor 3 fell behind the B&W and S20 when it came to mid and highs. The clarity and detail (although good) wasn't there when compared to the other two. Cymbal crashes sounded more tin-canish. I hear small nuances and other neat little things in the mid-range and highs when listening to the B&W and S20 that I struggle to hear through the Monitor 3. Not sure what the specs say, but the B&W did seem a bit more efficient than both Paradigm models (certainly more than the Monitor 3).

The mids and highs of the 602 and S20 are surprising similar with respect to detail and clarity. I guess to sum it up, the Paradigm is a little sweeter and less fatiquing (I never thought I would say that about a Paradigm tweeter) than the B&W. The B&W is bright. Although, I could certainly live with both. It would be interesting to hear the mids and highs of the B&W coupled with the bass response of either Paradigm.

To summarize, my choices based on sound alone has to be:
(1) Paradigm S20
(2) B&W DM 602
(3) Paradigm Monitor 3

If the dollars saved are of equal importance my choices are:

(1) Paradigm S20
(2) Paradigm Monitor 3
(3) B&W DM 602

Go ahead and spend the extra $100 to $150 to get the S20 over the Monitor 3. You will be glad you did. I was very surprised to hear the little 6 1/2 mid-bass drivers of the S20 outperform the 8" woofers of the Monitor 3.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Monitor 3, B&W DM602

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 12, 1999]
Kip Hardina
an Audio Enthusiast

I have my Studio 20's matched with a Definitive Tech. PF15TL subwoofer and absolutely love this setup.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Mar 06, 1997]
Sunil Patel
an Audio Enthusiast

I bought a pair of Studio 20s about 5 months ago. They are truely a great pair of bookshelf speakers. They deliver a very flat off axis response and a very impressive soundstage for its price. Many of my friends have been quite amazed that small bookshelfs like these can put out the type of sound that it does. Before I bought these I was looking at B&W 601s, but the Paradigms had clearer warmer mid-range and better soundstage. The bass is very good for the size and it is enough to shake the floors of my apartment. These little guys are also very fast, they keep up with any combination of beats that you throw at it, and the build quilty is amazing. Paradigm has made a truly increadible high performance bookshelf. I enjoy them more and more everytime I sit down to listen to them. At the price that I got them they are truly the BEST all round bookshelf.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
[Dec 28, 1999]
Jerome M. Lasker
Audio Enthusiast

Weakness:

Somewhat long break-in period, positioning

These are truly great speakers - the Studio 20s sound as smooth as silk, are almost never harsh, and bring out exceptional detail in all of the music I listen to, especially from the good (HDCD) recordings. I’ve had them for nearly one month now, and the speakers are just about broken in. They were originally wired with classic Monster cable, but I recently switched to DH Labs Silver Sonic T-14, which gave a much clearer, more revealing, and very smooth, liquid sound. DH Labs BL-1 Series II interconnects further improved the accuracy and soundstage openness of the speakers.

My audio upgrade plans included examining other reference-type monitor speakers in the same price range, including the Platinum Audio Studio 1, Dynaudio Audience 50, and KEF RDM One. However, with sound this great from the Paradigms, who needs the potential frustration/confusion of trying to compare different speakers at various retailers. Besides, the Studio 20s are also quite nice to look at, especially when mounted on the matching Premier J-60 stands (good for the WAF).

My setup is as follows:

Fronts: Studio 20s
Center: Energy e:XL-C
Surrounds: Mission 77ds
Subwoofer Paradigm PS-1000
Receiver: Denon AVR-85 (for center and surround channels)
Amp: Denon POA-2200 (200 W/channel for fronts)
DVD/CD: Toshiba SD-4109X

Similar Products Used:

Nothing of this calibre

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 16, 1998]
Jeff

Love my 'Dimes! I had to work with the tuning a bit. Careful placement and toe-in makes a big difference too. I have a pretty boomy living room, and they didn't sound right for some reason unless played at higher volume levels (concurring with What Hi-Fi's opinion)....worked at it for awhile. I ended up putting open-cell foam plugs (from B&W 603) fully into the ports. I love bass, but hate it when it's boomy and cloudy. The plugs really lightened it where it was too heavy, while letting the lower details shine. I also found with the plugs that the midrange now really came though very
I'm not afraid of utilizing tone controls...bottom line is do they make it sound better or worse? I tipped the treble down a hair and the bass to 11 o'clock.. Bass is now very controlled, even, and extended. Treble, just enough edge, and the midrange sounds beautifully uncolored. They also now sound very satisfying at all volume levels, including very soft.

One further tweak I included was the "$1.20 Tweak" spoken of in Stereophile a few months back. They DO open up the imaging further, no doubt. Try all quarters, including using a quarter in the center (instead of a dime) to account for depth of grill. On all quarters, place their front edge even with grills; one in center, and the corners about 2/5ths over the side edge. Try it out and see what you think.

System (a very satisfying performance mid-fi/theatre/convenience value):
2 Paradigm Studio Reference 20
Sanus Reference 24" Stands
2 Paradigm Atoms, used as occasional rear fill in surround and theatre modes.
Denon AVR 2400 AV Receiver
Denon DCM 460 CD
Audioquest Quartz ICs, CD to Receiver (added big detail)
Wireworld Atlantis Bi-wire speaker cable (smooth, a little bass heavy?)

Rating for sound: 4 stars. Rating for price: 5 stars.

My cables let a ton of bass through, so that could be part of the reason I needed some tuning. Whatever, it paid off very well. Superb sound for the money. One thing that makes me a Paradigm fan (besides excellent value!) is how natural and realistic they sound. Add to that great imaging and they are winners.

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
Showing 91-100 of 126  

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