Imaging, finish, overall sound quality and performance for the price

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Spent months looking for the right home Theatre speakers. I thought I was sold On PSB until I heard the Paradigm Monitor series. I was about to close the deal when I asked the sales person for a sampling of the speakers in the other room....reference 60''s and Reference 20 for the rears. Within Seconds of listening to Pink Floyd I knew I needed to get a story together to tell the wife as I had already exceeded my HT budget. now I could not look at any less a speaker system. In the end I ended up with the rference 60''s Reference 20''s, CCstudio center chanel and a PW 2200 Sub. My ols system a Yamaha with JBL 630''s was great for its time (14 years ago) Against these speakers these main speakers there is a world of difference. The imaging is great. They sound magnificent when palying hard rock to Andrea Bocelli to Enya. I could not have bought a more pleasing speaker for my Music tastes. On the HT side well that''s much of the same these ROCK! Private Ryan never sounded like this in the movie theater. BTW if you are near Ottawa .....Bypass the other Paradigm retailers and go directly to Sound Advice they are by far the most pleasant to deal with in terms of sales staff and have the most competetive pricing in the area

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PSB, Ifinity, energy

accuracy, smooth

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All I can say is WOW. I have been saving for several months to purchase some
Paradigm Ref. 60's , the Center Channel and the ADP's to match it all. This
replaced a Bose surround sound system. Well, needless to say there is no
comparison. It was like replacing that little mono radio in old car with
modern gear. I managed to save a lot of money as well going to Canada with
the exchange rate on the dollar it made the trip well worth it. Now, I just
need to save a few more bucks for the Servo 15 and the system will be
complete.

Very neutral sound. Not placement critical. Great bass when used with a good amplifier. Reasonable size for the frequency range and output level.

Feet are a little difficult to adjust.

These are the best speakers I have heard in this price range and better than many costing far more. I auditioned speakers from Totem, Thiel, JM Labs PSB and B&W. Of course there were "differences" in sound quality between these brands. However, none "sounded" better to me than the 60's. I expect to keep these for a very long time. By the way the bass quality and range improved dramaticaly when I connected a Rotel RB-1080 amp between my reciever and the 60's. I almost don't need my sub-woofer (Sunfire Signature) except for listening to pipe organ.

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Speakerlab DAS-7. Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble, Electrovoice Patricians, KEF.

Clarity

Bass, on some recordings. But fine on most.

Bought my 60's a year and a half ago. Onkyo pre-amp,Audiosource Amp 2, Marantz CD67se, Musical Fidelity X-10D.
I just love the sound. Would like more bass on some recordings but I think that has more to do with the recording itself. (I'm torn about getting a sub) A friend added the MF X-10D to his system. I borrowed it and liked the sound so I added it. No big whoop about it I just like the way it made my system sound. I don't play at very high volume so I appreciate the sound I get from the 60's at low volume.

Great sound, solid construction, look terrific

Bass

These are great sounding speakers and with a solid sub like the Servo-15 there is nothing lacking. The rosewood finish is exceptional but it does add to the price. They definately deserve consideration at there price level. I have them hooked up to a Parasound HCA-2205AT amp, a B&K REF30 PRE/PRO, using Transparent Super speaker cables. They sound clear and bright with just the right amount of warmth listening to music and very dynamic for HT use.

Similar Products Used:

Studio CC, ADP-150, Servo 15

Smooth Sound, Clarity, Construction Quality, Beauty of Light Cherry Wood Finish

Cost of Light Cerry Wood Finish, Slow delivery time.

The Paradigms are my first set of real speakers and I went all out. While shopping for speakers, I was looking for a beautiful addition to my living room as well as great sound. Almost all the speakers that I saw were black until I found the Paradigm Reference speakers. The light cerry wood matched my furnishings perfectly. The additional cost of the cerry wood for the 60s ($1100 for black plus $350 for cerry wood) was a little hard to swallow but it fit the room. The only place I could place my main speakers is in the middle of the room so I purchaced the Studio 60s. At that time, I also bought a pair of Studio 20s for rear and a CC450 for center (What happened to them? Were they replaced by the Studio CC?). I have a Denon AVR 3200 to power these speakers. After listening to this system for a few months I aquired some more funds and further expanded by entertainment system. I bought an Adcom Amp. (5 ch. X 150 watts), another CC450 and another pair of Studio 20s. I wanted the Dipole speakers but I donot have proper walls to mount them and they did not come in cherry wood. I had to special order the Studio 20s because the dealer was out. It took Paradigm over 6 months to deliver them with several back orders. The dealer loaned me a pair of black Studio 80s to try and compensate. I liked their sound, but they blocked my view of the TV. I use 4 cannels of the Amp to power the twin centers and the Studio 60s. I use the Denon to power two of the 20s as surrounds and two of the 20s as mains. I spend most my time listening to my two Sony ES 200 disk CD changers and sometime find time to sit and watch a DVD. I have a Velodine subwoofer (250 watt) for the lower base in movies. My system is playing the CDs most the time, when ever I am at home.

Now you know my system and I will proceed with my review. These speakers play very well at low volumes for mellow back ground music, yet come to life when I blast old rock and roll. Blast is a harsh word and these spearkers are not harsh at all. I love to demo Yanni's North Shore of Matsushima at high volume. This song starts with a full on orchastra blast (there's that word again) that actually kocked my girl friend down. I still jump every time it hits. After that the saxiphones come in with many bells in the background. These speakers are very clear and you can here each instrument very cleanly. My girl friend listened to her favorite "Beatles" CDs on my system. She actually was able to understand some of the lyrics that she could not desipher before. She heard sounds in the background that she never heard before. Overall I am very happy with these Paradigm speakers and give them 5 stars. The value rating is knocked down a star because of the cost of the cerry wood and bad experience that I had with the long delivery time.

I'm not done yet. I just did an (master bedroom) addition to my house. I also remodeled my living room. I now have room for bigger speakers (say Studio 80s or 100s). I want to upgrade my living room system and move my old system components to the master bedroom. I am planning on purchacing the Denon AVR 5800 for the living room and move the AVR 3200 to the bedroom. I will buy another center channel speaker and move the 60s and the 20s and the Velodyne to my bedroom for a 5.1 system. I was thinking about buying a pair of Studio 80s for my mains and a pair of Studio 40s for the surrounds and a Servo-15 for the subwoofer. All in cherry wood. I will use my two CC450s for the center and my spare set of Studio 20s for the rears. I feel this will make a good 7.1 system. I am looking for constructive comments and advise. Can someone recommend a different or better configuration? I have not priced the Paradigm speakers lately.

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None

Clarity,realistic timbre from mids on up, imaging, detail, excellent and quite even dispersion, great build quality. Handle both music and theatre with equal aplomb.

Lack of dynamic power on bass. Poor internal wiring. Didn't find them all that much better than the excellent Reference 20 monitor. A little weak dynamically until they are turned up.

Realistic timber, detail, pace are very important to me. The Reference models seem to excell in this area. While the B&Ws sounded sweet in the mids--somewhat artificially to me, the Paradigms were clean, crisp, detailed, and fast.

With their hard dome tweeters, they are very sensitive to the electronics, as well as cable. One thing about this series is they respond very well to improvements in the rest of the system, while if you have weak links in your system, they will be very obvious and you could end up blaming the speakers!

Particularly sensitive it seemed was the digital source. Even upper mid-fi players such as Marantz 67se can sound harsh and a little wild. Installation of an MSB DAC made the speakers really shine and become much more listenable for longer periods of time, even when using a Denon theatre receiver for musical source. I've used Audio Refinement Complete and Creek 5350 amps. Best matched was the Creek--the Paradigms strengths were best revealed with a fast, detailed, clean, slightly warm, and punchy amp. I've heard Brystons are a good match, as would anything having those characteristics, but be careful of getting too bright with the amp or other equipment. Cable-wise, I've used Kimber--having tried all the braided speaker cables (brown, silver, blue), but it's just too zingy for the hard domes, and not full bodied and well rounded enough. I've had very good luck with the DH Labs Silver Sonic, as they reveal much high end detail and shimmer where the hard dome excells. They are very smooth at the upper frequencies as well, which these speakers need so they don't get tiring to listen to.

Construction is terrific in this price range. The cabinet work is almost incredible at this price, especially with the thicker veneered side models. Very solid sides and great internal bracing. Try rapping on the sides of the Monitor Audio floorstanders and you'll really notice how hollow they are compared to the Paradigm boxes. Drivers are very well build, with very stiff basket castings around them, heat sinks included. The tweeters are mounted on a very solid metal block--nice.

The only weak point I found construction-wise was the cheap-cheap zip cord used internally, and on a floor stander like these, it can be a significant amount of wire. I don't know why Paradigm cheaped out on this one thing, when for about 5 bucks more than could do a real nice job of it. I used the DH Labs cable to rewire the inside, as it was very affordable, and matched really well with the speakers, and Meadowlark and Tyler have good success wiring with it internally. It made them slightly brighter, as the speakers are voiced to the garbage grade wire, but the clarity, openess, and greater bloom in the soundstage was a very noticable improvement. It lifted a certain fog that the speakers otherwise had.

The Ref 20s I previously had were really clean monitors, with excellent performance on the waterfall graphs, showing them to be very free of late decay and various resonances, and I loved their detail. I think the larger cabinet and 3 way design of the 60s may not be quite as clean on the waterfall charts as the exceptionally crisp Ref 20. The Fef 20 also had very strong bass for a 2 way. Even with the very good amplification of the Creek, I still could not get much more impact out of the bass on the 60s. I was a little disappointed with this. Yes, it's only a 6" driver, but alot of cabinet volume was added for the bass driver over that of the 20s, and I feel without a whole lot more benefit. Bass was helped immensely with the careful use and tuning of a sub. Just a Paradigm P1000, but it has a nice continuous phase adjustment--not just a 180 degree switch--and seeting the crossover at about 80Hz while the 60s ran full range, along with careful tuning of the phase, I was able to acheive excellent integration with the sub. It's timed and positioned perfectly, and is indistiguishable from the sense that the bass is coming from the 60s themselves.

Overall, for the price, this is an excellent, clear, detailed speaker with realistic timbre and very good soundstage. I've not yet come across a speaker at the same price that overall can do as much as the Reference line can do when matched with the right equipment and cabling. A wrong match, and they'll sound harsh, but it's fault of the equipment, and the speakers being so revealing. They can go very well with expensive gear and not hold it back. They handle high volume levels very well, and are excellent in a system for both music and theatre. When using with a sub, as I feel one should, I don't know if it's worth the extra cost over the Ref 20 or Ref 40 model, however, you do save money on stands (and you should not cheap out on the stands for speakers this revealing), so maybe it makes it worth the extra cost for the floorstander's solid stance and appearance as well. Quality is excellent, and they are very dependable. From the mids on up, these speakers do excell, and can provide very high quality enjoyment at a reasonable price. Round them out with a sub that's carefully integrated, and it all sounds much much more expensive.

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Numerous speakers up to about $1800, including NHT 2.5i, B&W 602 and CDM1, Newform Reasearch Ribbon, Tyler Acoustics w/Scanspeak drivers, Epos ES12.

Very good construction quality for the price,great bass,good midrange and ok highs.

So called reviewers like John who have recievers with 60 damping and claim poor bass prformance and agressive highs.
At this price are you joking.

Let me start with John and his blind bashing.These have great bass if you drive them with a real amp.No reciever can drive full range speakers properly.I have a Denon 5800 and its about the best reciever you can buy and I use an ATI 2505 power amp.Now with this "mild" setup the Paradigms come to life.The bass is tight,fast and will punch John and knock him out.

I did notice a bit of agresiveness in the highs.Very few metalic dome tweeters are free from this problem.Thiels are one of the select few,and maybe Nautilus series B&W speakers.

So to correct the problem I used my Celeste 4070W power amp,the SimAudio Celeste is more refined then the ATI.The Paradigm sounded better,the edge in the highs was almost gone.And then I decided to further push my tests,I used my trusted SimAudio MOON W5 power amp.The Paradigms now sounded,focused,grain free and had a bass that reached in the mid 30Hz.

So for the $400 I paid these are next to impossible to beat.
I sold them shortly after.My Dynaudio Contour 3.3's are superior in every way.They cost much much more too.

So a solid 5/5 for value and 4/5 for performance.

Similar Products Used:

To many to list,some Monitor Audio,ProAc,B&W,Dynaudio,Thiel and Definitive(very overrated speakers)

I compared the Paradigm Studio 60 to B & W, Missions, PSB, Monitor Audio & DynaAudio. Other than Paradigm all the other lines gave up a lot of clarity/brightness for more base. The B & W DM 603 & 604 were way to boomy - they sounded just to coloured for my taste. The Mission 753 was decent but the midrange seemed to be "juiced up" to a point that at times the speakers sounded artificial. The Monitor audio sounded great, but a little lacking when it came to the mid frequencies. PSB Stratus Golds did not sound too impressive to me to warrant a $2400 price tag. All in all, the paradigm studio 60 were balanced, clear, uncoloured and natural in their production of music. I played everything from Carl Orff to Marsalis to Floyd to Sneaker Pimps, the music reproduction was simply heartwarming. Anyone who has a budget between $1100 - $1600 and has a love for music must listen to the studio 60, they beat the hell out of speakers costing much higher.

If you are looking for speakers that enrich your musical experience, go listen to the studio 60. don't know what jake heard. We used an ARCam amplifier with rega CD player and naim preamp, and the speakers just reaveled. These speakers compare well with the 800 series of the B & Ws without the boominess. Sounds great with home theatre as well