Great dynamic range. Great sound for the price point.

Truthfully, the only weakness I've found is the "Stance" of these speakers. It's just too narrow vs deep and with the built in leveling screws there is NO way you are going to square up these speakers and postively lock to the floor. The steel bars I mentioned above are easy to make and are worth the effort. If you want more info on the "stands" send me an email - studio80stands@aol.com - I'll check it every so often ... ( no charge )

This is an update to previous review after 3 years of ownership. Current system: Jolida CD with Svetlana 12AX7 tubes Rotel 995 pre-amp Odyssey Audio amp w/cap upgrade Studio 80's IC's - Chris Venhaus design - 28 gauge silver over teflon core with Eichmann Bullet Plugs. It's been 3 years - how do I feel about the speakers? * Day 1 - Sounded like crap - Brassy and annoying * Day 1.5 ( added after the fact ) - Added 3/4" x 1.5" x 14.25" steel bars to bottom of speakers -- bolted to original holes -- drilled and tapped holes for leveling screws at end of bars and used the original brass "washers" as lock nuts ... HUGE improvement in the definition of lower bass vs midrange * Day x - Rotel 995 pre-amp plus a few months to break them in ... Better but still anoying - very fatiging to listen to * Day xx - Added Odyssey Audio Amp plus 100 hrs of continuous runtime ... yo ... much better - base is tighter, midrange is better defined - highs are STILL brassy ( cd source - my turntable died a few years ago ) * Day xxx - Added home grown IC's using Chris's design from www.audioasylum.com ... yo ... Everything is MUCH clearer ... high's are STILL anoying but heh, at least they are clearer ... * Day xxxx - Added AudioQuest spades to my Monster Audio 10 gauge speaker wire - Vise grips to make the connection ... Ok, if I had the money I'd buy 8TC wire but I'm trying to do this on a budget ( ever-expanding I might add ) ... Seriously, though the new spades were a big improvement ... * Day xxxxx - Added the Jolida CD player with the Svetlana 12AX7 tube upgrade ... NOW NOW NOW we are cooking ... this is what I've been missing ... Warm, rich, sound - NOT fatiging - +++ Those brassy anoying highs that I thought were the speakers ------ GONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Bottom line ... These speakers get better every time I improve the feed into them. Translation ... Garbage IN, Garbage OUT ... Before you buy these speakers think seriously about what's upstream and what you are willing to spend. These are VERY revealing speakers !!!!!!!!!!

Value! Simple, listen, compare, buy!

My friend has the same ones, blew a tweeter just like a guy on here did. Wonder wonder wonder...awsome service though.

Best bang, or boom, for the buck. Why spend twice as much, sure the Germans and Brits make awsome audio Equipment, cars too, but these North American made speakers are awsome. Throw in Pearl Harbour with a couple Anthem Amps and you don't even need a sub! Fit and finish, the feel, the look and my god the sound. The Value.

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My first speakers were a pair of Worfdales, 'about 15 years ago. Still got them, hooked up in the garage. When thee guy with the Civic across the street gives my Puff Daddy, he gets Skinny Puppy!

dynamic, power, sweet vocals, crystal clear well controlled sound, can play loud and clean

careful with tweeters! Yeasterday I demaged one of them, so I have to replace it quickly! Tommorow I will go to my dealrer and ask for help!

Paradigm Studio 80 sounds great-very clear vocals, solid bass, very good dynamic sound. In my opinion they need powerful amplifier to be properly driven-min. 100 watts.Very good in home theater system as main speakers.

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B&W, Infinity Alpha, Paradigm Monitor 9

deep base, mid range that is incedible and highs (oh so sweet)

none

Won't make a big speech here, most of the reviews are bang on! I have had my 80's for about 4 months and they are just breaking in... or so it seems because every time I listen to my favourite CDs the music just sounds that much better. I spent many many months searching/listening for the perfect speakers. I won't insult anyones intelligence by saying the 80's are the best, however, all things considered they sure are sweet. For $1800 cdn no one can touch them at 2 to 3 times the price range maybe even beyond that. I will be getting another pair for my home theater in the next year. Placement of these speakers is everything, I suggest a big room with high ceiling and about 12 feet apart minimum. (this is after the last four months of moving and experimenting)

Good listening!

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Can't think of any in this price range?

I would like to make some important points about this speaker. I have been listening to these speakers over the past weeks and I must say that these are true Reference speakers. There are some important facts you should know before buying these speakers. First let me state that these speakers are intended for listening in large living space, unlike my small living space, they could sound a little boomy when listening to music with excessive bass (House music, trance, Electronic music, drum and Bass, etc..). If your prime music listening is R&B, Jazz, light Rock, Classic music, Opera, soft music, then the Studio 80's are untouchable even in small listening space. Mids are very natural, clear and accurate, the highs are clean, with a smooth sweetness to it. The bass is very much dependant on the space of the listening room and placement of the speakers. Speaker placement can make a great difference in the way you hear your music. You do not need a sub with these speakers they can go very low in the bass area. These speakers should be placed far apart from each other ( 11 to 12 feet from each other), they should not be placed to close to a corner wall. Ive notice that you should not sit against a wall if your living space is small because the bass can be a little boomy. If there is space behind the listening area then the bass will be tight and accurate. There are times when these speakers sound so good that it will make other speakers costing in the thousands sound terrible. Ive listened to many speakers in the past year costing 10 times more than these speakers and the Studio 80' can definitely put up a good fight. Paradigm came out with a new series of reference speakers that should hit the market very soon, I wonder what changes they will make to these excellent speakers. These speakers should be BI-wired for best performance. I believe my speakers need a little more break in time because I only had them for a week or two. I paid 950$ for my pair ( NEW ) and I must say for that price or even more these speakers deserve no less than a 5. One of the best sounding speakers I ever heard, I only wish I had more space for these awesome speakers. For those who live in small apartments I recommend the studio 60' you wont be disappointed, I promise. Good listening.
Aragon 8008BB
Acurus A250
Sony TAE9000ES
SONY XA7ES
SONY DVP7700
DH LAB speaker cable
Paradigm cc300 center
Paradigm Studio 80
Sunfire True Sub MKII
Atlantic Technology Suround speakers

Great imaging, Awesome midbass the way I them set-up, Great highs/mids and very tight low end. I have the ver.1 studio 80's.

Heavy as hell, Looks like a set of cheaper speakers UNTIL you set behind these babies.

Incredible speakers. Needless to say, anyone that walks into my bedroom and listens to these will say that they have NEVER heard a system sound so life-like and the imaging is perfect. I am using a Xtant 3300c (2x60 and 180x1) high-end car amplifier, a Alpine 7949 car cd player, a Audiocontrol esp-2 spatial restoratation unit, a BBE SM-4012 Sonic Maximizer, and a 16 channel Soundcraft mixer board, and I'm using three JL AUDIO 10w6 car audio subwoofers in a custom built ported enclosure. I have everything powering from a ASTRON RS-70m power supply. I also have a car stereo anttenna connected to the alpine 7949 for am/fm reception. Now you guys might think this is a wild set-up, it is. I wanted to be different than everyone else. Plus I am into high-end car audio as well. I wanted to disprove people by showing them that car audio equipment in the house can sound as good as home equipment. The paradigm Studio 80's (ver.1) I have I bought used for $750!!! I got a great deal on these and they are black ash and are in mint condition. The studio 80's are the best sounding speaker I've ever heard and I've compared these to other brands and just blows them away. The imaging is sound precise. With all the sound processing gear i'm using (the Audioontrol esp-2 and the bbe sm-4012) the need for a center channel does not exist since I can split the phase and make them imaging perfectly center. Unbelievable. The music is coming from EXACTLY in front of you. And there is no speakers there!!!! It is incredible how this 80's image. I can fill every last corner of my room with music and have every single drum beat, guitar pluck, synthesizer, you name it, perfectly seperated in front of me like a live performance. Every performance in my room with these Studio 80's is a live performance. I sometimes catching my parents sitting in here and I can't get them out!! The subwoofers can shake pictures on the walls loose and make them fall off. They hit very tight and are low-passed at 50 hertz. The Studio 80's are playing full range to give it even more bass up front effect in the room and also have the low end that everyone looks for. EXCELLENT SPEAKERS, Pick a set of these up at your earliest convienence. It is better to find a set of older Studio 80's for less money than pay for the new version (ver.2) that don't sound really any better than they used too. I heard both versions and could not tell a difference between them.

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Paradigm Mini-monitors (ver.2)

I have just received a pair of Studio 80's & they sound great. I payed about 1.3k for them. However, I assumed what I have is the new V2 model The local salesman did not even know there's a V2. Can anyone tell me the difference in these two models. Which is better?

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Celestion, JBL

Imaging, mid-range

None

Got a pair of the outgoing version (pre-v2) in real wood for $1300. What a terrific pair of speakers! I have an older set of Studio 100's in a differnt room and I actually prefer the sound of the 80's when A/B'd side-to-side. Bass seems tighter without giving away any range. Had to move them out quite a bit from the wall and isolate from floor with marble slabs to get the effect I wanted. Vocals are truly incredible with the right source material. Set up with Classe electronics, Rega Planet, Linn LP-12 w/Sumiko BPS, Super Flatlines.

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Paradigm Studio 100

tight, fast bass...build quality...nice brass (?) spikes

very average looking. doesn't look as good as they sound.

Great for the money. Not to be placed against a wall. Move them well out into the room, spread them wide, sit against the back wall (put a rug up) and be blown away by what you've got for under $1500. These babies can image if set up right! Works well with 100 watt solid state amp and tube pre.

Have had them for 2 years.Excellent clean sound.The bass is great and not so "boomy"as most other speakers.No distortion when played loud.Don't even think otherwise at this price range.prices steep in the US when compared to CDN$