Hit Every Detail! Very Pleasing on my wallat. Look great.

Couldn't really find any.

Well, I'm moving into a nice new home...(I say this humbly)...and it has been a complete nightmare for me. I've got several of the rooms in the house wired for stereo sound from two speakers with independent controls on each to change source, volume, and tune all powered by a 12 channel amp (don't ask $). All I needed was sound to fill each room. Except my home theater which is a completely different room all together. Shopping for components and equipment has been a nightmare all over again. I really wanted to have the ultimate @home theater experience without going overboard. Because I'm don't have experience in this stuff, I had no budget to limit my self to. I've gone with a $15000(CDN$) Runco DLP Front Projector, a Harmon/Kardon AVR 7000 Reciever, Sony 300CD Changer, Toshiba 5109 DVD Player, and then came speakers...oh my goodness.

I listened to every speaker made it seems. A&B Sound had me sold on some $4000(CDN$) Energy Veratiel..which sounded great. Than I heard the B&W 603's for $2200 and could no longer even consider the Energy's. Then I heard $4500 ProAc 1.5's and I was blown away! What great sound out of 1.5way speakers. At this same high-end audio store, I was "lucky" enough to hear the studio 80's from Paradigm. How marvelous! If the sales rep had said they were $4000 I would have believed him, and had a tough time picking between them and the ProAc's. And at $1800/pair they were a dream come true. The ProAc's were fitted to cheaper wire (still nice) where as the Paradigms were fitted to $450 4 conductor wire, but hey, $450 bucks is a small price to pay to make $1800 speakers sound like $4500 speakers. I've now added the di-polar reference 20's for my rears, and the reference cc. Although the system is not installed yet, I can't wait for that first day of hours of listening. Don't waste your time like I did. Go listen to these speakers soon so you can put to rest what is the best speaker for the buck.

I've yet to purchase a sub. The guy at B&W wants me to buy a $1300 15 inch Velodyne. But I sure loved the Paradigm Servo 15 even though it's $1700. Any comments or suggestions? I'm also considering an the Energy ES-18XL, which sounded nice, but may be too much.

Room is about 24 feet by 14 feet. I would love your emails, and suggestions. Thanks.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Energy, PSB, Mirage, Cubasse, ProAc,

How do these speakers compare to the B&W cdm7se ? I heard them both and I cant decide. I never got a chance to hear them side by side. Anyone ?

mid-range

none

best bang for the buck is what usually sums up paradigm speakers. if i had not recently bought monitor 7, i would really consider the studio 80s.
listened to several types of music from war, to paquito d'rivera. very intelligible during female jazz vocals. wide soundstage during flamenco listening from ottmar liebert. plenty of detail during paquito d'rivera's "tropicana nights." the 80s also had plenty of bass to offer during mariah, yes my wife's mariah, carrey cd. i was even more impressed when i listened to harry connick's "next door blues" from come by me. during several solos, i heard and visioned horns with great separation from the rest of the swinging jazz ensemble. soloists seem to stand up when taking their turn. it was that good!
now its time to save up and upgrade my mains A.S.A.P.

Similar Products Used:

mca-2, anthem cdp and pre/pro

Anyone know where to get paradigms on the internet (or in the southern california area) for a good price. Any info would help. jtmoore@lightspeed.net

I've had the studio 80's for only a short time now but can honestly say for the dollar, they can't be beat. I bought the real cherry wood floor models from the dealer and absoulutely love them. I've seen alot of raves about the darker cherry wood finish but before you buy at least have the dealer show you the real wood version(alot of stores don't have them on display) The real wood will run you extra. I agree with most people and say that bi-wiring will bring out the best of the 80's. I have mine hooked up to a harman/kardon AVR25MKII, fl8300, and a EAD DSP-1000 seriesIII DAC. I also have the studio 20's, great speakers

You name it

They should cost 3x as much

"Listen before you buy" doesn't apply... just buy them and enjoy. They are that good. Great, actually.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Energy [Veritas and economy (e-Series)], Martin Logan, Definitive, ProAc