My set-up feels soooooo empty. The sub, center, and rears are all boxed up and prepped for shipment to their new owners. All that's left are the mains, which I'll try to keep until the replacements come in.
I auditioned the Paradigms yesterday.....both the Signature and the Studio series. More on those in a minute. The audio botique I went to seemed to be more geared to custom installations and had a large variety of in-wall speakers. I wasn't interested in those, but I also listened to:
Martin Logan Spires - New line of panels and they sound amazing....still, I think I am done with electrostatics. They have the "coolness" factor, but I've grown a little tired of the size. Excellent sound though and would consider if I had a dedicated 2-channel system.
Energy Veritas V2.3i - Nice sound....a little bright in my opinion. Not my cup of tea in the styling department.
Paradigm Signatures - The demo set-up had the S6 mains, C5 center, ADP3 rears, and the new Sub 25. They were running the set-up with an Anthem D2 and an Anthem P5. Sweet! This set-up is pretty close to what I was after and it sounded phenominal! There was amazing detail and the high frequencies were actually present (in comparing my Ascents...which lack high highs). The soundfield was very enveloping and the dynamic range and impact was awesome. The Sub 25 was a beast (I've read that to get the most out of this sub, you need a dedicated breaker....the amp is that powerful!). It certainly put my Descent to shame. Granted, this was a sealed demo room and my room is not sealed and not ideal....nonetheless, the Sub 25 rocks! Overall impression of Signature Series - WHOA!
Paradigm Studio - The demo set-up did not yet have all v.5 versions. The only v.5 they had was the 100s and the CC-590. I was hoping they had the CC-690 on display, but oh well. They were running ADP-590 v.4 for rears and a Servo-15 for the sub. The new finish of the v.5 is very stunning. The v.5s closely resemble the sig series with the new design and finish now. The sound was very similar to the Signature series. The demo room wasn't as nice so it makes it tougher to make a perfect comparison. It think the smaller center channel (campared to the C5) didn't help and the sub performance was night and day when comparing with the Sub 25. I did get to hear the 100s by themselves for some stereo music listening and was in awe at the presence of these speakers. The soundstage is so much bigger than you'd expect it to be.....it seems to extend even beyond the walls of the room. Listening to Madonna's "Vogue", there were cues that seemed to be coming from all different areas of the room. It was pretty fascinating for just two speakers. Overall impression of the Studio Series - WHOA!
I think that was a drawback of my Ascents was that in order to properly
place them, they would have been too far into the room and wouldn't
have been practical. Hopefully, with new speakers that have a little more leeway in placing (not dipoles)....I can get better imaging in my room.
So, now on to the decision I've made. I chose the Paradigm Studio line and the main reason was cost justification. The Signature line for S8, C5, and ADP3 would run $12,900 MSRP, while the Studio line is just over half of that. I cannot honestly say that the Signature sounded much better than the Studios.....and certainly not twice as good.
So, the new speaker system will be comprised of the following:
Mains - Paradigm Studio 100 v.5
Center - Paradigm Studio CC-690 v.5
Rears - Paradign Studio Esprit v.5
Sub - JL Audio Fathom 113 (1 will be delivered tomorrow, may order a 2nd in the near future)
You may wonder why I chose the Esprit for the rears. 1) I don't have enough wall space on the rear wall for the ADP-590, 2) I prefer a direct speaker for the rears and I like to listen to a lot of multi-channel audio, and 3) I don't want bookshelf speakers sticking out a foot from the back wall. The Esprit, while a little expensive to use for a rear speaker (more than a pair of Studio 60s), seemed to be the perfect fit as I need something wall mountable with a slim profile. It's mounting system will enable me to aim it into the listening area.
So, that's it. I'll have to wait a couple weeks before I order them, but I'll post pics once they get all set up.
Cheers!
![Big Smile [:D]](/emoticons/emotion-2.gif)
Phant0mRegiment's Set-up (a.k.a. Not A "Real" Home Theater) - Photos Here
