Heard new paradigm signature series and seismic subs

[mikert456]

Just wanted to let everyone know that the new line from paradigm is out. I got a brief listen and was blown away by what I heard. I heard the new s8's and s2's for the signature series and I was impressed by how wide the soundstage was. There was also intense detail with precise imaging. At the time there was very little bass present on the recording, thus I was unable to determine how good the bass was. To go with the sound I heard, the looks were equally as impressive. The downside was the price, it was more than my dealer originally guessed. The bookshelf s2 were $2900.00 Canadian that was $900.00 dollars more than I was originally told(s8 $7900.00Can). I also got a listen at the new seimic 12. This little beast was one hell of a performer. When watching Lord of the Rings this sub shock me to death. So much so, I'm considering trading in my two pw2200's for it. It was fast, tight, articulate, and reached low levels. I must also mention this sub was tiny in that a pw2200 dworfs it. Thus also a reason im considering switching. The amp in this sub is rated at 1200 watts rms, with peak power at 4500 watts. There is one powered downfiring woofer, this is accompanied by two passive radiators on the side. Has anyone else heard this sub or speakers. If so what did you think? Like I said, my listening was brief and therefore what I heard may have been good recording and not the speakers themselves.

[Jimmy C]

...they were REALLY nice. As you say, giant stage, quite neutral, easy to listen to and simply a feeling of "completeness". Bass suffered in the room I was in, but would rather deal with that and get the mids/highs correct.

Yup - expensive, but honestly I haven't heard another $2K speaker thet "blows it away". In certain parameters, sure - not all.

Haven't heard the subs, but I wanna Revel B15...lol... that thing is a monster. I have always thought the Paradigm subs sounded a bit disjointed and bloated... at least in the rooms I have heard them.

I'll go as far as to say the new S2 is more laid-back than the N805, and better looking (preference). The B&W has better bass, but the Paradigm is more cohesive, IMO.

A really good speaker, to be sure.

[Pat D]

I heard the S2 model briefly before I left to go on this trip and they seemed quite good. My dealer had just unpacked them that afternoon and the staff really had had no opportunity to listen to them. Unfortunately, I didn't have my own test CDs with me (I just don't carry them around with me all the time!), but the dealer had some familiar material.

Ayako Hosokawa's rendition of "Let's go get stoned" (bottle of gin) on The Famous Sound of Three Blind Mice, volume 3, sounded warm and wonderful, the best I've heard her.

They also had a Denon test disc with the beginning of Schubert's 9th Symphony with Otmar Suitner and the Berlin Staatskapelle and this sounded very fine. The image was big and deep and the strings were quite smooth. As well, there is a big climax a little over a minute into the track and I could hear the horns and other parts of the orchestra distinctly, whereas most speakers have them confused together. There were also a couple of opera excerpts and they seemed to handle the male singers and the chorus quite well.

I didn't notice any nasty diffraction effects (at least, that's what I think they are) which bother me with many lesser speakers. I would like to listen to them more, but I was running out of time and I had to go home to pack and do some last minute house cleaning to please my honey, who left to visit her old mother some time ago. I should be able to get into the big city to listen to them and some other speakers such as the Quads, PSB Stratus, and others. Who knows? --- I might even run into to some 3A De Capo improved speakers, the ones RGA likes so well but didn't buy!