Paradigm Studio 20 v.2 versus v.3 questions...

[pdawg17]

I have had the v.2's for 3 years now and are very happy with them but have now heard the v.3's (why did I do that to myself?) and the imaging is noticeably better...I've had a hard time finding used v.2's online to compare to so I am curious if anyone knows the going price for v.2's in 9/10 condition...and would anyone else pay the extra money just to upgrade the version of the same speaker?

[RGA]

did you hear both the V2 and V3 in the exact same room in the exact same position with the exact same equipment? If not you may not really know if one out images the other and if you're paying attention the imaging or noticing it -- it may be doing something wrong - not right. When I listen live I don;t think about how great the band is imaging or soundstaging.

I can;t answer what other people would choose to do with their money -- but if I had the 20V2 when I had the money to upgrade --- it would be to another company. But that's me - and you asked. if YOU feel the Studio 20V3 is a substantial improvement and you have the money, and more importantly you WANT it...then you have your answer.

[BillB]

The 20v3 seems to fetch $550-$650 in the used market for 9/10 condition. That said, the 20v2 seems to be holding it's value rather well in that same market, selling for $500-$600 in the same condition.

It's your ears so decide for yourself what you should do. If one sounded better to me and I only had to put out $50-$100 I'd do it.

Bill

[kexodusc]

Yeah, I'm with RGA on this one....While I generally like the v.3 better than the v.2, I do find the midrange sounds a bit thin, and the overall presentation isn't a big step up.
There's probably better upgrades to do than to a new version of speaker, but that's your call to make.
I know some people actually prefer the v.2 to the v.3, so I'd be sure to do a few more demo's before pulling the trigger.

[Woochifer]

As much as I like the Studio 20 v.3 (the imaging capability on those speakers is up there with the best that I've heard), I'm not getting rid of my Studio 40/CC/20 v.2 setup anytime soon. For one thing, I'm quite happy with my setup -- why get rid of something that I'm satisfied with? And if I upgrade, I'd have to replace all five speakers and I took two years to piece together all of those speakers in the first place!

The Studio 20 v.3 is an excellent speaker in its price class, but as others have pointed out, if you want to upgrade, then you should really UPGRADE to something that's at a much higher level of performance. Going from the v.2 to the v.3 is a nice step up, but you will definitely pay a lot for the privilege. IMO, with upgrading, it's not justifiable to just go with a subtle change.

Keep in mind that the Studio 20 v.2 listed for $650, while the list price on the 20 v.3 is $800. I would guess that used Studio 20 v.2s will likely fetch more in the $400-$500 range, considering that dealers closed out the remaining factory new Studio 20 inventory for around $500 a pair when the v.2 series got discontinued.

[Woochifer]

did you hear both the V2 and V3 in the exact same room in the exact same position with the exact same equipment? If not you may not really know if one out images the other and if you're paying attention the imaging or noticing it -- it may be doing something wrong - not right. When I listen live I don;t think about how great the band is imaging or soundstaging.

You don't think about imaging and soundstaging while at a live event BECAUSE IT'S A LIVE EVENT! Those facets are built into the experience. If the musician is 10 feet away from you and slightly to the left, then that is exactly how you will perceive it because that's the actual sound event.

Imaging and soundstaging are about how well an actual sound event gets REPRODUCED. The imaging and soundstaging properties are important in evaluating speakers because speakers are supposed to REPRODUCE the locational properties and the width of the soundstage as rendered in the recording. If a speaker beams or sounds like two point sources, then it obviously does not properly reproduce the live event.