B&W DM 603 S3 vs. PARADIGM STUDIO 60V2

[alcamaya]

I HAVE THE B&W DM 603 S3's BUT I AM THINKING OF REPLACING THEM WITH THE PARADIGM STUDIO 60 V2's. IS THIS A GOOD IDEA OR AM I MAKING A BIG MISTAKE. I'D LIKE BETTER MIDRANGE CLARITY AND TRANSPARENCY AND I'VE READ THAT THE PARADIGM'S ARE BETTER THAN THE B&W'S. PLEASE HELP!

ANY INPUT WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

[RGA]

Where are you reading that?

Is this move going to cost you any money? The 603S3 is the floorstander and requires careful positioning because the speaker is geared for home theater the bass can sometimes be overblown. Try using the bass bungs or pulling them out from the wall a little further with some toe-in.

The 60 is a solid speaker but not better...at least not to me. The 60 has a tighter punchier sound but the 603S3 is a bit warmer and less hollow sounding. The treble response is not my cup of tea from either series but I give the edge to the B&W's high treble and the edge to the Paradigm in the upper midrange.

If I had either one of these my nxt upgrade would move beyond either company...or perhaps the Nauilus series.

[Jimmy C]

...hold out for a speaker on a different plane altogether. Both are good transducers, each having their own strengths. BUT, IMO, neither "blows away" the other.

Having said that, I chose the Studio 60s (about 5 years ago) and I still feel they are a very good speaker for many different kinds of music. I think B&W is going the laid-back approach (warmish mids) while Paradigm is cooler-sounding overall. One speaker will certainly sound better with X type of music, while a different genre will be more palatable with the other speaker. IMO, the B&Ws are more "forgiving" overall.

Now... if you desire cleanliness and transparency above and beyond what the 603s (or the 60s, for that matter) can deliver, I would look elsewhere. The used market may be your answer - I have a pair the Revel M20s and they are rediculously grit and grain free.... better than any other speaker (is this regard) that I can think of, irregardless of pricing. Bonus - despite cabinet size, the Revels go deeper and are more dynamic than either said speaker.

I can remember someone over at AA (AudioAsylum.com) saying all they can hear with the M20s is bass and treble - no midrange. I can almost understand what they mean.... BUT, now I'm VERY sensitive to cabinet colorations and "bloomy", artificial (or colored) mids. For better or worse, you will get EXACTLY what you put into them.

Not saying this is the end-all speaker, but if a clean, transparent midrange is your thing, I would try to give them a listen.

[RGA]

Jimmy C raises a good point here that going used or even a one year old model cans ignificantly get you on another level and even have significant warranty time left. I picked up the Audio Note AN K Spe standmounts for basically half price. The dealer here bought the worlds stock of last year's models. The new model has no grill cloth and have more options on finishes and a foam surround over the rubber surround(but I can change this if I wish later...I doubt I will. Point is that a 2kUS speaker I picked up for $1500.00Cdn with full warranty. The Studio 100 and CDM 9NT really are quite easily outclassed and both cost more. The AN E/D was selling for 2k CDN which is LESS than the Studio 100 or CDM 9NT. The two latter speaker don't integrated their drivers properly which leads to bright or smeared tonal balance from top to bottom. The Audio Notes lose out in the looks department but I can't think of a single area where the Paradigm or B&W's are better. It naturally comes down to preferences, but I like the idea of speakers that are easy to drive should you want to try tube amplifiers one day...something that neither B&W or Paradigm is particularaly open to.

DO yourself a favour and be patient and explore a lot of lesser known lesser advertised speakers. Revel mentioned by Jimmy would go under most people's radar for example because you don't see a bombardment of heavy heavy advertising.

The Audio Notes and Revels and Reference 3a De Capo's and Magnepan's of the world won't be for all tastes of course - but you should try and get to hear at least SOME of these against the conglomorates. Peaople assume the bigger the better, and it CAN be the case but not always, in my experience it in fact rarely is the case. Maybe all the money went into the hype machine and increased profit margin. The little guy has to pay more for the actual parts - but this may be the cheapest aspect to running the business. Marketing/advertising huge facilities and payrolls and more advertising and hype. SO you cheap out on quality to increase marketing rather than being FORCED to sell high quality or go under.

When small companies make mistakes like Dunlavey or the orginal 3a they do go under. When big conglomorates make mistakes or just offer by the numbers products they have a big name and marketing and try and seduce people with white papers and experts and graphs.

The 603S3 and Studio 60 here in Canada goes for around $1500.00 if I recall. I like the spekaers but do look for various deals.

[trauski]

i found my studio 60 v2 for $330 each at a stereo shop and jumped on them. this was 2 months ago. since the v3 are out you might get a great deal like i did on remaining v2 inventory. they have some studio 100 v2 at the same dealer for 1200 for the pair.not bad. they are currently on the floor but harldly ever get played.

[Woochifer]

Even though I opted for the Studio series over the 600 series a couple of years ago, I don't see why you'd want to swap out the DM603 for the Studio 60. Reading between the lines, it seems like you've been presented with a great deal on a pair of the 60s, but can't hear them before you lay your cash out. Unless you know for sure that the Studio 60s will address whatever shortcomings you perceive with the 603s, I would not jump on the Studio 60s. And for all you know, the 60s might have their own set of characteristics that you dislike.

Anytime you do a speaker upgrade, you need to first decide whether or not to upgrade, and identify the reason why. THEN, you go about identifying the alternatives and which speakers meet your current criteria.

[RGA]

i found my studio 60 v2 for $330 each at a stereo shop and jumped on them. this was 2 months ago. since the v3 are out you might get a great deal like i did on remaining v2 inventory. they have some studio 100 v2 at the same dealer for 1200 for the pair.not bad. they are currently on the floor but harldly ever get played.

And this is also good too. The Studio 100 V2 would be an upgrade over the 60 or the 603S3. $1200.00CDN ($900.00US) would be a good a deal.

Wouldn't necessarily be an upgrade for classical music but will add oomph for home-theater and the rock factor.

$330 for the 60 is quite a deal - even at US pricing that is less than a new Monitor 5.