Paradigm mini-monitor, V.4 and V.5, compaired

[audio_dude]

Ok, I went to my local hi-fi shop to see if they had the new paradigm monitor line ready for audition yet. And to my luck, they had the mini-monitors, new and old ones, both set up... PERFECT!

Ok, the first thing I noticed, was that they are totally different speakers sound wise.

Mini-monitor V.4:
These have a sound very well suited to rock. The tweeter is nice, smooth and silky, a solid midrange, great for those rippin' hard rock rifs, and decent bass, while not being boomy. I like the sound of these, but they sound a bit dull and muffled when listening to classical and jazz, but nice for rock as already mentioned. Almost could be considered a "heavy" sound.

Mini-monitor V.5:
The new model, a completly different beast. The sound on these is very light and airy, opposite of the older model. They have a smooth, but slightly bright high end; buttery smooth and silky mids; and a bottom end that just effortlessly glides down the spectrum. I really enjoy the new mid/bass driver on these, it has a lot of surround rubber, giving it lots of travel room. These speakers have a higher efficiency compaired to the old model. My only complaint is that the tweeter gets quite metalic on hard rock tracks (Red Flag, Billy Talent)


All my tests were done with the following albums, using various tracks on each:

The Beatles: Love
Billy Talent: Billy Talent II
Jethro Tull: A little light music
Led Zeppelin: Physical Graffitti
Beck: The Information
Mozart Piano Sonatas: K.310, K.331, K.533/494
Thelonious Monk: This is Jazz 5


I know this was quite long, but thanks for reading!

PS, Fell free to post your comments about ether speakers! (or anything from the new paradigm line!) :) :)

[elapsed]

I would love to hear a comparison of Paradigm Studio 60 v3 versus the new Studio 60 v4. I'm deeply considering purchasing 60 v4's in March. Has anyone auditionned the new v4's?

[jrhymeammo]

Hey dude,

when did they receive the new Monitors? You might want to wait a couple of weeks to see how they sound. Chances are, those speakers are not broken in yet. Maybe that's why they sounded slightly bright...
thanks for sharing,

JRA

[basite]

hey dude,

have you heard Monitor Audio BR2's? or Wharfedale diamond 9.2's?
they're both good speakers, don't know anything about the paradigm line, they're not really common here in Belgium. What about B&W's? 601's or so?

Good luck and let us know...

Bert.

[audio_dude]

Yeah, the problem is that the only hi-fi store that carried Wharfedale, Mission, and all those other nice brands, just severely downsized and pretty much cut out all the speakers but some high end tannoys... :(

About the bright sounding mini-monitors, yeah, they may not have been completely broken in, but i'm going to go listen again in 2 months before I buy so I can make my final choice. (I beleive they've had them up for 2 or 3 weeks) But its the tweeter thats the problem, I think its just the new reflector design, cause its the same type of tweeter, but i'm begining to like it. Although i'd prefer a silk dome tweeter.

(BTW, I can bring my Atoms back and get what I paid in store credit for upgrading, or...I could possibly sell them on ebay or something for more?)