which paradigm should i buy

[trauski]

wife wants me to get some smaller speakers. currently im running some 20 year old b&w dm 330, for sale by the way. i love those speakers but they are pretty good size towers. one tweeter and two 8" drives with one being passive. im thinking that new technology will improve my sound. i listened to some paradigm studio 20's and some monitor 7's. love the openness of the 20's compared to the monitors with the vocals. i can get the 20's for 199 each as they are demo. here is the dilema. they have some studio 60's in the back with a tiny chip on the side for 350 each. i didnt here them yet but was wondering what people thought. i do have a little velodyn 8 inch sub with a built in 135 amp that i would use with the 20's driving them with a denon 1803 amp. i dont have killer stuff but its not a fisher stack system either.i mostly listen to music but do play dvd and vhs some through system. have a 5 year old entry level b&w center channel and polk rt 25 i rears. i also thought what about the studio 40's but they are 549 each list and the most current one's must be v3,im guessing. the 40's would be smaller than what i have now but heard some mixed reviews on them. the 60's would be about 3 inches shorter and 2 inches narrower than my b&w speakers so i would pay the price with the wife . any suggestions?

[Jimmy C]

...first of all, it's always good to hear EVERYTHING in your area to get a feel for what type of sound you will want to live with.

That being said, $400 for a pair of 20s seems tempting... you have a sub. Only you can decide if the damage on the 60s is acceptable. I have a pair of Studio 60s (v2) and have been quite happy with them over a 4ish -year period. A very good all-rounder that doesn't have any glaring faults, IMO. Some complain about the metal tweeters... blah, blah... I personally have never had any problems. I also must say I used the speaker (still use!) in a fairly dead room, thoughtfully placed, using decent (if not esoteric) electronics, and some well-recorded software.

The other thing - the 60s are hardly smaller than the 'ole B&Ws... you sure your better half would be O.K. with them? If you liked the 20s, the 60s should be sonically better in most areas... aesthetically, not so sure. Quite frankly, I'm suprised you like the 20s AND your B&Ws... no, I'm not familiar with that exact model, but older B&Ws (in general) are quite "polite".

The Studio series floor-standers (or the 20s, for that matter) are not sympathetic to bad/mediocre recordings, not easy to move around or situate. BUT - when things are just right, they can be really good! Make sure you can let them breathe...

Oh - v3 is better than v2 (if that matters at all).

Again, listen to everything you can... BUT - the Studios can be a lot of fun!

[psonic]

I am assuming the 20 for $199 is a v2? a good deal, and a steal if a v3...

[RGA]

"im thinking that new technology will improve my sound."

Don't assume that.

Newer technologuy is often built on unsubstantiate hype and re-inventing the marketing to incude re-inventing the measurements.

The Studio 40, 60 are good speakers here.

You could also look at the B&W DM 602-S3.

Check out What-Hi-fi magazine. Give a few of them a listen. Just because something is attainable cheap doesn't mean it's going to please you long term. If you've been pleased with 20 year old B&Ws then I'd at least be listening to thir newer technology stuff here as well.

You may be able to find better from someone else as well. http://www.bwspeakers.com/

[trauski]

went with the studio 60's v2. wife was ok with speaker size as i told her kid were to little for speakers on stands. paid 660 for the pair. killer deal.

i have been going thru my cd's and records and i have been loving every minute of it. truely i can here many things that ive never heard before in my system. running it on cheap 16 gauge wire. wonder if ill hear a difference when i hook up the 14 g monster xphp that they gave me off the bulk roll. the bass is much different than my old b&w spks. it is less boomy yet i dont notice my 8 inch velodye hardly at all. had to turn up power on sub for a subtle difference.that is weird ,less boomy bass yet harder to notice the sub. vocals are so nice to hear and are presented so well on the stage. truely the biggest limitation of the b&w's that i had where in the mid range. they just were a little muted and alot further back on the sound stage. still they would make a great speaker for someone getting started at 250$. very happy so far. was watching chick flick with wife and must say speaker sounded very good in 5.1. there was a scene were a guy was playing a small jambox to a crowd of people at a funeral. the song started out and sounded like it was comeing from the boom box. then it transposed into cd quality sound using the 2 front mains and became loud for impact and it was truely amazing. the efficiency of the speakers was very apparent for there size.thanks for reading. Trauski

[Jimmy C]

...I'm glad you are enjoying so far, and you probably will for many years to come. As far as imaging goes, you can put these speaker anywhere and get a fairly fluid stage, even off center. Tonally, not the easiest (IMO) speaker to place... let 'em breathe a bit.

My impressions pretty much mirror yours as far as the older B&Ws go, and their newer, lower lines follow suit to some degree. Under $700 is a great deal for the 60s... geez... check out ePay - used v2 are going for over that.

I wouldn't worry too much about wires... BUT try the biwire thing, borrow from the dealer. If you hear no difference, hand 'em back and say "Thanx, anyway". If you like what you hear, you can them buy them. Don't sweat a slight strand diff on a single run.

Glad you're re-discovering the music a bit...