paradigm cc-170 or paradigm cc-270

[Lafferman]

i have titan fronts and a ps-1000 sub i'm wondering if i should go with the cc-170 or the cc-270 i've listened to both and think that the cc-270 sounds a little bit fuller than the cc-170 but thought i would see what others thought about them.

[cam]

i have titan fronts and a ps-1000 sub i'm wondering if i should go with the cc-170 or the cc-270 i've listened to both and think that the cc-270 sounds a little bit fuller than the cc-170 but thought i would see what others thought about them.

Your right the 270 is fuller then the 170. The center channel has alot of demand on it and the 1 inch tweeter and bigger woofers on the 270 can meet the demand. I use to have the 170 and while it sounded pretty good at medium volumes it just couldn't take loud volumes. The 3/4 inch tweeter in your titans works but that same 3/4 tweeter in the 170 doesn't. Although the 270 has a bigger tweeter then your titans it is still a complete timbre match.

[Lafferman]

i was leaning heavily to the cc-270 just thought i would see if it was worth the extra money and it sounds like it is way worth it to get the cc-270 which means a little longer wait to get the money but i would rather wait and get a good center than be stuck with one that doen't do the job. thanks for the advice.

[kexodusc]

I have tp disagree here. A few months back I helped my folks pick out a modest system to go with some old V.2 Titans I gave them. If you have a sub (you do) our two local dealers both actually recommend the CC-170 over the 270 for a front center channel. They both said however, that the CC-270 makes a decent 6th rear center speaker. I'm even suspicious of this claim. The 1" tweeter actually isn't much brighter sounding than the 3/4 inch, and the woofers do add a bit more bass punch but not without making the mid-range sounds a bit bloated.
The CC-270 might offer a bit wider dispersion, barely, but mostly just offers a bit more power output. Depending on your room size this might not even matter.
Save your money and get the CC-170 and set your LFE crossover properly (ie: 80Hz or 90Hz), you shouldn't really be able to tell much of an audible difference between the two. If you really feel the need to upgrade your center channel, buy the CC-370, a much better, brighter, and more natural sounding speaker - the 270 is not enough speaker for the money.
Paradigm finally decided to build the CC-270 not because of research on their part, but to react to some other comparably sized and priced speakers from their competitors. Before the CC-270, the 170 was quite capable of handling it's own in this market.

[Lafferman]

so your saying go with the cc-170 or do a big upgrade to the cc-370. i didn't think that the cc-370 was timber matched with the performance line i thought that was matched with the monitor line would it still be ok to use with titans for fronts? and also i didn't even look at the price of the cc-370 i know i can get the cc-170 for $200 US and the cc-270 was like $280 US before dealing them down. thanks again for the all the advice.

[kexodusc]

Well, if you could get a CC-370 used for that price, you'd be further off. You are right the center wouldn't be timbre matched to the Titans 100%, however, the trade-off in clarity of dialogue, and sheer presence from the 370 would be worth it. In fact Paradigm does recommend the 270 with Mini-Monitors, and use to recommend the 370 and 350 with Performance series speakers. Timbre matching is important but you definitely want a clear, bright center speaker. I suspect the CC-370 is in the $350-$380 range, you could do better than that on ebay or audiogon though.
The 270 is like squeezing as much juice as possible out of those drivers, the 370 is a significant upgrade.
But don't just take it from me. It could very well be that in your room with your setup, the 270 is the way to go, in which case the $80 bucks or so might be worth it. If possible I would ask if your Paradigm dealer would allow you to try both at home, maybe if you put $280 down, and you could make that decision yourself.
Cheers.

[kexodusc]

This looks like a good buy on the surface:
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...oni&1091745704
or this
http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cl.p...oni&1090803562

[cam]

so your saying go with the cc-170 or do a big upgrade to the cc-370. i didn't think that the cc-370 was timber matched with the performance line i thought that was matched with the monitor line would it still be ok to use with titans for fronts? and also i didn't even look at the price of the cc-370 i know i can get the cc-170 for $200 US and the cc-270 was like $280 US before dealing them down. thanks again for the all the advice.

The 270 is a very solid center speaker whereas the 170 is only adequate. I told you that I use to have the 170 and I did upgrade to the 370 which in my opinion is a very substantial upgrade over the 170 to say the least. But I was upgrading all my speakers to the monitors so in my case the 270 was not for me. Now if you believe that oneday you will be trading in those titans for mini monitors then get the 370 right now even though that will not match your titans, but if the titans are not going anywhere then get the best matching center possible and that would be the 270. Your three options are: get the 270 and keep your titans knowing you bought the best matching center possible, option two: buy the 170 knowing that you saved some money and still bought a ok matching center or, option three: splurge and get the 370 knowing that you have bought a very substantial center and that you will oneday down the road be upgrading your mains to the monitor line. Sometimes there is no end to the upgrade bug and you just have to draw the line.

[Lafferman]

i have very little money as is and i have just transfered to a private college with huge tuitions about $18,000 US and i think that the performance line will be where i'm staying for a very long time once i get my 6.1 done. with this being said i think that the cc-270 is the better choice for me and my room as i won't be going to the monitor line because i want to keep what i have for a long time. thanks again for the advice.