B&W or PARADIGM?

[thedude1]

Hello! I've been auditioning new speakers for h/t and music, comparing various brands and have narrowed my search down to two: B&W and PARADIGM. The B&W set-up would comprise the lcr600 center,602 s-3 for mains, and the 601 s-3 for the rears. the PARADIGM set-up would be the cc-370 center,monitor 3 for mains, and the mini-monitors for the rears. there are aspects about both brands that i like. the nautilus tweeters in the B&W's seem to be getting a little extra attention from me,though. Has anyone been down this same road or has had any experience with either brand that can offer an opinion? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!! Thanks!!!!!

[chimera128]

It's all a matter of taste. Personally I didn't like the B&W line very much. To me they are overpriced and lacked something compared to the speakers I ended up getting. Of course I like the more spacious sound of bipolar speakers. In terms of their nautilus tweeters, you shouldn't just take a feature and let that be the deciding factor though. Each brand will have their gimmicks to sell their speakers. Wave Guide, Nautilus Tweeters, woofer composites, designer speaker boxes, built in powered subs etc. What matters is what you like best in the end in terms of the way it sounds not by what technology it uses or how expensive it is.

[PAT.P]

Hello! I've been auditioning new speakers for h/t and music, comparing various brands and have narrowed my search down to two: B&W and PARADIGM. The B&W set-up would comprise the lcr600 center,602 s-3 for mains, and the 601 s-3 for the rears. the PARADIGM set-up would be the cc-370 center,monitor 3 for mains, and the mini-monitors for the rears. there are aspects about both brands that i like. the nautilus tweeters in the B&W's seem to be getting a little extra attention from me,though. Has anyone been down this same road or has had any experience with either brand that can offer an opinion? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!! Thanks!!!!!

What is your room size? If large I would look for towers for front !Also for choosing you should audition both and let your ears tell.Make sure you bring your own music .What about a sub?Pat.P

[N. Abstentia]

Yeah like Chimera said, don't let the 'Nautilus tweeter' sway you. It's just a gimmicky name for a regular old tweeter. Also like Chimera, I didn't care for the B&W 600's at all either but that's a matter of personal taste. The Mini Moniters weren't exactly my cup of tea either. In the end I ended up with the Paradigm Studio's.

[topspeed]

To set the record straight, the Nautilus Tweeter is hardly a "gimmicky name for a regular old tweeter." This isn't some Vifa or Peerless tweeter purchased from another manufacturer and stuffed into a box. This is a proprietary tweeter designed and manufactured by B&W for B&W only. The Nautilus tweeter is described here and as you can see, there is quite a bit of technology behind it. Does is hurt the marketing side? Of course not, but then again B&W is in the business of selling speakers.

In regards to which speaker, as other's have mentioned it's a personal taste issue. Before I bought my B&W CDM 7NT's, I compared them against Studio 100's v2, Vandy 2ce's, Deftech's, M&K's, and everything else I could lay my mits on. Of all the speakers, it came down to the Studio's and B&W's. For what I listen to, I preferred the B&W's clarity and speed, especially in the bass. Using a brutal Dave Weckl track that has a quick walking bass line, the Studio's had more trouble delineating each pluck of the strings and things tended to get a bit smeared. Now keep in mind, this is the v2, and from what Woochifer says (an opinion I trust), the v3's have addressed this by toning down the tweeter (many complained of fatigue on the v2's) while tightening up the bass at the expense of some lower frequency extension and slam. Also, let me point out that to tell the difference between the Paradigm's and B&W's, you had to compare them side by side and exert a level of concentration that would be completely counterproductive to actually enjoying music. In other words, I'm not talking "night and day" differences here.

Bottom line, you should try to listen to both speakers in your own house. Differences in sound between the B&W's and Paradigms would probably come more from how each interacts with the room versus specific design differences. See if you're dealer will let you demo a pair of each to make the final decision. Ultimately, that is the safest way to determine which is best for you.

Good luck.

[kexodusc]

I don't know, I really like B&W's speakers, and was leaning towards those until the floor demo/used deal on the Studio's came up...The only difference I could tell between the B&W's and the Studio's was slightly less airiness and less detail vs slightly less bright or harsh sound from the tweeter at times...it was very subtle, and hard to tell which one was better, but I felt the Studio's were slightly over doing it and almost went with the B&W's.. Then the deal o' the century came along and I pulled the trigger...haven't been disappointed though.
I don't know if these same traits apply to the Monitor and 600 series or not, as I haven't spent enough time with either, but I suspect they're both pretty close too, but I would recommend against the Monitor 3..the Mini Monitor's going to do just about everything as well, especially if you have a subwoofer, and that 8" woofer in the Monitor 3 sounds a little funny to me. Don't get anything bigger than the Monitor 5, the value's just not there IMO.

This isn't some Vifa or Peerless tweeter purchased from another manufacturer and stuffed into a box. This is a proprietary tweeter designed and manufactured by B&W for B&W only.

This is really the age old debate for larger speaker companies...build em' inhouse cheaper, or let the masters build them.
For the entry line models, I think they're further ahead to build their own, but for speakers like the Studio's, 700 series, (speakers handy to $1000 - $2000 ) most $50-$80 drivers from Vifa-Speak, Focal, etc, I've heard completely ouclass what speaker companies seem to offer...and the higher up you go in price, the wider the gap. For peanuts more cost per speaker I honestly feel they'd be further ahead to outsource still. They'd probably slim up the profit margins a hair though...tough call.
But I'd love to see the Revelator tweeter in the Studio's...
Just my rant for the day...

[topspeed]

This is really the age old debate for larger speaker companies...build em' inhouse cheaper, or let the masters build them.
For the entry line models, I think they're further ahead to build their own, but for speakers like the Studio's, 700 series, (speakers handy to $1000 - $2000 ) most $50-$80 drivers from Vifa-Speak, Focal, etc, I've heard completely ouclass what speaker companies seem to offer...and the higher up you go in price, the wider the gap. For peanuts more cost per speaker I honestly feel they'd be further ahead to outsource still. They'd probably slim up the profit margins a hair though...tough call.
But I'd love to see the Revelator tweeter in the Studio's...
Just my rant for the day...

I dunno KC...

Have you heard the Signature tweeter? It's the one with the blue tint. I've heard the dual-ring Revalator in the VR11 and while I admit it's an exceptional tweeter, I wouldn't say it's better than B&W Sig tweeter.

[thedude1]

thanks for the reply! i'm sorry i didn't explain myself well enough.i like the nautilus tweeter because it seemed smooth and warm(can't deal with bright sound) no matter what music i played, not because of the catchy name.i wouldn't care if it was called the harry and joe shmo tweeter. i also know its up to what my ears hear and nobody elses.sometimes you tend to wonder if others picked up on the same thing you noticed. thanks again for your help!

[Lensman]

thanks for the reply! i'm sorry i didn't explain myself well enough.i like the nautilus tweeter because it seemed smooth and warm(can't deal with bright sound) no matter what music i played, not because of the catchy name.i wouldn't care if it was called the harry and joe shmo tweeter. i also know its up to what my ears hear and nobody elses.sometimes you tend to wonder if others picked up on the same thing you noticed. thanks again for your help!

I noticed this as well when I was listening to them. On the high end, I felt B&Ws did seem more laid back. But I felt the midrange of the Paradigms was better balanced (I also preferred the Mini Monitors over the Monitor 3s). Both are great choices and I know you're trying to decide between them. But given your preference for "smooth and warm" sound, I must ask if you had an opportunity to listen to JMLabs Chorus speakers. Their high end is anything but bright. In fact, I found it to be too laid back for me. Even so, I was still captivated by their ability to produce what I felt to be an exceedingly comfortable, smooth, warm overall sound. Might be just the sort of thing you're looking for.

[Geoffcin]

Hello! I've been auditioning new speakers for h/t and music, comparing various brands and have narrowed my search down to two: B&W and PARADIGM. The B&W set-up would comprise the lcr600 center,602 s-3 for mains, and the 601 s-3 for the rears. the PARADIGM set-up would be the cc-370 center,monitor 3 for mains, and the mini-monitors for the rears. there are aspects about both brands that i like. the nautilus tweeters in the B&W's seem to be getting a little extra attention from me,though. Has anyone been down this same road or has had any experience with either brand that can offer an opinion? Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!! Thanks!!!!!

Setup a friend of mine has. Although he's using the 602S3 for surround use, and his Matrix 3's for mains. The Nautilus tweeter is a noticeable upgrade from the Matrix tweeter, and his center channel has one, although I do not know the model #. I was a little disappointed with his center's range though. It has great quality, but it's only a tweeter and 6" midrange/woofer in a dual ported box. My guess is that the bass is limited to the 50hz range. While not a serious flaw, especially if you set the center to SMALL, I cant help but think that it's going to be dynamically limited on some programs. I prefer a LARGE center. If possible in your setup I would recommend it no matter which speakers you choose.

[RGA]

I only briefly heard the monitor 3 and it seemed quite good for the money - the Paradigm set-up would be coinsiderably less money here in Canada - The B&W 600 series IMO is better - but is it better enough to justify the price. Now if you're in the US maybe these two lines are about the same price if so I would personally lean to the B&W set-up. However, if the price structure is similar in that the 602S3 here goes for about double the Monitor 3 then perhaps I'd lean to the Paraidgms and use the difference to buy the best center speaker in the monitor line (assuming it's a relative match) --- OR A better beefier subwoofer with the difference.

In the end I agree in part with the rest here about the technology - in the end the Nautuilus system is not inherently better than any other driver just because B&W says so. For instance the Kevlar drivers have issues - many of their speakers lack attack and exhibit suckouts in the upper mids. Nothing is perfect - but on balance B&W makes might fine speakers. THE CDM series was very good and I agree with Topseed on his listening assessment with the CDM 7NT (I actually liked it better than the 9NT especially in terms of value). Indeed, if you can find some second hand CDM series speakers that would be my first choice.

For home theater both of these lines and the Studio series are all "cut from a similar cloth" Listen to the ones you can afford preferably in the same room at a delaer or at home with the same amp and dvd player etc and determine which one "does it for you."

Both brands carry well known big names and check into their upgrade policy - B&W used to give 100% trade-up for 6 months. So if you didn;t like em after a few months you could upgrade to the higher model like the CM series or Nautilus series and get exactly what you paid toward the better ones or the more expensive ones. Something worth investigating. Both appear to be well built and should serve you for years.

Try not to let the big advertising and technobabble seduce you into buying - it's all in the sound in the real world that matters. In that regard between these two I personally lean to the 600 series - how you lean is what matters however. I reviewed a speaker from each of the lines your looking at RGA Reviews <$2000.00 Page 2, Epos, Audio Note, Paradigm, B&W etc. Though please note the Monitor 3 I liked better because it is cheaper than the 5 - and this was not tested in H/T applications. Factoring in the price I might lean to the Monitor 3.