We have been visiting in the San Diego area and I am taking the opportunity to audition some speakers.

The Paradigm Signature S8 is a great speaker. The location wasn't the greatest as they were close to other speakers but that didn't stop them. They handle full orchestra, male and female vocals, mixed chorus, brass and various transients superbly. The sound seemed very smooth and neutral. The image is quite consistent with good depth. and I couldn't find any material that seemed to stick to the speaker. The bass was very good, though it doesn't seem to go as super deep as on the Studio 100, v. 2. These seem to be a very neutral and transparent speakers, and I really enjoyed listening to all sorts of music with them. This is one of the most enjoyable speakers I have ever heard and I could easily live with them, I think, though that could only be finally determined after a home trial. They're so good that I found it hard to concentrate on evaluating them, as I just liked listening to the music.

Some of the CDs I used were, the following, and of course I only used short sections:

Denon New Release 1985, BES-9079. The beginning of Schubert's 9th Symphony and a couple of opera excerpts with a soprano, tenor, baritone, bass and male chorus, along with a gunshot, crowd and stage noises. I have used this for 18 years or so and the recordings sound different with different speakers, so I keep it for consistency.

CBS 34509. Beethoven's Pathetique Sonata with Horowitz.

Castle UNCD12. Roger Whittaker, Unforgettable. "What a wonderful world."

Patricia Barber, Cafe Blue. Lovely vocals in Mourning Grace.

Philips 420 353-2. Mozart's Requiem, Kyrie, Colin Davis, etc. The chorus was smooth, even the sopranos above the staff. Even the orchestra sounded good and smooth, which it usually doesn't. On the whole, the best I have ever heard this.

Telarc CD-80049. Bach, Passacaglia in C. Michael Murray, organ at Methuen Hall. The speaker didn't seem to reproduce the 16 Hz fundamental of the 32 foot organ pipe, but then few do, but seems to go down to 30 Hz or so well enough. That's what big subwoofers are for.

Chesky JD33. Club de Sol. Title piece. The image for this recording sometimes extends wider than the speakers, and it did with the S8 speakers. Those wicked transients stayed in the stereo image and never stuck to the speaker.

Chesky CD6. Brahms 4th Symphony. Fritz Reiner. This was done in the 60s with the late Kenneth Wilkinson as recording engineer.

I also listened to the new Studio 100, v. 3, which is quite nice, very fine on male and female vocals and piano and the other materials and quite livable, They seemed a little tizzy in the extreme highs and a bit more colored than the Signature 8's. An enjoyable listen, nevertheless.

I would not need the S8 since I have a subwoofer, and would probably look very seriously at the S4 or even S2, as with my sub I think a mini-monitor type would work very well for me. They should sound similar except in the deep bass. As I mentioned some weeks ago, I heard the S2 briefly and it seemed to be very good and I will have to check them out at greater length.

A few days ago, I heard the PSB Stratus Minis and quite enjoyed them. Very easy to listen to. Certainly a quite neutral speaker which projects a big image when called for, although there are some things I need to check on with a couple of different recordings.

Next on my list is the Joseph Audio RM-7si Signature, which the dealer assures me will "blow away" the Stratus Minis. We'll see shortly.