Klipsch or Paradigm Speakers?

[dgalletti]

I'm currently in the market for new speakers, I've listened to both the Klipsch & Paradigm speakers:
Klipsch RF-10, RC-10 & RS-10....vs the Paradigm Monitor 7 group. What speakers would give the best sound in music and movies. I'm leaning towards the Klipsch because they sound better in the movie group.

Thank you,
dcg

[blackraven]

I'm a big fan of paradigm and don't care for klipsch, but it all boils down to what sounds best to you. (klipsch sound way too bright for me, although paradigm can be a little bright as well) I give music a much higher priority over HT. You have to ask yourself what is more important, HT or music. Personally, I dont understand why some people find HT more important than music when purchasing hi-end equipment. What matters most to me in HT is that I have a very good center channel so that I can understand the dialogue, a good sub and an excellent video source.

[budgetaudio76]

i use monitor9 v3 l/r speakers. they work well for movies. plenty of bass. as well as good mid range can be abit bright like stated in the post above. use em mostly for music. mainly jazz(acoustic music in general). for music they work great. nice timbre. can tell differences with different instruments played. image well with movies as well. when i use two channels for movies it sounds as if the center channel is working and when i go up to check it it is turned off.

[markw]

When auditioning speakers, I always suggest using music as the gold standard. forget about movies. Listen mostly to the main fronts with a well recorded two channel CD that you are familiar with. Turn the subwoofer off (make sure the speakers regetting the full range) and concentrate on what you actually hear, not what you WANT to hear.

When you find something that's musically satisfying, you can rest assured that when you add the matching center and surrounds, the HT experience will be exceptional as well.

If you read back here (and in other forums) you'll find many people complaining that their system sounds great for HT but lacks for music. I can't ever recall ever hearing the opposite.

[bfalls]

It makes more sense to audition in the format you plan to use most. What sounds good for movies may not for music and visa versa. If you'r main entertainment is movies a speaker with good low-end and dynamics may be better suited. For music you'd want a more accurate speaker with more focus on getting the midrange right.

You can't put all Klipsch speakers in the same category. I have earlier Klipsch' which sound very well balanced to me. I haven't been a fan of the Klipsch sound since their Synergy series. They went too mass market and use too much plastic. The older Heritage and Classic systems sound much better.

[budgetaudio76]

i agree with you bfalls about the synergy floor standers. i tried playing a pair at best buy. not the best place for it is it now. they sounded so shrill. overpowered everything else. youd think something for a few hundered would sound better.

[budgetaudio76]

SO...dgalletti...haalllooo?! have you made a decision yet. if so what have you chosen. i must concede that choosing speakers are a personal matter more suited to ones tastes so disregard all of the above. and choose what sounds good to you. and tell us of the things ya hear...please?....

[aeh10]

I'm currently in the market for new speakers, I've listened to both the Klipsch & Paradigm speakers:
Klipsch RF-10, RC-10 & RS-10....vs the Paradigm Monitor 7 group. What speakers would give the best sound in music and movies. I'm leaning towards the Klipsch because they sound better in the movie group.

Thank you,
dcg

I think most will tell you its a matter of personal preference. I agree with an earlier post I believe by 'blackraven'. I can tell you that I have been running Paradigm 7v4's for over a year now and I never get tired of hearing them. I would be hard pressed to buy any other speaker than Paradigm, (maybe B&W) Good luck and listen to what sounds good to you.

What amp are you using ?

[RGA]

Some Klipsch speakers are bright - the reference series isn't really one of those lines. At first I would agree that you should listen to music and base your opinion on that and let home theater follow BUT with home cinema the center channel is critical and it is very possible for good 2 channel speakers to be let down if the center channel is not great. And if the Klipsch center is very superior and you're going to watch a lot of movies the choice is clear.

One other thing that I personally like about Klipsch is that they are more efficient and more sensitive allowing you a better jump off point to upgrade into good low powered tube amplifiers in the future. As for brightness it is often more a function of revealing the warts of most receivers and other poor sounding amplifying devices which is not really the fault of the High Efficiency (HE) speakers.

If you're looking at the Reference Klipsch line listen to the model down from the top floorstander. Often it's not the most expensive floorstander that sounds the best. Speakers in this price range tend to use MDF cabinets but not really super quality and the biggest speaker has more bass but more flimsy cabinets and they sound generally muddier and tubbier than their smaller counterparts.

[f0rge]

i've listened to a lot of paradigm in my day and it's hard to go wrong with the monitor 7's. they are a really nice speaker.