My weekend auditions

[Duds]

So i spent about 3 hours at Clark Music in Latham, NY on Saturday. I listened to the B&W 601s3, Paradigm Studio 20 v3, Paradigm Mini Monitor v3. I brought music such as A Perfect Circle, Marillion, The Gathering, and Peter Gabriel. I must say i was impressed with the 601's, and even more impressed with the Studio 20's.

I had listened to the 601's before, but only briefly. When I sat down to listen to them, the speakers were only about 5 feet apart. Although they sounded good, I couldnt get a feel for the soundstage, so the salesman moved them farther apart for me. After that, i was impressed with what they could do. I dont really know the audiophile terminology, but i must say they were quite detailed, and had a sound that was neutral? not really sure how to describe it, but i did like them very much.

I then listened to the Studio 20's and was very impressed again. They were even more detailed than the 601's and had a little brighter sound to them? At least thats what my ears heard. Both speakers were powered with Rotel electronics and Rotel cd players.

I wasnt too impressed with the Mini Monitors, although they set up wasnt that great. They were sitting on a shelf and very close to the wall, which is probably why they sounded muddled to me.

Right now I am trying to decide if the difference in price between the B&W's and the Paradigms is justifiable. I could get the 601's for $400 (plus stands) and the salesman actually gave me a price of $675 for the studio 20's, which i thought was a great price. Did i hear a $275 dollar differnce though? I'm not really sure. Maybe a home audition would convince me either way.

I know there are a ton of other speakers i should listen to, but there isnt much of an offering here in this area. I listened to some Totems a few weeks ago, and although they look nice, the sound didnt do much for me and they seemed way overpriced.

I plan on going back to Clark Music for some more listening. The saleman was great, and I dont think i would have any problems getting him to let me do a home audtition. Stay tuned!!

Also, if anyone in the Albany NY area is looking for new speakers, they had a pair of Studio 40 V3's with stands for $900.

[dean_martin]

Have you listened to the B&W 602s? They're generally priced around $650. IMO, they're a little big for a standmount, but I'm used to smaller monitors. I've listened to them, but I've never compared them to the 601s. Others have commented that the series 2 models of 601s and 602s sounded quite different with the 601s having a "darker" sound which some preferred. It's a matter of personal taste, but if you're leaning toward spending more on the Paradigms you might want to listen to the 602s at or about the same price.

[Duds]

I was going to listen to them 602's but I'm thinking they are just too big for the room I will have them set up in. I have heard a lot of good things about them though.

[bacchanal]

I have some Studio 40v2s, and I listened to the 20s, the 601's and 602's quite a bit when I made my purchase (about a year ago). I had the same problem with avaliability in my area. These were basically my top two brands with product in my price range that I could actually audition.
I think it would really depend on your listening environment (your room) to make a decision between these two. The Paradigms are definitely more "forward" than the B&Ws, which probably is why you percieve them as more detailed. If you have a really bright sounding room, the B&Ws might be a better choice. However if your room has some absorbsion going on, the Studio20's would probably sound really nice. Of course you can always treat your room, but that is another story.
If you listen to a lot of rock music, I think you might like the Studio20's a little better. The high end of the paradigm studio series adds that extra attack to those sludgey rock riffs (my opinion) if you're into that sort of thing.
As far as cost justification...think about if you're planning to upgrade eventually (center, surrounds, floor mains, sub etc). Would you rather upgrade in the B&W 600 series, the Studio series, or something different entirely?
If you can do a home audition that would be great and would definitely help you purchase with confidence. If you could audition them both at the same time, so you can listen to them side by side in your house, that would be ideal.

[Duds]

Thanks for the suggestions. As far as upgrading in the future, I dont plan on getting into the whole 5.1 thing, I hardly watch movies. I may want a center channel at some point for the rare occassion that i do pop in a movie, or for the music dvds that I do have. If thats the case, who has the better centers, B&W or Paradigm? I believe I have read people using a studio 20 for a center channel, is that correct?

[Woochifer]

Sounds like you came to the same conclusion that I did a few years ago when I was deciding between the Studio 40 and the DM602. Both of them had their strengths, but I went with the Paradigms because of their huge advantage with conveying movie soundtracks.

Thanks for the suggestions. As far as upgrading in the future, I dont plan on getting into the whole 5.1 thing, I hardly watch movies. I may want a center channel at some point for the rare occassion that i do pop in a movie, or for the music dvds that I do have. If thats the case, who has the better centers, B&W or Paradigm? I believe I have read people using a studio 20 for a center channel, is that correct?

Before you finalize your verdict on 5.1, you should give multichannel music a try. Believe me, it's the full range split surround channels that justify investing in a home theater system. In actuality, I would go without a center speaker before I would go without the surround speakers. In a 5.1 setup with Studio 20s all the way around, you'll be astounded at how much depth gets conveyed, and how stable the imaging sounds. With albums heavy on ambient cues like Pat Metheny Group's Imaginary Day, the 5.1 mix projects a much more immersive experience than the two-channel version does. Plus, it allows for a variety of new imaging cues that simply cannot be conveyed with only two channels.

As far as which center speakers are better, I would have to say that Paradigm's center speakers are more consistent with the main lines. With B&W, I've heard good center speakers and a couple of bad ones. And with center speakers, the key is how well they match with the mains, not how good they sound by themselves.

In that respect, it's actually ideal to go with a third main speaker in the middle, but the presence of the TV in the middle of everything is the reason why you have horizontal center speakers. If you use a wall-mounted TV or have enough space in the middle, then you should actually go with a third Studio 20 for the center speaker.

[RGA]

Duds.

I agree home theater isn't that big of a deal -if going home theater and it is going to take a few years most of these companies keep changing their speakers so fast that you would be forced into buying mismatched speakers or looking on Ebay.

Build yourself a good 2 channel system where 99.99% of music is recorded and worry about that makes more senses than worrying over the .001% that is multi-channel recorded.

If you decide to build a home theater at a later date in antoher room it costs little to do. Get a Marantz 4300 or equivelant receiver like mine - $320.00Cdn then buy a $500.00Sub woofer and one of the many 5 speaker pachages for $500.00(Paradigm Atoms perhaps)

I think if your room is bigger than 10X10 that you should be considering the B&W 602S3 which while big really isn;t going to take up a larger footprint than the 601. The 602S3 is fuller sounding sounds like ti has more body --- it obviously has more bass and can play louder

Two speakers I'd consider over the 602S3 are the Dynaudio Audience 42 and Audio Note AX Two (this one if you're willing to look for it is $550.00) . The the 602S3 is no slouch and looks cooler.

[Buzz Roll]

I agree with RGA, never surround yourself with mediocre sound, when you can get closer to the music with high quality two channel. Also, be careful with those bright speakers on the demo floor. They're often like that so you'll bring 'em home, but doesn't guarantee long term satisfaction. It's misleading to think that you're getting detail, but at the expense of musicality.

I know a lot of people here like Paradigm and it's ok to - just my recent experiences.