PSB or Paradigm

Hi I'm looking at either the PSB T45's or the Paradigm monitor's 7 or 9 which is a better all round speaker for the money are there any other speakers in this price range to look at. thanks for your guy's help.

Yes there are many many many other speakers to look at in this price range but more importantly there are many other spekaers to listen to in this price range.

I don't think we can tell you what is better out of those two as a value per dollar stance. some will like one or the other some will say they're on par and others will tell you to buy something else.

I would try and listen to as many different kinds of speakers(ones that are not styled like the two you're looking at) as you can.

The more you listen to the more you'll know what your preferences are and the less you'll need to rely on magazines or forums like this one to "give" advice. The one thing i have learned in this hobby over 15 years is that the best judge of sound copmes from the BUYER. Not everyone hears it the same way and not everyone likes the same aspect of what they are hearing. The review industry loves everything because they are recommending to people what they think other people might like -- which is impossible so they pretty much recommend every product on the basis that "surely someone will like this." The question though for you is will YOU like it or not. No one here can answer that better than you.

Good Luck -- listening to speakers and hunting for good one's can be a lot of fun -- the longer you take in the shopping the more experiences and knowledge you get. :cool:

I agree speaker are a very personal taste sort of thing. However if people are buying one kind of speaker at certain price point, it is a good idea to have a listen to those speakers and then make up one's own mind.

P.S I listened to the psb T55 the other day was impressed the paradigm line is on my list today.

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Originally Posted by Mirageman

Hi I'm looking at either the PSB T45's or the Paradigm monitor's 7 or 9 which is a better all round speaker for the money are there any other speakers in this price range to look at. thanks for your guy's help.

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...if you're into a "leap of faith". Meadowlark audio is going out of business, but the "E" series floor-stander is half off, "A" stock. Under $500. I have not heard these, but I would imagine they would have a more refined presentation than the Monitor series.

The 7s and 9s are "O.K.", but have some problems, IMO. Of your two choices, I would do the PSBs.

You'll just have to go out and listen to everything you can... let us know what you end up with...

Ive got a set of PSB Image 7PTs that I am very happy with. Granted, I got them second hand for $375, but their quality is astounding.

Hello again I have a chance to pick upPSB 5T's 700.00 CDN or PSB 4T's for 470.00 CDN listened did not find that the new ones the T55's were 250.00 to 400.00 dollars better has anyone had the the older Image speakers for awhile and how are they holding up. Also listened to the Paradigm monitor 7's they were not broken in yet so I'm not sure about them how long would they take to lossen up?

Ahh the good ol dealer and the old "well they are not broken in yet" BS. Why would a dealer be letting people listen to unbroken in speakers? And this is assuming Break-in can make THAT MUCH of a difference.

"However if people are buying one kind of speaker at certain price point, it is a good idea to have a listen to those speakers and then make up one's own mind."

Well one has to be careful with this line of reasoning because Bose is the biggest selling speaker maker in the world -- so big in fact that the NEXT five speaker makers COMBINED are still smaller than Bose. And arguably Bose is unmittigated garbage across the board.

Just because MOST people buy something sure as hell doesn't mean it's any good. Doesn't mean it's bad either of course but it's a good Idea to at least be cautious.

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Originally Posted by RGA

Ahh the good ol dealer and the old "well they are not broken in yet" BS. Why would a dealer be letting people listen to unbroken in speakers? And this is assuming Break-in can make THAT MUCH of a difference.

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Ya know, I've always been really reluctant to buy the break-in theory until this weekend. I finished up 2 different speaker projects of mine and was taking some measurements of two drivers in particular: the first was 3" Hi-Vi full range speaker (usually used as a midrange unit, I made it into a small 5-satellite system for a relative).
The second was 8" Dayton woofer. Both manufacturers claim that manufacturers claim that the resonant frequency will drop a few Hz (one claimed as much as 10 Hz) after several hours of playing. I though "yeah right".

I actually have my own measurements to support this though as of last night. The 8" woofer in particular has an Fs or 28 Hz. My first measurement put the Fs at about 37 Hz.

After about 4 hours of playing we took a 2nd measurement and sure enough the Fs had dropped to 29 Hz and the sensitivity had climbed a few dB. Loosening up?

The small driver displayed a nasty upper midrange dip which really made it sound nasally and scratchy. A few days later the FR plot leveled off. This driver probaby had about 7 or 8 hours of play on it. We played 4 of these speakers in an a/b, 2 that never were played, and the two that were, and it was incredibly noticeable how different the "broken-in" speakers sounded.

I don't know about 200-300 hours of break in, but I believe there's definitely something to this now. I've heard the suspensions tend to loosen up to standard after a bit of movement, but I'll have to look further into this.

Other drivers I've used were previously so close to spec that I didn't think to measure break-in.

"Why would a dealer be letting people listen to unbroken in speakers?"

No kidding...I'm still not sure I'd buy this as an excuse. Who'd be dumb enough to buy a speaker with hopes that it meets your expectations when it's done breaking-in? Seems like a pretty big gamble to me.

I'm not sure how much different the speakers would sound, it's probably dependant on the driver in question.

Kex. My speakers recommend 500 hours of break-in = foam surrounds. He says the K because of the rubber surrounds will be as they are out of the box.

The dealer excuse is just that an excuse -- I have went to three different places and all oif them said "just so you know they're not broken in yet."

If I lived in that area I should have said OK here's my card you call me when they ARE fully broken in and i'll ciome back then.

It's just so bogus. It's ok if the dealer just picked up the line -- Soundhounds picked up the Diamon B&W's and the Magnepan's and if I go in the day they;re pulling them off the delivery truck fine but if they have carried a line for 6 months then it's bogus -- they don;t get rid of the demo's until after the run is over and the new models come in. Thus if I listen tot he B&W 602S3 at Soundhounds then it is a few YEARS old and played a helluva lot.

Here's one for break-in skeptics--- With AN they supposedly go through TWO break-in periods. It gets better after a hundred hours or so then gets really bad then gets really good again and has settled. Several individuals claim this to be the case.

I'm not saying break-in doesn;t exist because i heard it for myself -- but the dealer excuse rings hollow to me.

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Originally Posted by Mirageman

Hello again I have a chance to pick upPSB 5T's 700.00 CDN or PSB 4T's for 470.00 CDN listened did not find that the new ones the T55's were 250.00 to 400.00 dollars better has anyone had the the older Image speakers for awhile and how are they holding up. Also listened to the Paradigm monitor 7's they were not broken in yet so I'm not sure about them how long would they take to lossen up?

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Be suspicious if a dealer excuses poor speaker sound on the basis that "they're not broken in yet".

First, he ought no to present speakers 'til they are broken in. Secondly, speakers -- and most other components -- will be 98% broken in in 4-12 hours in any case.

until I heard it for myself when I brought home my new PSB Image T45s. The bass was very weak for the 1st 24 hours or so but the more I played them, the stronger the bass got. I don't mean loose and sloppy ..just stronger and more apparent..

But that being said, I to would be very skeptical of dealers touting speaker breakin as an excuse for poor sounding speakers. If I were a dealer, I'd make dam sure that all my demo's were broken in before putting them out on the floor. Sounds like this guy is trying to make a fast buck..

Here's a way to test "break-in".
Place the two unbroken-in speakers face to face, out of phase.
Play pink noise and record the SPL using a calibrated mic.

Now break-in one speaker.
Play the pink noise and record it again in exactly the same manner and conditions.
If the SPL is higher and/or contains tones from other parts of the spectrum, the break-in period did something.