Riddle me this, riddle me that....ok now can someone try to explain that?

[bacchanal]

On what they are willing to go with. I'm not privy to Paradigms business model.

After reading a post by Woochifer though, it seems that by reading the timeline that the Sig Series might have had tech developed for it that was so good they decided to incorperate it into thier other models before the Sig went to market. I would praise Paradigm for this, as it looks like they came up with some winning tech and rushed into the more affordable line. Either way it looks like these subs are pushing the bar ever higher. That's good for all of us.

Wait a sec. Paradigm revises and makes slight improvements upon the studio line, puts it in fancier cabinets to make the signature line at double the price. Some of this revised tech (redesigned sub driver) ends up in the studio line at a premium price, because few people wanted to put up the inflated prices of the signature line (sig servo).

I think wooch made the point that the sig series are basically hyped up studio revisions...not to be confused with a new line pushing the envelope and bringing new technology to a price point where it didn't previously exist.

Certainly the signature series pushes the performance envelope of the paradigm cataloge, but it hasn't helped the price/performance ratio for paradigm or for the studio series specifically.

It seems that they were basically trying to expand their product line to a higher end (dollar wise) market they had not yet tapped into. This seems to have been more of a marketing driven goal than an engineering/performance driven one.

If you aren't aware I own some studio40 v.2's that I really like. Am I biased, sure. But, from my point of view the paradigm studio series is very competitive in it's price range against many other manufacturers. When you get into the signature series price range, there are a many other alternatives to paradigm that deserve consideration.

[Woochifer]

Wait a sec. Paradigm revises and makes slight improvements upon the studio line, puts it in fancier cabinets to make the signature line at double the price. Some of this revised tech (redesigned sub driver) ends up in the studio line at a premium price, because few people wanted to put up the inflated prices of the signature line (sig servo).

I think wooch made the point that the sig series are basically hyped up studio revisions...not to be confused with a new line pushing the envelope and bringing new technology to a price point where it didn't previously exist.

Certainly the signature series pushes the performance envelope of the paradigm cataloge, but it hasn't helped the price/performance ratio for paradigm or for the studio series specifically.

I'm not altogether sure what followed what -- basic chicken and egg question. The Signature series makes some very substantive changes from the Studio v.2 (changes to the driver design, driver size, crossover frequency, port location, binding posts, cabinetry, etc.), and the prototypes for the Sigs were revealed about a year before the Studio v.3 series was announced. When the pictues of the Signatures made their way around, I remember the reaction was generally that Paradigm looked like they were going upscale, and a step up from the existing Studio series. Once the Studio v.3 series came out, people remarked how different they looked from the v.2 series AND how similar they looked to the Signatures.

In my assessment of the Signature S2, I didn't feel that the speakers represented enough of an improvement over the Studio 20 v.3 for its $2k list price. But, for me it says more for how great a value the Studio 20 v.3 , as opposed to any deficiency with the S2. To assess how the S2 justifies its price, the comparison has to be directly done with similarly priced speakers.

With the subwoofer, Paradigm had already introduced the Seismic series to take over the $1,500 price point from the Servo 15. Moving the Servo 15 up to the $2,200 price point made sense given that the new model makes some substantial improvements over the previous model (superior driver with far more air movement per stroke, much more powerful amp, deeper extension). Unfortunately for people looking in the $1,500 price point, they no longer have that 15" sealed sub option available to thhem.

On performance value, the Studio series prices went up 15% to 25% across the board when the v.3 series was introduced. Compared to the v.2 series, whether or not this represents an improvement to the price/performance equation depends on how you view the audible changes that Paradigm made to the Studio series.

It seems that they were basically trying to expand their product line to a higher end (dollar wise) market they had not yet tapped into. This seems to have been more of a marketing driven goal than an engineering/performance driven one.

You very well might be right. If you look at the speakers themselves, without listening to them, the Studio v.3 in some ways less ruggedly constructed than the Studio v.2 models. However, in my listenings they definitely make strides in just about every way in terms of the audio performance. The Signature series models weigh about the same as the equivalent Studio v.2 models.

I think that there was an engineering/performance goal of making a series of speakers that improved upon the existing Studio v.2 series. The market driven goal was determining whether this improvement would be sold as its own series, as an improved version of the Studios, or both. Paradigm obviously opted for both. The original rumor when the Signature series was getting developed was that the Studio v.3 series would double in cost from the v.2. End result was a slightly more expensive Studio series and the 2x-3x more expensive Signature series, so on average that rumor was sorta right.

[meephis]

Why did they increase the price so much with the V3's anyways?
hey right now its
RGA-1630 posts
WOOCHIFER-1630 posts
kind of off topic but cool that you have the same #

[RGA]

Yikes and the 16,000 posts for the years before they converted this forum to this style.

Time to get a life - and sadly I post less here than some other forums.

[Woochifer]

Why did they increase the price so much with the V3's anyways?
hey right now its
RGA-1630 posts
WOOCHIFER-1630 posts
kind of off topic but cool that you have the same #

The price increase is actually in line with what other speaker manufacturers have done with their most recent model revisions. Given that Paradigm had held the line on prices since the original Studio series came out in 1996, and the v.3 models represent a more radical change than between the v.1 and v.2, I don't think that a 15% to 25% price increase is that far out of line. The 50% price increase on the Servo 15 is a lot steeper, but that's also because the new Servo 15 is an even more radical step up from the previous version.

I don't know if it's that cool that I got THAT many posts! But, it is time well spent, even if I've now caught up to RGA's volume.

[Feanor]

...I think that there was an engineering/performance goal of making a series of speakers that improved upon the existing Studio v.2 series. The market driven goal was determining whether this improvement would be sold as its own series, as an improved version of the Studios, or both. Paradigm obviously opted for both. The original rumor when the Signature series was getting developed was that the Studio v.3 series would double in cost from the v.2. End result was a slightly more expensive Studio series and the 2x-3x more expensive Signature series, so on average that rumor was sorta right.

Despite the convoluted series of events, I think it comes back to what I said above: Signature vs. Studio, V.3 is is another instance charging the customer a lot more money for a relatively modest -- or tiny -- improvement, at least with regard to sound quality.

Of course, better vinishes, greater cabinet mass, (maybe just ballast vs. bracing?), and prestige are something a given customer might value and be willing to pay for.