karister

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
More than 1 year

Visitors rate this review
2.67 of 5, 3.00 votes

Price Paid:  $500.00 from private party

Summary:
This is about the 9se MK II, they are real nice speakers with great detail. The bass is plenty and I love the highs and mids so classy. Well built, and on pedestals they tend to have great sound stage. I really like when listening to Jazz n Blues kinda they really shine.

Rallyguy

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.00 of 5, 2.00 votes

Price Paid:  $195.00 from Craigslist

Summary:
I've lusted after Paradigm's since I was first into audio gear in the 80's as a teenager. I recently fulfilled that craving - picking up a pair of 9SE's for a bargain price.

In the time between lusting after the Paradigms and actually acquiring them - I have been lucky enough to build up a rather serious "stack" of quality gear. (Adcom, Krell, Parasound, Nordost, Kimber etc)

So it was into this rather heady system that I slipped the 9SE's recently.

For a bargain price - I was fairly impressed and the other reviews here will attest to the good points.

But I have the good fortune to review this against some truly audiophile speakers while driving them with top-quality equipment. So I'll focus more on how they compare (somewhat favourably) to high-end gear.

Paired with excellent electornics - these are fine speakers. But they have thier shortcomings...

First off, they seem to have a mild spike around 800-1000hz - giving a bit of "whack" to percussion instruments.

Imaging is very good, the speakers almost "disappearing", stereo separation being excellent.

But most challenging is the "flateness" that they exhibit. While resolution is generally very good - there is no "air" or "space" around the notes. And whlile the sound stage is fairly broad - it's too shallow. There's no depth to the sound stage.

The worst exhbition of this down low. Such a large cabinet with twin ports should have nice round bottom end - but the 9SE seems to just roll off, and too soon as well. The is no "underside" to the lower notes - and certainly no air for them to float on.

This (and the inability to eak out precise detail and resolution) seperates a merely "very good" speaker (which these certainly are) from a great speaker, which these most certainly aren't.

With these being available for only a couple of hundred dollars, they are a bagain and certainly worth trying. But recognize there is MORE detail, MORE low end and a MORE realistic representations of the recording available.

Strengths:
Generally fidelity, imaging, value.

Weaknesses:
Sound stage depth, detail, low end resolution.

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm Monitor 3, Polk 5Bs, Disimilar products: Vandersteen 2C's, Wilson Audio WATT/Puppy

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Price Paid:  $0.00 from Absolute Sound

Summary:
These were the first high-end speakers I ever bought. I went into Absolute Sound in Ann Arbor, Michigan, planning to buy something else. The salesman suggested that I listen to these, and boy am I glad I did. I auditioned a half dozen pairs of speakers that day, and none of them came close to the pure, detailed sound of the Paradigms. The soundstage was incredible -- as lifelike as I had ever heard out of a hi-fi system. It came down to the 7se or the 9se, and I ended up stretching to get the 9se because the 7's seemed to lose a little something down low at higher levels, while the 9se's never faltered.

That was in 1988. It's now 2006. In the last 18 years, I moved many times, got married, had kids and ... sold off the 9se's in a garage sale in 1996 or so. About 5 years ago I built a new hi-fi home theater system. Try as I might, I could never get it to sound "right." I vividly remembered the sound of the Paradigms with some of my favorite recordings, and nothing else I tried did them justice. Then I found a pair of beat-up 9se's on ebay. I bought them cheap ($200). The enclosures are beat up and the gouged, and they look awful. But, oh, do they sound great. As soon as I hooked them up and put in "Night Train" by Rickie Lee Jones, I was in heaven. They are smooth, natural, precise and lifelike -- just like I remembered.

I understand that the current version of these speakers are sold by Paradigm as the Monitor 9. I haven't auditioned them, but if they're anything like the 9se, you'll love them.

Strengths:
The best imaging and most lifelike sound I've ever heard out of sub-$1,000 loudspeakers. Great customer service, too. I burned a tweeter in my original pair by overdriving them to insanely loud levels at a house party while using too small of an amp that almost certainly clipped. Paradigm sent me a new tweeter at no charge, no questions asked.

Weaknesses:
They are low impedance speakers (4 ohms), and I burned up two receivers early on with my first pair because the low impedance caused them to draw more current than the receivers could handle. With a good amp/receiver capable of driving 4 ohm loads, however, they are awesome.

Similar Products Used:
After rediscovering the 9se's, I bought a Paradigm Reference Series home theater system with Studio 60 fronts, CC450 center and ADP450 surrounds. We're using them in our main room in large part because they look a lot nicer than the beat-up 9se's. To my ears, however, the much more expensive Studio 60's don't sound any better than the 9se's.

Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I bought these speakers matched to a hk385i amp in 1987. To this day these speakers deliver crystal clear sound at any volume I choose to push them at.

Strengths:
Clear, pure, sound reproduction.

Weaknesses:
Could have a little more base.

Price Paid:  $575.00 from Local Dealer

Summary:
Paradigm makes some of the best speakers in the industry for cheap. These speakers have never let me down. My friends heard them and they all went out and bought Paradigms as well because they were so blown away by them.

Soon I will have a complete Paradigm matched-system with equal cones. I can't wait. I just picked up the CC-370 and Mini-Monitors to go with my 9seMKIIIs.

The only speaker I've ever heard that sound better than Paradigms are B&W ($$$) and Paradigm Reference. You will not regret purchasing these speakers.

If you're in the market for speakers in this price range, there is no substitue. The Monitor 9's are the current model version of the 9seMKIIIs with a few upgrades. Go buy them.

I will only buy Paradigms for the rest of my life. I am that sold on these speakers.

Strengths:
Outstanding Sonic Quality for the money

Weaknesses:
None for this price range

Similar Products Used:
B&W, Klipsh, Pioneer, MTX, BIC