Deep, tuneful bass. Warmth and power in the mid-bass. Relatively compact size. Attractive real wood veneer sides. Nice tone controls on built-in amps on back. Solid as a rock, heavy.

Hard to find since Paradigm doesn't make them anymore. Top end not as airy as some high end speakers costing much more, such as Magnepan.

I have 3 pair of these Active 40 v2 speakers, all in the very attractive rosewood wood veneer... One pair comprise a stereo music listening setup in my living room, used in conjunction with an Anthem TLP-1 pre-amp. The other 2 pair are the front and rear speakers in my home theater system, which also has an Active CC v2 and a Servo 15. The pre/pro is an Anthem AVM-20. Let me start by explaining that when I first setup my home theater system in 2002, I did not get these first. Instead, I bought Paradigm Reference Studio 100 v2 mains, 20's for the rears, ADP surrounds, Studio CC, and drove all with a Denon AVR-5803, to create a 7.1 setup. I was pretty happy with them, but then I bought a pair of Active 40s and the Anthem TLP-1 for the aforementioned stereo music listening in the living room. The Active 40's sounded great. Over the course of several months, I began to notice I liked listening to music more in the living room. The bass, especially seemed more musical, and the sound stage seemed bigger. So I setup an A/B comparison in the home theater room with the Denon AVR-5803 driving the Active 40's as a pre-amp and the Studio 100's as their amp. It was a no brainer, and even the wife agreed in a blind test, the Active 40's kicked the butt of the Studio 100's. I thought it had to be impossible. So I decided to get better amplification for the Studio 100's. I borrowed from my local Anthem dealer an MCA-50 amp and brought it home to drive the Studio 100s. While they improved, especially in the attacks in the high frequencies, they still seemed less musical and satisfying than the Active 40s. I even took the Active 40's to the audio dealer and auditioned them against speakers costing over $6,000/pair, and while those more expensive speakers did have a clearer high end, they lacked the low-end punch and warmth of the Active 40s, and I didn't find them nearly as enjoyable listening to the type of music I like or ha dto demo (U2, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Sarah McLaughlin, Radiohead, etc.). Anyway, I sold all my Paradigm Referfence Studio speakers and the Denon AVR-5803, and for about the same money, I bought the 2 extra pair of Active 40's, the Active CC, the AVM-20, and the stands and cables. I kept the Servo 15. Now I only have a 5.1 setup, but it sounds way better. I think generally, it also helps a lot to have the same speakers in the rears, especially for music on SACD and DVD-Audio. The Dark Side of the Moon SACD sounds absolutely amazing on these things. About the only speaker I've auditioned that I liked better were the larger Magnepans, drivin with very expensive separates. The maggies have the most natural sounding bass and extremely airy high end. But with the necessary amplification, they are expensive, and their size make them a bad fit for my rooms. If I had bigger rooms with higher ceilings, I'd give them another look. Another way to describe these things is to compare them to Bang and Olufsen, which are also active designs. I found that only the top 2 models in B&O's speaker line sound better than the Active 40's, and the cheapest of these is over $10,000/pair. Are there better speakers out there? Sure. Better for less money? I don't think so. Too bad Paradigm stopped making Actives. From the selling prices of these things on Audiogon and eBay when they pop up from time to time, it seems there's still a lot of demand, since they're selling for about what they cost new.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Studio 100v2, Studio 20v2, Active 20 v2

excellent clarity in treble and midrange extended, unstrained bass response frees rec. power up for mains/rears

none at this point

this is actuall a review for the active l/r, a powered woof-mid-woof version of the active 40, or maybe more accurately the studio CC. local dealer had two of these sitting around for years, never been used. apparently, the amp module went out or was faulty on one of the units, but the other worked just fine. sent the amp off to paradigm, which lost/misplaced/couldn't fix it. SOOOOOO... thought what a killer center the intact one would make, even though they were orig. designed for mains. asked what they wanted, they said $300... knew what the active 40's orig. went for, c. $1800 or so a pair, figured what a deal so traded my studio cc in. surfed the web and that was about the price for a pair of these beauties also. speaker is black vinyl covered. anyway, this is WAY better all around than the studio cc it has replaced. has it's own volume, bass/treble contours, even balanced inputs. bass response is esp. outstanding, and i run it full range. very smooth... movie dialog is well resolved and clear. i find the volume control on the speaker more effective than using the gain on the outlaw receiver. matches the studio 60 mains v. 2 very well. works esp well also with multi channel music. opening breaths on beck's cut of "paper tiger" are easily heard, but no so thru the studio cc. now if i could only find an amp for the other one !! (paradigm says they don't have any spares lying around !!)

Similar Products Used:

studio cc

Value and clarity.

Heavy!!!

Bliss! That's how these speakers sound. They grip music by the balls with a solidness that keeps everything in focus,no looseness in the bass, plenty of air on top. No smudging of the notes, excellent separation and very musical clarity. Highly reccomended.

Similar Products Used:

To many to count.

Size, Bass, pristine mids and highs. No amp to purchase?? The 40s are a no brainer.

Discontinued and trying to locate another almost new pair.

I use in a purely two channel system. I was fortunate to obtain one of the last pairs made. When set up PROPERLY with GOOD equipment they lay waste to many pricer speakers and are without a doubt the best speaker Paradigm has made. I cannot find any fault worth mentioning, bass is oh so good and oh so deep. Highs and mids are a joy to listen to. The 40s are at their best with just a slight toe in. The supplied ICs and power cords are junk, and the stands Paradigm sells are not much better. Associated equipment Osiris stands Rogue 99 Magnum W/Sylvania GTAs CAL-CL-10 W/custom tube dac JPS Digital AC for CAL JPS Superconductor+ pre to 40s HT PRO 11 cords for 40s Following are ICs being used from Rogue to CAL JPS Superconductor 2 Magnan Vi HT Pro Silkway Mk 11 Luminous Signature Acoustic Zen Silver Reference. JPS Analog AC on Rogue

Similar Products Used:

Meridian Actives Eggleston Works Fontaines

Clarity, depth, range, price, and practicality

None

Simply remarkable! In my quest to find speakers, I auditioned several, including models from Martin Logan, PMC, B&W, Sonus Faber, and Meadowlark. Yet, none of them could even come close to the Active 40''s performance to cost ratio. They are wonderful! In fact, I had to listen to $5500 Meadowlark''s to get a reasonable approximation of the sonic performance of the Active 40''s. Other speakers were priced even higher...in some cases, thousands more. Unfortunately, Paradigm has discontinued the Actives so this review may not help many in searching for this fantastic speaker, but I''m so enthusiastic I had to enter a review anyway.

excellent sound & value in a compact package. attractive & well-built (is this a speaker or a woman we're talking about here...?)

This may be one of the best audio values out there. Value aside, these babies sound great--smooth, clean treble & mids, deep, tight bass. Great imaging, very clean, very warm.
One thing reviewers seem to neglect however when auditioning the Active 40's or 20's is to try different audiophile interconnects. One reviewer mentioned switching over to Kimber Silver Streaks, but found them brighter and less listenable than supplied cables (Audiostream RCA). Since the A-40's do tend towards brightness in the high-end, and silver wires tend to sound bright...duh. The Audiostream cables are just o.k. (I actually found I had to back off the high-frequency setting slightly when using the Audiostreams). When I switched over to a pair of balanced Kimber Heros, that brightness just mellowed out and the highs got much warmer and smoother. I then switched over to a balanced pair of custom interconnects, that made the speakers sound better overall-- warmer, more dynamic, w/ pinpoint soundstaging, and very clean. Also, I switched over to a pair of custom audiophile grade power cords, resulting in even firmer, deeper base and a darker, quieter backround.
Recently, I listened to a friend's system: Wilson WATT Puppies & Monarchy mono block amps. It sounded great, very dynamic, very precise. When I returned home and listened to my system, I did not feel the need to rush out and spend an additional $20,000. (the approx. difference in cost between the two set-ups). I was very satisfied with what I heard and remain so. I recommend you give the Active 40's a listen. PS: the sound continues to improve over time (2 mos.+).

I own the Active 40's w/the Servo 15 and I am in sonic heaven! I would like to know however, has anyone out there done a test w/different interconnects to see which one works best w/them? I'm using Tara Labs Prizm 55's ballanced w/XLR's from a Adcom GFP 750 preamp in passive mode. They seem to be working great but I feel guilty using such cheap cables w/my precious 40's.

Incredable clarity and accuracy

none

I have had these speakers for about 4 months. I have them paired with a servo 15 sub, center active and active surrounds by the same company. They are connected by balanced lines to an Antheum AM-2 preamp. Both music and movies are awesome. The only problem is that I had to upgrade my input devices as the system is so accurate the flaws in them were evident. I now have Arcam CD and DVD and a Nachimachi deck.
I can now hear all the breathing, scrapes, plucking and other sounds I didn't know existed.
I spent about six month auditioning systems and components. This sounds as good as anything I heard, regardless of the price.

Similar Products Used:

B&W Linn Velodyne etc. etc.

These speakers "up" the price/performance ante. At a couple of hundred $ more than the active 20s you get an extra driver apiece (and perhaps an extra amplifier...I don't remember the specs). No speaker cable to worry about. Loud realistic volumes with little distortion. Perhaps the flattest frequency response of any speaker (room allowing that is). Including the Wilson MAXX, which according to the review I read had some bizare freq. response anomalies for something that expensive ($38k)

An excellent drum recording through the active 40s sounds almost like a drum set in front of you (and that is loud and clean, baby!). This is one of the most demanding tests you can throw at a speaker. Note that the pair I listened to was fed by a relatively inexpensive front end and with the stock 20 ft interconnects...no need to drop thousands on the front end. NAD will do.

It is possible that these guys don't have the midrange "magic", smooth treble, or delicacy of some more expensive designs such as Sonus Faber. It is also possible that listening may become fatiguing given bright CDs (but that would be the fault of the recording itself....).

On balance excellent value for a consumer product. Has even given rise to some serious reservations about the money I've spent in the grip of "audiophilia nervosa."

I'm eyeing these for a second system. In the meantime my EAD/Counterpoint/ Morel system is sounding very fine indeed --quite different from an active 40-based system --and presenting no danger of listening fatigue. It's just $6k more expensive.

Claen but non-fatiguing, Bass (especially for the size!)

These are incredible speakers for their size. For music, I could not ask for more quality bass from such compact Speaker. To my ears, treble is VERY clean without ever becoming irritating and mids are smooth and not too forward. If you space is an issue, I don't know how you can beat these speakers!

Equipment:

Paradigm Active 40 mk II w/Lovan Jazz 16" stands
Adcom GFP-750 Preamplifier
Pioneer PD-65 CD Player
Harman Kardon FL 8350 CD Changer
LAT International IC-200 mk II balanced interconnects betwwen preamp and speakers.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Studio 60, Studio 100 (mk 1), Thiel CS 2.3