Price Paid:  $300.00 from Local dealer

Summary:
I have been using these for right at 1 year now and am very satisfied with them. These are my first audiophile quality speakers that I have ever purchased, so I can't make many comparisons to other brands. My main complaint is that the dealer knew I was purchasing these for a home theater system yet he sold me a pair that are not shielded. The shielded ones are the same price, so why do they even make them unshielded? It does not make much sense. He said that he can order some caps for the magnets to shield them.

Strengths:
Strong bass response. I like the case. 5 year full warranty included.

Weaknesses:
Midrange response is lacking.

Similar Products Used:
Listened to Polk and Infinity in-store

Price Paid:  $440.00 from hawkeye audio

Summary:
These are my first pair of new speakers and complete a system that includes a sumo athena pre-amp and NAD 2200 amp. I also tried the mini monitors and returned them for the 3's, gratefully. I recently added 26inch speaker stands. I am decent at hearing hi fi differences but am always skeptical of the notes in these reviews. But I would say the above reviews are largely correct. The speakers are getting warmer with break-in time, but not loosing any definition, maybe even improving. The "sound-stage" is very good. But the speaker stands suprised me as incredibly important in improving definition, especially with the bass. The bass is adequate, tight and clear, mid is just adequate, but definition and stereo separation make it seem very good. The mid to high i would say is excellent. Overall I am very pleased and haven't really heard a better system in a home barring 5 figure set-ups. I did have a woofer coil come loose which was repaired in a couple days without charge and have had no trouble since. It is concerning but i have 4 1/2 years left on the warranty to shake it loose again.

Strengths:
great for acoustic music with amazing stereo spread and natural sound. I think these are very balanced. Get good stands.

Weaknesses:
coil replacement under warranty. no weakness wrt sound

Similar Products Used:
none

Price Paid:  $400.00 from Hillcrest audio

Summary:
After much review of several different speakers, I chose the Monitor 3s. A true test of speakers is where you will actually put them an not in the showroom. I started with the Mini's and they sounded great but for a few bucks more, I opted for the Monitor 3s. A bit boomer and not much bigger. These speakers have a neutral but lively sound to them and the spaciousness is apparent. I would highly recommend these particularly if you are tight on space. For movies they are awesome. Bought the stands for these. Pop some sand in them as recommended and there is a difference in sound. Overall--money well spent....

Strengths:
Size and quality. Good weight for their size. After break in period these babies rock! Price is another strength here.

Weaknesses:
None.

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch.

Price Paid:  $350.00 from Site on Sound

Summary:
I was originally planning on picking up a set of mini monitors for a set of surrounds for my hHT. I did not have a chance to audition these suckers, however I was replacing an older system and had decided on the Monitor 9''''s to replace the Infinity Studio 150''''s that are currently sitting in my apartment (those suckers are coffins...HUGE) but I digress. I chose to go with the monitor 3 v.2 for a couple of reasons, the biggest is the fact that I firmly expect the speakers to blend perfectly with the 9''''s...all the drivers between the 3''''s and the 9''''s are identical. Secondly, they were $50 more then the Mini''''s...so I figured, what the heck. If they dont work, I''''ll send them back. I WILL NEVER SEND THESE SPEAKERS BACK. Before I get into how they sound, let me say this...these speakers ar by far the HEAVIEST bookselfs I have ever seen. i practically herniated a disc carring these things up the steps to my apartment. They weigh more then the full sized 4 ft x 2ft x 1.5 ft infinity studio 150''''s I own. Size wise they are a little clunky. They are a lot larger then a lot of "bookselfs" out there. These suckers are close to two feet tall, which may not seem like a whole lot...untill you actually see them. Wow. I''''ve only been using them for about a week, and I''''m not quite certain that they are broken in yet...but they sounded sweet right out of the box. There is a HUGE amount of bass that these puppies crank out. Although not nearly as much bass as the Infinitys (hey, it''''s a friggin 15 in woofer in the Infinitys) They still give the Infinity''''s a run for their bottom end...which just amazes me. These were intended to be my surrounds untill I get the Monitor 9''''s in, but they quickly bumped the coffins to the rear surrounds, and took their rightfull place as my fronts. Paired with the CC 370 v.2, the surround sound stage of my DVD-A recordings is AMAZING. They do a great job of dishing out great stereo sound to. If you''''re looking at picking up a pair of Mini Monitors, splurge the extra $50, and give these suckers a good home.

Strengths:
Beautifull sound...especialy from a "bookshelf" speaker. Front firing bass port helps with room placement.

Weaknesses:
None so far, but I''''ve only had them for a month. Be carefull if you have an entery level reciever (read Technics)...these suckers will suck the power out of it like you wouldn''''t believe.

Similar Products Used:
JBL, Infinity, Cerwin Vega

Summary:
Well I haven't actually bought these- yet. I'm waiting to save up the cash so I can test both brands of speakers in one place. Nothing worse then comparing one room to another one with different equipment. Anyway I listened to 3 speaker choices. The new Paradigm Monitor 3 v2, the B&W DM 303, and B&W DM 601. First the Paradigms were brand new, never been played. So hence they had not yet been broken in and it showed. The B&Ws had been used. The guy in the Paradigm store was an idiot really. I can't see why he's even working there. First he insited on playing first his selection of music over my "inferior" cds since he thought he had better recorded material. He was obviously un-educated since I had digitally recorded cds from Telarc, DMP, Sony classical analog stuff with Super Bit mapping, and a Sting CD with Q sound. I later got to hear my own stuff with him out of the room. He then blasted me with volume which was too damn loud to really hear the speakers, trying to impress me. Sheesh. What I noticed about the Paradigms out of the box was this- they were extremely bright. The highs were very clear and pronounced. Almost grating and harsh. I suppose them being broken in would help this, as they did start to slightly improve after a little playing of music, but still were bright. The imaging was not really there. There was seperation between the speakers, but I couldn't really hear any holographic sound at all. The speakers didn't really dissappear. There was no depth at all- front to back. My old 5 Mk 2s were better at this. The bass was also not as pronounced compared to my old 5s, but still was there on impact passages. The B&Ws lacked bass all together. The midrange on the Monitor 3s was quite good. That was impressive enough. Though some have told me the bigger woofer would destroy the midrange as compared to B&Ws smaller speakers- it wasn't so bad.

Now the B&Ws. I first heard the 303s since they were the cheapest of the 3 speaker sets. Very smooth silky highs, not overly pronounced, and imaging quite good. I still couldn't hear any depth from even these speakers though. Great spacious sound, just no front to back. The 303s didn't quite dissappear either. The sound seemed to be coming from the speaker area. I didn't hear much extension beyond the speakers outside of the triangle. No sounds came from extreme right or left past the speaker area. I was having a problem with depth on the 303s, so I listened to the 601s to help this. The 601s had definately more midrange which helped. Bass was slightly better, but the Paradigms still blew them away in that department. The Paradigms have way more impact as well because of this. I would say if the treble on the Paradigms continued to be that forward and pronouced, I could easily feel they would tire my ears after some listening. After saving some money the best thing will be for me to listen to both companies in one room. It should be interesting to see which one I would get, but I'm leaning toward the B&W 601.

Strengths:
More solid box construction compare to 1993 models

Weaknesses:
Pearcing over pronounced highs, imaging not quite as good compared to B&Ws

Similar Products Used:
B&W DM 303, DM 601, Paradigm 5 SE Mk2, B&W DM 201