i’ve been a big paradigm fan for years. they really know how to make incredible speakers.
recently i upgraded my home theater with a set of monitor 3 v3’s for fronts and mini
monitor’s for rears. i was using titan’s and atom’s before. don’t get me wrong these to are
brilliant speakers as well, but, nothing like the monitor 3’s. when i started to listen to the
monitor 3’s i noticed how much more detail there was. infact parts in songs came out i
had never heard before. whether it was a percussive sound or an added keyboard synth
accompanying a guitar riff. soundstaging is amazing. i can close my eyes and pick out the
band on live tracks. each breathe of a singer is honest and right. it is easy to have extended listening periods with these speakers. the bass extends below 40hz and rich and warm , properly blended. if your after headache pounding bass you'll need a sub. these although are bookshelf speakers, need proper stands and breathing room away from the wall, as they are rear ported and shorter in the version 3's and 4's, or else they will sound a bit bumpy in the low end.
personaly i have traded up my speakers three times in two years. i am now finally happy and don't plan on ever letting these go.
when purchasing speakers no two ears are alike and it is difficult to translate what is heard into something read. with that said always be objective and if you can see if you can bring them home to listen in your environment. try not to let the hype of a brand name deside over personal preferance.

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

Midrange response is lacking.

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.

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Listened to Polk and Infinity in-store

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

coil replacement under warranty. no weakness wrt sound

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.

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

None.

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....

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Klipsch.

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

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.

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.

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JBL, Infinity, Cerwin Vega

Exceptionally clear sound, no harshness whatsoever.Great imaging, dynamics, and response, little coloration, smooth.

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I've listened to sound for the better part of 40 years. Up till now, systems I've listened to, always sounded harsh at elevated levels, giving rise to headaches, and plain discomfort. I've always had the impression that "good" sound had to come from a large speaker, and that the volume had to be turned up, to get the impression of a live soundstage. My perception of sound has greatly changed after bringing these babies home. It took me about an hour to set these guys up. After dialing in the correct settings of a Paradigm PW2200 sub, my impression of sound has been vastly changed forever. This speaker system ROCKS!! The dynamics are incredable! They seem loud, but without discomfort, and I can listen to music all day, something I couldn't do previously. I'm back to listening to my entire collection of albums, all day, every day. I just can't get enough. I'm no speaker expert, but what I can say is "the proof is in the pudding". Give these guys a try. Highly recommended!!

Gentle and crisp highs
Reasonable bass for the size

Odd crossover
So-so midtones, esp for classical music

I bought these on the recommendation of a friend and this list.

I'm impressed and also disappointed. The sound is really quite good for the size and the price. Unfortunately, I've heard better, especially from my old Infinity floorstandings (had to leave them with my parents as I was moving.)

Music I'm playing through them: Classical violin, hardcore drum and bass, modern jazz, home theatre.

In essence, they're great. The highs are non-fatiguing and very crisp, and yet not painful or squealing (diametrically opposed to the Klipsch-horn). The bass is filled in pretty well.

Unfortunately, the midtones leave something to be desired. Simply not too tight; a little loose, not very well defined.

The crossover is very odd. I only noticed this while listening to Perlman's recording of the Bruch Violin Concerto (no.1; EMI Red Line) -- on Track 4, at 4min 50s through 5min 20s, the violin plays through a contiguous range from low to high. If you listen closely for the transition from the woofer to the tweeter, the tonality of the sound breaks sharply. It goes from wThe woofer simply is not very good at handling midtones. When I closed my eyes and listened, the sound seemed to change from muffled to absolutely wonderful as the violin crossed the break/crossover.

Caveat: I've been listening to classical music in a live setting for my entire life, and I'm particularly picky. My girlfriend thinks it sounds normal.

Listening to any other music, including techno (Crystal Method), drum and bass (Metalheadz, Dieselboy), or jazz, the volume is excellent, the crispness right on.

For Home Theatre, I've got no complaints at all, except that they need to be mated with a decent subwoofer if you're watching anything with LFE.

Bottom line: great value and size, but I've heard better in similar-priced floorstanding speakers.

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Infinity Reference 2000.5
Klipsch Quintet, v2-400
B&W bookshelves

Clean clear highs...mellow mids and tight bass

none for the price

For several years now i have been useing AR 318ps floorstanders....i thought the sounded pretty damn good...then i bought a yamaha receiver and suddenly the began to be harsh at higher volume. PLuged up my old receiver and the harshness was still ther but less pronounced...as was the rest of the music...the yamaha was just showing me the limitations of my speakers. After about 3 weeks of research on this sight and a few others i wandered around and auditioned a few different speakers..Mordant-Short..Paradigm..Monitor Audio..anyway...the ones i prefered at first were the Mordant-Short, I loved the open, defined sound stage and imaging these guys put out but at several hundred more than the paradigm i just couldnt condone em...also they lacked alot on the low end. Monitor also lacked in the low end and were way more expensive. Dont get me wrong..the Paradigm Monitor 3's are amazeing speakers..i actually feel like i riped off AV Chamber getting these for $400 and not $600 or $800. They NEED good stands anda few weeks of break-in to really sound their best. I use these with a Yamah receiver (70w per channel) and the 3's eat that up and ask for more without ever getting harsh or boomy. These are GREAT speakers for anyone on a budget but who doesnt want to sacrifice quality. Better speakers are to be had..but you will pay a lot more. They are a must to consider when buying speakers...do yourself a favor and check em out.

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advent AR JBL Yamaha

More solid box construction compare to 1993 models

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

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.

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B&W DM 303, DM 601, Paradigm 5 SE Mk2, B&W DM 201

Good imaging. Crisp, but not grating highs.
Good bass for small box.

Midrange response is a bit muddled.

I got these on an open box special and didn't even bother to listen to them in the store.
You can never tell how they will sound in your listening room with your equipment anyway until you hook them up.
I was pleased with the sound. Believe it or not, the sound is very similar to the old Cerwin Vegas (d-2) that I had.
The Paradigms have a clearer, more defined treble, but that's probably due to the nature of materials (titanium) that they used as opposed to CV(cloth dome or something).
Whatever, these speakers sound poised, relaxed, and offer up a pretty good soundstage. The highs will never cause listening fatigue, and the bass is pretty substantial for such a small box. The main limitations here are due to size and number of drivers/crossover employed. The B&W do sound better though.

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Infinity SM series, B&W 601 series, Cerwin Vega D series.