I do a lot of music listening, 2-3 hours each day, and these speakers sound as good as they did when I bought them. Granted, they do need to be broken in, but once they are they sound amazing. Treble is superb, aucoustic guitars and anything in the high end coming to life. Bass is good but could be deeper ( i believe that has to do with the fact that my speakers are downstairs in a carpeted-concrete room). Nonetheless, bass is good. And the value that goes along with these speakers is second to none.

The only thing I might ask for is a slightly stronger mid-range, as there is no woofer dedicated to it. But despite that, the two 8-inch woofers do a very good job in combination with the tweeters to produce a very lively speaker.

I have owned these speakers for probably close to 3 years now and they have yet to let me down. Before purchasing the Paradigm''s I spent close to 2 months listening to many different speakers from different companies such as PSB, Energy, Polk, Cerwin-Vega, Angstrom, and others I just cant remember. The Paradigm''s and the Angstrom''s were the only two that really stood out from the crowd (partially because I believe the same person designed them, VERY similar speakers). But the Angstorms were higher priced than the Monitor 9''s so I decided to go with Paradigm. Also, from what I can tell, I got fantastic deal on them, I paid $600 at a time when they were retailing for $800 ( i think now they are $1000 retail). Overall, one of the best music purchases I have made to date. They also do a just as good a job for home theatre as they do for stereo music. I have them coupled with a PS-2200 subwoofer and am blown away every time I watch a movie. Very impressive speaker and definately worth spending money on. Everything else is just child''s play compared to these.

These speakers are tight and crisp and have the best bang for the buck.Finally a reasonable priced speaker that plays with the big boys.
A1 job by the boys at Paradigm.

Great speakers! I went into a shop looking for the M5 or M7. They were out of both, but offered me the M9s at a discount. I ended up getting these for $639 - about what the M7s would have cost here in Dallas. I'm very impressed with the sound. There is no need for a sub for home theater with these speakers, and the highs are very clear.

I absolutely love these speakers. I compared them to B&W, Definitive, Energy and other. The closest comparison to them
would be the Energy's. The Definitive were not even close and were more money.

I like the fuller sound and feel of the Monitor 9 over the Monitor 7. Great at low volume and high volume.

I highly recommend these speakers to anyone, whether you are getting your 1st system (look at the Paradigm 3 SE's) or you
are an audiophile.

Excellent sounding speaker for a reasonable amount of money. Very smooth midrange and treble with great bass providing you give them room to breath.Like any speaker capable of extended bass, you need to keep them at least 3-4 feet away from the side wall to reduce early reflections. If your room will not accomodate this set-up, choose a smaller speaker.

Many female recordings have never sounded so good! You get a sense of the vocalist being right in the room with you.

I have listened to these speakers for a long time. My conclusion is:
The bass is boomy and inaccurat, not good at all!! Maybe good for a teenage parties, but not for serious music listening.
Midrange is very stressed and closed in. When played loud the mids becomes very nasty with irritating SSSSSSS on the S.
Treble:
It´s quite good when kept on low volumes, but if you turn the knob a bit to say ten o´clock it´s very hard to like the sound. Grainy and not crisp at all.
So, everyone considering these speakers:
It´s up to you! If you like the sound then go for it! But please, listen to something else first!! In my opinion, these speakers aren´t my thing...

1.5 points from the german judge.

I was very impressed with the Monitor 9's, and also with Paradigm in general. They are some of the best sounding speakers on the market and the prices are unbelievable! In comparison to: B&W, Klipsch, Advent, Definitive, Polk Audio, Infinity, and many others that I have compared to, they WIN HANDS DOWN!! The sound is so smooth, and the bass is tight and accurate. Highs are clear and precise. I would recommend these to anybody looking at speakers.

I've listen to a lot of speakers in the $600 - $1000 price range, (and I do mean alot) and theres not a loudspeaker that can touch these babies! B&W and Definitive can't compete with these remarkable floorstanders in this price range. The highs flow right in with the mids and low frequencies that blend togather to make a fabulously big sound stage for both music and home theatre. I highly recommend these loudspeakers to anyone who is serious about music, but does'nt want to spend alot money on the looks of the loudspeaker.

I have to start off by saying I -Highly- reccommend these speakers.
DESCRIPTION: 2 x 8" LF/ MF Drivers, 1" HF driver. typical 150W @ 8 ohms, 15-200W range, 32-20,000+ Hz freq. response.

I've recently replaced my Cerwin-Vega AT-12's with a gorgeous pair of black Monitor 9's, and I must say WOW. I was worried about losing the _feel_ of the Vega's bass, and giving up some efficiency. After a while of listening to the M 9's all my fears were gone. The Monitor 9's do everything well. They're crystal clear and precise (many speakers are, stepping up from C-V). I've heard things in my music that I thought I could only hear if I was listening for it on my Sennheisers! The M 9's have a broad and nearly flat frequency response. They're great with low bass, mid-bass, midrange and the highs. However I found the area between the mids and highs to be . . . ambiguous (for lack of a better word), though my speakers are brand new, and this might be cured after some more 'burn-in' time. I also must say that these speakers are _not_ for small rooms, and they should be placed away from the walls. If you have a small listening room, get small speakers.
I've also never gotten a better deal on a pair of speakers. I've seen them go for upwards of $850 Cnd. I picked mine up for almost $200 Less!
I've only had these speakers for about 3 days, and I've been testing them with (and burning them in with): Loreena McKennitt, Tori Amos, 20 bit remastered gold Sarah McLachlan, Delerium, Techno-Animal, Abba (yes, Abba), Madonna's "Ray of Light", Fleetwood Mac, and some classical. I've also tried some vinyl too (all Sarah McLachlan though). John Clark (below) was right, these speakers seem to have been made for the female voice (perfect for my tastes!), but they do everything well!
I HIGHLY reccommend checking these speakers out if you're looking for a solid perfoming full range speaker. Thier performance, along with thier price will hook you!

Later!
mike s

Those who are complaining about these speakers and the BASS might not have the speakers set up right. I at first thought they were boomy but after making the proper adjustments and moving and lowering the subwoofer response they are fine.These have 8 inch drivers and I expected a good BASS response unlike some speakers with 6 1/2 drivers. I can't say you can completely get away from not having a sub but these babies handle a lot of Bass. For the price these can't be beat.