Bought these mini-monitors about 2 months ago. And the newness has not worn offI think anyone with a price range of around $300-$350 should try these . They are awsome. They give a very large sound stage and deep base for bookshelf speakers. Don't even think about the B&W302. Its good but base is lacking and 601&602 are a lot more expensive. I got the cc350 and ADP100 dipole surrounds. I also got definitive technology sub-woofer. My home theatre sounds awsome. But for pure music my mini monitors are great for now. Unless you have $1,500+ to for a floor speaker these will definately work. I enjoy my music and hear instruments that I didn't used to hear. NHT Super ones are good but you need a sub and I don't listen to music with a sub unless its R&B it justs kills the accurate reproduction unless you over $2K then (maybe) it might help.

In it's class. Balance, refinement, imaging, bass, VALUE!!

It is what it is a mid-fi bookshelf speaker, just a damn good one.

It took me a year to get around to getting these speaker and man it was worth it. I demo'd nearly everything possable. I work next to a Ultimate electronics store so spent my breaks there. These little speaker floor any thing in their class. There more everything than the Infinty, listen to them you will understand. Klipsch's horn tweeter is painful. The real comparsions didn't start to kick in until the Mini's were well out classed in price. At $2200 dollar a pair I use to love the Martin Logan's but at nearly a tenth the price the mini' have a much more appealing and powerful bass output. It's kind of scary, I couldn't every spend that much on a product with that much of a weakness. Next tried out some Modant Short bookshelf ($500 a pair). Now these had possiblitys. Honestily beat the Mini's in soundstage and imaging it was wall it wall but it bass was again weak. I even compared them to Modant Short floorstander, same driver's same weak bass. I finally narrowed it down to the B&W 602 S2 and the Mini's. I could honestily suggest either of these. I picked the Paradigms because I think they are a better system match. B&W's strong points compared to the mini's. There a little more refinement. slightily better bass and imaging. Higher power handling, took all my adcom could put out at clip, very impressive.
Now for the the reasons I went with the mini's. I could not find a any speaker from any one for this cheap that came even close they could charge $500 for these and people would still be buying. Excellence bass, common weak point in this class. Solid not boomy. The vocal quality was realistic. The high is there without being tissy or bright, my only problem with the B&Ws. Man for this price the sound stage is great farely deep and balanced. Radiohead's "idoiteque" has to be heard. Fault's with the mini's. I have mid to small size listening room and a moderate powered amp. They work great but in larger rooms I think you would need something that can go louder. I think they are limited to an hostest 50 watts RMS.

My System:
Toshiba DVD player SD-1200 (next to go)
Adcom GTP-350 pre
Adcom GFA-5200 power
Tara prism interconnects
Paradigm Mini's Monitors
Tansparent the wave 200 speaker cable's

Bottom line there are better speakers out there they just cost much more period.

Similar Products Used:

You name it I demo'd it I shopped for a full year. Klipsch SF1, Infinty interlude, B&W 602, Martin Logan Aerius BLB, Paradigm Studio's, and Modant Short

Amazing bass from such a small cabinet, excellent build quality

A little flat at low volumes

These speakers are the best possible college speakers ever, and I still have no intentions of upgrading unless I build my own. Excellent sound, from a tiny box that is built really well. They are just solid speakers, with no box vibration even at high volumes. My Missions sound great, especially at low volumes, but they don't look nearly as elegant and feel cheap by comparision. These speakers love power, and crave being driven hard. The louder they play the better they sound. My friends always ask where I keep my sub and are shocked to find out there isn't one, and my amp is running flat.

The hardest choice once you have a pair is to keep the grills on or off. And like everyone else I have them on the pictured stands ($70).

Similar Products Used:

Mission 701

Nice, neutral, almost laid back sound. Doesn't add coloration. Excellent bass response for the size

Uhm.... er.... can't think of any

I spent many afternoons auditioning various brands. The mass market stores were a complete joke. I finally had it narrowed down to the B&W 602 and the Mini-Monitor 3. The B&Ws in my opinion are really bright, to the point of harshness in the treble range. Bass wasn't bad, but nothing to write home about. The Mini-Monitors, well, they kicked booty and took names. Excellent bass for such a small box and I don't feel the need rush out and get a sub. Lush midrange, and good treble round it out. I can listen literally all day and night and not suffer fatigue.

I have a bit of an unusual setup, I use a Bogen AP-30 integrated tube amplifier, good for about 15 watts per channel class AB1. Output tubes are NOS 6V6GTs.

Source is an Aiwa portable CD player, but that will be upgraded soon. Speaker cables are DIY, using braided CAT5 network cable.

Buy these speakers! :)

Similar Products Used:

Advent, JBL

Great sound in a small package.

None that I have found.

I have had these speakers in my bedroom system for about four years now. Every time I listen to them, I am amazed at how good they sound for their size. Until I got my Paradigm Monitor 7 speakers for my main system, almost I enjoyed listening to our bedroom system more.

I am powering these speakers with a Harmon/Kardon receiver and CD changer. The speakers are on what look like the same stands pictured above. These were the first speakers I have ever owned that sounded good with the tone controls flat.

I want to note that my Mini Monotors are V1s, and I haven't heard the V2s with the titanium tweeters, but I would highly recommend the V1s with the soft-dome tweeter if you can find any. Knowing Paradigm, I'm sure the V2s sound great. Highly recommended!

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Infinity

Solid constuction, nice finish & handles dynamics well.

Poor speaker for music.

My system is installed in a 13x18 foot room with a vaulted ceiling. The Mini Monitors were placed on floor stands 2 feet from the rear wall on the long axes of the room. They are powered by a Yamaha 2095 surround sound receiver.

These speakers worked well as “Mains” for my home theater system. But I was greatly disappointed by their music reproduction. I had hoped that after they were “Broken In” they would improve. After three months I couldn’t bear to use them for music anymore so I replaced them with Paradigm Studio 80s. I moved them to the rear position.

I had to build custom “wall mount” brackets to leave the rear port open and support their hefty weight. I mounted the MM to the rear, oposing side walls placing them 7.5 feet up and 18 inches from the back wall corners. I tilted them down 15 degrees giving me a 6 foot wide sweet spot. My viewing/listening area is a sofa against the rear room wall.

I had expected this to be a temporary setup since bi-directional speakers are the recommended way to go for “Rears”. Boy was I surprised by the sound this setup gave me! I didn’t expect the awesome and seamless sound that the MM gave in concert with my Studio 80s.

In my setup they rate 5 stars. But by themselves they suck.

Similar Products Used:

Magnaplaner MG2-A, "Cheap" Yamaha bookshelfs & BIC V-52s

Big Sound from a small compact speaker. Produces quality bass.

None

I've owned these for 11 months now and am very glad I purchased these. I have a smaller 13x10 room and these don't take much space. However these speakers can handle a very good range for home theater use and music. The bass really comes alive out of these if pointed towards a corner. I use these for my main speakers with the Paradigm CC-170 Center speaker. They are broken in now and sound great. For this price range you'll be hard pressed to find a better speaker, I highly recommend, Great Value!
Paradigm is the way to go!!!

good value, good for movie sound track

muddy for classical music

I sold my three video shielded Paradigm mini monitors and replaced with three Bronze 1 speakers as my front speakers. Why? because when I listen classical music with mini monitors driven by my Yamaha 595a, they sound like violins and pianos were covered with a wet tow, the mid range sound is very muddy to a point that I can not stand anymore. Sometimes, the tweeters on mini monitors can get very harsh with my receiver. I compared my mini monitor with Bronze 2 speaker side by side in my dealer's room. Bronze 2 is as good as mini monitor in movie sound tracks and better for classic music. So I made deal with my Monitor Audio dealer and ordered two pairs of Bronze 1. Bronze 1 is much more detailed than mini monitor in mid range and tweeters never get harsh with my Yamaha. The only thing lacking compared to mini is bass. For bass, I still have my Paradigm PDR-10.

If you listen some classical music, I suggest you compare Bronze 1 or 2 speaker to Paradigm mini monitor if you still have mini monitor on your shopping list. The front porting on Bronze makes the placement of speaker very easy, you can place them against wall. You can not do that with mini monitors. Paradigm mini is good for everything else but classical music.

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atoms, Monitor audio Bronze 1

good value, good for movie sound track

muddy for classical music

I sold my three video shielded Paradigm mini monitors and replaced with three Bronze 1 speakers as my front speakers. Why? because when I listen classical music with mini monitors driven by my Yamaha 595a, they sound like violins and pianos were covered with a wet tow, the mid range sound is very muddy to a point that I can not stand anymore. Sometimes, the tweeters on mini monitors can get very harsh with my receiver. I compared my mini monitor with Bronze 2 speaker side by side in my dealer's room. Bronze 2 is as good as mini monitor in movie sound tracks and better for classic music. So I made deal with my Monitor Audio dealer and ordered two pairs of Bronze 1. Bronze 1 is much more detailed than mini monitor in mid range and tweeters never get harsh with my Yamaha. The only thing lacking compared to mini is bass. For bass, I still have my Paradigm PDR-10.

If you listen some classical music, I suggest you compare Bronze 1 or 2 speaker to Paradigm mini monitor if you still have mini monitor on your shopping list. The front porting on Bronze makes the placement of speaker very easy, you can place them against wall. You can not do that with mini monitors. Paradigm mini is good for everything else but classical music.

Similar Products Used:

atoms, Monitor audio Bronze 1

Price, Price, Price, Sound, Sound, Sound

NONE!

These speakers are amazing! For the money they can't be beat. Speakers that cost 3 times as much can't really compare. I got mine for $250 which is a steal.

The sound that they produce is phenomenal. They produce a great, full sound. Not bright at all. They also have pretty good bass to them, although I would definitely suggest a sub with them.

They sound great on all types of music. Jazz compilations I own really came alive. The detail that comes out of these speakers are fantastic.

Sure you could find better speakers, but it will cost a lot more money. So why would you want to!

They sound great for HT as well. I've watched numerous DVD's with these and they sound really good. They are better for music, but you don't lose much on the movie end.

My system:
Receiver: Marantz SR-7000
Fronts: Mini Monitors
Center: CC-350
Rears: ADP-170
Sub: M&K v75mkII

Similar Products Used:

Kef Q-15, Jamo, Klipsch