Clear midrange. Smooth highs.

Must be set up meticulously to reduce bass.

First things first. These speakers are not bright. These speakers transmit the signal from bright equipment. Just bought the NAD C340 amp and the C520 CD player (replacing Adcom equipment, that sold on Ebay for more than the cost of the NAD equipment!) and these speakers sound much better now. I had read the reviews and could not figure out what everyone thought was so great. The speakers were simply transmitting the bright sound of the Adcom equipment. Speakers are on 24' stands. All equipment is connected with Audioquest cable.

If you are a jazz/blues fan I assure you these are the speakers for you. Even classical sounds decent with the NAD stuff. My non-audiophile friends are constantly commenting on the clarity ("Sounds like were listening to headphones"). Treble is clear and non-fatiguing. It's recessed but clear (check out any Shirley Horn ballad for soft, clear brushs). Midrange is clear and dynamic. Bass booms on pop if speakers are not moved far into the room. I have them 3 feet from the back wall (yes, they're in the way). I mostly listen to jazz so the booming bass isn't really a factor. Soundstage can be stunning with the right disc. I'm thinking about the "Glory" soundtrack here.

Great speakers for the money. Also great for movies (I'm talking VHS, haven't taken the DVD leap yet).

System: NAD C520 CD player, C540 integrated amp, Audioquest interconnects and speaker cable, Target rack and speaker stands.

Excellent midrange, strong bass for such a small speaker and excellent vocal clarity.

None

When I originally went out look for some new speakers I was dead set on get some floor speakers, that was until I heard the Mini Monitor. I was shocked to hear a bookshelf speaker that sounded so big and had such excellent bass response. This speakers excells in all areas and continues to impress me. It handles rock music very well and can be push to very high volume levels with ease. Bass fanatics might want to pair this speaker with a sub, but for music I find it to have enough bass to get by. Paradigm has put out an outstanding product that I don't think anyone can touch in this price range. Wouldn't hesitate to buy Paradigm again.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin Vega LS-10's

Hefty weight and size; good looking design

Magnetic shielding available only for black speakers

All the critical hype about these speakers is true. At a cost hovering around $300 per pair, the Mini Monitors easily hold their own against speakers costing seven times as much. Corey Greenberg of AUDIO and SOUND AND VISION magazine gave them a top notch review. The bass is remarkably good for a six incher; it made me question whether I really needed a subwoofer for my home-theater. I use six Mini Monitors for my Surround EX system, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the sound. The B&W Nautilus 805s are a beautiful-looking [my wife disagrees] set of speakers, but their sound quality is merely different than the Mini Monitors, and not necessarily better. At a cost of $2000 per pair, I decided that the Paradigms were a much, much better deal. I also heard the Monitor Silver 7s and 5s, the Soliloquy 5.3s, the Dynaudios, and the JM Labs. But when it came right down to value for the money, these speakers won hands down.

System:
Panasonic 120 DVD
McIntosh receiver
Onkyo integrated amp
Kenwood 409 Dolby Digital and DTS decoder
Pioneer CLD 1070 laserdisc player
Monster cable

Former speakers: Boston Acoustics

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 805; other high end speakers costing $2000 or less

Everything you'd come to expect from Paradigm.

None really within the limitations of a bookshelf!

What else can I say about these speakers that haven't been said? I just bought these babies a couple of days ago so I'm still putting them through the paces with all kinds of music. Very fine detail and surprisingly decent bass. The only other speaker that had better detail was the Kef Cresta 2 that my friend bought.

I went with the Mini Monitors coz they had a litlle better bass and I felt the Crestas could be a little fatiguing after a while. Besides, I already have the CC-350 (get them!) centers to match. I use them as my mains with the Titans (yet another great buy) as surrounds. My plan is to get the Monitor 7s as mains in the future and of course add a (what else?) Paradigm subwoofer soon. Mini's will do surround duty then and I'd have to sell the Titans.

I'm using a Yamaha HTR-5150 (RXV-595A to some of you) at the moment. While they are very good A/V receivers, I feel the Minis (and the 7s in the future) can do with a better receiver. So if anyone has any great matching suggestions, please email and let me know. Please keep in mind that I am in Malaysia so I might not be able to get my hand on some products! Thanks.

Similar Products Used:

Bose 201s (don't kill me, I borrowed it from a friend), Titans v.2

cheap

Bright and Boomy

These speakers are hard to listen to unless you are a little hard of hearing. These are the speakers that made me absolutely hate titanium dome tweeters, titanium is only good for golf. I can say this over and over again, bright and boomy. Some people mistake an overly bright tweet as being detailed, that is the same as a boomy speaker having good bass, both are dead wrong, a lot like this speaker.

Similar Products Used:

Acoustic Research, Infinity, Niles

Price / performance

no sticker flash ;)

Bought Paradigm Titans 2 years ago after a listening test during a (crowded) New Years day sale, and was very happy my intuition was right. After they were stolen last weekend, tried a set of Cerwin Vega's for 2 days before returning them. Then got the Mini Monitors today, and again happy. Clear sound, good imaging, lots of depth and detail. Vega's were fine for loud straight rock, Mini's have better mid and voice detail, hands down.

Difference with the Mini's is, I don't feel like I'm listening to speakers, I am listening to the music. Mini's vs Titans, slightly more bass, wall position will vary this, balanced for me at 8" or so...

Also, the price is great because of "made and bought in Canada", Should be a bargain south of the border in the US due to "Canadian Peso effect". Highly recommended.

Anybody out there have the high end Paradigm's? Just curious.

Similar Products Used:

paragigm titans, Cerwin Vega E-708's

Excellent bass extension, warm sound, lively, has good "presence"

None at this price.

THIS IS THE REVIEW I POSTED ON THE Energy C-2's WHICH COMPARES THEM TO THE MINI MONITORS:
------------------------------------------------------

When I finally received the C-2's I was really excited to hear these superb set of speakers. I had previously (a couple of days prior to receiving the C-2's) purchased a pair of Paradigm Mini Monitors from Hillcrest High Fidelity (http://www.hillcresthifi.com/) and had both pairs in my living room to compare.

When I bought the Mini Monitors (MM), I listened to the B&W 601's in the showroom and was assured by the salesman that the 601's were in a completely different category and they were much better than the MM's. I listened carefully to both pairs and I like the warmth and the presence of the MM's over the more expensive 601's.

I tested the MM's and the C-2's in my carpeted living room which is roughly 14' x 12'. I powered them with the Pioneer Elite VSX-26TX that I paid ($599) for at Tweeter. Once again, I was suprised that the MM's had more warmth and presence than the C-2's. My wife also could notice the difference. I had the MM's hooked up on the B-side using crappy old "lamp cord" type speaker wire and the C-2's were hooked up (bi-wired) to the A-side using AudioQuest Type-2 solid-core copper wire (4 wires). The C-2's sounded reserved but extremely accurate. I had to dig through a ton of classical and vocal music in order to find short pieces of music where the C-2's were noticably better/cleaner than the MM's. Once I switched to Rock, Reagae, or something other than pure vocal or laid back, the MM's clearly sounded better to me (and my wife).

I called Hillcrest and asked if I could bring the C-2's in and try them on several difference A/V receivers. They were more than helpful! We hooked the C-2's up to the new Sony STR-V555ES (replaced the STR-DA777ES) which is extremely powerful, the Pioneer Elite VSX-39TX, the Yamaha RX-V2095, the Marantz SR-7000, the Marantz SR-8000, and the Marantz SR-19. Each receiver had a different sound but the basic results did not change. Even the salesman stated (before I mentioned it) that he thought that the C-2's were very clear in the mid and upper ranges, were laid back, had great imaging, and tighter bass, but lacked the lower bass and "presence" of the MM's. The C-2's just didn't "open up" and jump out at you (or me in this case). The Marantz SR-8000 and SR-19 sounded awesome on both MM's and the C-2's and would be the only receiver I would consider running these C-2's on. I guess it has something to do with the Marantz' ability to provide a lot of current.

Overall, I believe the C-2's are an incredible pair of speakers but the MM's just had the sound I was looking for. The speaker terminals are way too close together to use your fingers effectively and I had to use a socket set to tighten the terminals. Also, the MM's were a lot smaller but provided (I believe) the same sound with a little less imaging. Even though I am returning the C-2's, I am still going to use the AC-300 as the center channel.

If you are considering the C-2's, you will definetly need an amplifier than can deliver a lot of current such as the Marantz, Yamaha, Onkyo, etc.

After testing these on all these receivers, I returned the Pioneer Elite and purchased the Marantz SR-8000 because the sound difference is incredible.

- Wil Bloodworth

Similar Products Used:

Energy Loudspeakers' C-2, B&W 601

Clarity, Detail, Bass, full sound

Can't Biwire, not as much seperation or refinement as I might like but for the price...

First let me say, I love these speakers and even though I just traded them in for some Studio 20's I highly reccomend them.

When I bought these it was to replace a 12 year old pair of DCM TimeFrame 350's. I started out by getting a decent Amp (NAD 340) and a decent CD player (Marantz CD5000 soon to be NAD 541 when it comes out). I was hearing so much more in my music than before I dove into checking out new speakers.

After auditioning the Mini Monitor's along with B&W 302's & NHT Super One I chose the Mini's. They just did evrything well and the others each seemed to have a glaring weakness. When I got home and hooked them up my heart almost broke (with joy) from the extra feeling I was getting out the music.

For about a week all I did was listen to my CD's and then something changed. It didn't sound as rich to me, it sounded as if I were almost getting something extraordinary but not quite. I think I just got over the newness of hearing such clear full sound, and it wasn't quite clear and full enough. It was a slight angst feeling that I could do better for not a whole lot more money.

So I went out and auditioned the B&W 601's, the Dynaudio Audience 50's and the Paradigm Studio 20's. I eliminated the B&W's right away, a little too forward and bright and no bass. The Audience 50's blew me away and that's when I knew I had to trade up. As the 50's are $900 I decided to check out the Studio 20's before spending the dough. Well, I've got to say that I'm very impressed. The 20's didn't have as much bass as the 50's but they engaged me emotionally in a way I've never experienced from a music system.

One of my test CD's was the Cat Steven's compilation and I heard and felt subtle bits of inflection and vocal resonance that turned me to putty. It was very refined, almost liquid.

Now, $650 is more than I planned on or wanted to spend originally, but these should last me at least 10 years and over that time the extra money's like $30 a year. You might ask, what about another $300 for the Dynaudio's then? The answer is that while there was an absolutely undeniable leap in quality between the MM's and the 20's, the differences between the 20's and the Dynaudio 50's was much less significant, in fact, except for the bass I liked the 20's better anyway.

Now after all that (if anyone's still reading) this is how I'd rate everything I've listened too.

B&W 302 - not enough bass or fullness (richness), they didn't get me involved

NHT Super Ones - they just didn't sound THERE (whatever that means)

Pradigm Monitor 3 - Not really any better than the Mini Monitor's

B&W 601 - A little more than the 302's in every regard, but still too forward and bright for my taste (side by side with Dynaudio & Studio 20's they sounded very thin....to me)

Dynaudio Audience 50's - wow, these are awesome speakers. The fullest bass by far of everything I auditioned, but didn't standout against the Studio 20's in any other way.

Paradigm Mini Monitor's - I love them, as much for showing me what was possible, as for sounding good. If you just can't spend another $300 than these are THE speaker in the price range. Don't be frightened by people saying that they're harsh. They're actually very warm.

Studio 20's - my new babies, still a week before they arrive (I wanted plain black and they weren't in stock) and then I'll break 'em in and write a review.

I give the mm's a 5 for value, 'cause like I said I feel they are THE speaker in the price range, and I give them a 4 overall because if I thought they were a 5 I would have kept them.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 302, 601 NHT Superone, Dynaudio Audience 50, Paradigm Monitor 3, Paradigm Studio 20

umm... bass, clarity

ummmmmmmmmmm... hmmmmmm. Seriously i'm trying to think hard. Hmmm maybe a bit grainy? whatever that means.

To each their own. I like what some call "bass hump" from the minis i own. Complete breakin, loosening of the woofers happend after 2 months of daily playing FOR ME at least. I'm not sure when it actually happend all i know is that bass seem to have more "attack".

Ok if you are anal about it, Bass hump noise seem to have more "attack" after the 2nd month. I love the over all sound.

If i remember how sh*tty my philips/microsoft digital speakers for my computer sounded when i first bought it, it just might take more time for mini's to completely loosen up. Because i think took me like a year for even my stupid computer speakers to completely loosen up.

I like my minis. I love my minis for now that is. I gotta try KEF speakers if and when next upgrade bug hits me.

Similar Products Used:

Moot issue. i've listen to many. I ain't gonna list them all.