Soundstage, bass, accuracy.

Relative to others in the same price category...none.

These speakers are fantastic!
I have had them for 9 months and I am still amazed at the clarity, depth, and tightness of the bass. These active speakers really caught me off guard. Since purchasing them I have listened to Linn, B&W, Sonus Faber, Mordaunt Short, and many others while demoing CD players. All of these were in the $3000-$5000 and I wouldn't trade any of them for the Paradigms. I had to keep asking for more and more expensive speakers to reach the quality of sound I was used to. Many of the other speakers project a tiny soundstage compared to the active 40's.
They require a fairly long break-in time to lose an initial harshness in the high end, but when they warm up they are sweet.
I have also heard that they are being discontinued. Too bad. Maybe they would have sold better if they were marketed under a different name at twice the price.

My system:
CD: Rega Planet 2000 (smooth as silk)
Preamp: Linar Model 2 (from the guy who created Sim Audio)
Speakers: Paradigm Active 40
Tuner: Yamaha TX900 (12 yrs old, but still sounds great)
Power Conditioning: Adcom Ace 515

Similar Products Used:

KEF, Linn, Sonus Faber, B&W

clarity, value.bass,man do these guys image

a little pricey, but amp is included

What can I say,these are the best speakers I've for heard under 3000 bucks. I know that sounds outrageous, but if you heard these in my system you would agree. The bass is amazing for a small speaker. I had the psb goldi"s before these, they are excellent, but need a good sized room which I don't have with new apartment . Everything sounds good on these baby's, especially jazz. Strange as it may seem, the sound is so different than the passive 40's. I had the passive 40's for about a year, and I was very pleased. I had the same front end I have now but with a parasound hca-3500. The sound was good but these actives are so much better it is hard to believe. I know paradigm doesn't push the speakers very hard because they are powered. continued

Similar Products Used:

psb goldi,paradigm passive 40

Everything

None so far

Just picked these up a week ago, according to several dealers paradigm has stopped manufacturing these phenominal speakers, it seems I may have got the last pair available in the US. I'm so glad I got my hands on them. These speakers sound great and supposedly will only get better! I can't really add to what's already been written here, I just wanted to get my five stars in to bring the overall average up where it deserves to be.

Outstanding build and sound quality

Buit-in highpass filter should have a lower cutoff.

Excellent product! Transparent sound stage and imaging. Impressive bass rivalling floorstanding speakers more than twice the size. Exceptionally flat, uncolored response. A bit of harshness in the top end when played at very high volume, but this is probably due to a lack of break-in. Those of you considering a component pre-amp/amplifier/passive speaker approach should seriously consider taking these for a dance. Once you hear the capabilities (and cost effectiveness) of active-speaker technology, you will almost certainly be swayed.

Tonal balance, low distortion, accuracy

None

The price of these speakers has nothing to do with their quality. They are one of the few great loudspeakers currently available. There are a myriad of multi-thousand dollar speakers on the market that can't hold a candle to these.

You connect your CD player to the inputs of the Active 40s and what's on the CD comes from the speakers. If you don't like the sound, the problem is the recording. On the other hand, if you play a fine recording, the Active 40 will allow you to enjoy it a level even the finest passive speaker can't produce. With purpose-built amplifiers tailored to the individual drivers, the Active 40s have flat frequency reponse, text-book power radiation and a dispersion pattern that looks like a designer's ideal.

Removing a speaker-level crossover network from a system--as is done in the Active 40--takes one of the most troubling problems out of the speakers. Instead, the crossover is accomplished at line level. That means there are no heat generating, impedence thrashing, distortion generating components between the amplifier outputs and the speakers voice coil.

The speaker goes down to 30 hertz with authority. But to get such bass response from such a small cabinet, Paradigm has engineered the bass to roll-off at 36 db per octave below 30 hertz--just as Theil does with the 3.6.

If you need more bass, buy a pair of good acoustic suspension subs with cone diameters no greater than twelve inches. Place the subs along the side walls slightly forward of the line the Active 40s. Switch in the built in 100 hertz high pass filter on the Paradigms and be prepared to hear the best money can buy--and perhaps save thousand of bucks. The Paradigms are a 2 1/2 system. So they have midrange dyanmics that leave many much more expensive speakers in the shade.

Two small obseravtions:

The Active 40s use a conventional crossover to control power transfer between its two midrange drivers. However, the crossover from the top midrange to the tweeter is purely electronic. The ear is very sensitive to the range of frequencies at which tweeters are crossed--in the Active 40 it's 1500 Hertz. The crossover to the second mid is at 400 hertz. Below 500 hertz room effects become an important component of what's heard from a loudspeaker and the ear is accordingly less sensitive at this low frequency.

I've owned a number of Paradigm speakers--as well as PSBs.

The Paradigm Active 40 and Active 20 are the only models made by that company that don't have a slightly hot presence range. That little boost is great for pop music, but can drive your ears to distraction with classical music. The upper partials of massed violins played through the passive Reference speakers can drill holes in your ears. The Active models are dead-flat in the presence range. You can listen to loud music all day without developing listener fatigue.

The upshot is that PSB Stratus are better than the passive Paradigm Reference for classical music becasue they have a more refined presence range.

But the Paradigm Actives are world beaters.

Similar Products Used:

Theil, PSB, Celestion, other Paradigm, ADS

Outstanding value. You would have to spend about 5 times as much for a substantial improvement (High end B&W with Bryston amp). Great bass extension, smooth extended treble, flat frequency response. These speakers are easy to use and the Paradigm reference logo that lights up on the front is very cool.

None, unless you compare them to much more expensive speaker systems.

First of all, I have to say that this speaker is the best that Paradigm has ever made. I have listened to the Studio 100's and they just don't compare at all. What I have noticed is that I cannot discern any cabinet noise from the active/40's (or the studio/40's for that matter), but I can hear cabinet noises with the studio 60's (which I used to own a pair of), studio 80's and the studio 100's. Another consideration would be that the studio 100's cost the same amount as the active/40's but require external amplification. To bring the studio 100's close the the active/40's requires a heavy hitting amp like the Bryston 4B-ST. Here are some other advantages of the active/40's over the studio 100 with amp combination. First, the active's are easy to use since they have auto on off circuitry and leds to indicate power and clipping. Second, the cables that come with the actives are quite good. Third, the active/40's are small and don't require a lot of space. Fourth, the Active/40's are much easier to place for maximum bass extension then the studio 60, 80 or 100. Fifth, the active crossover prevents bass clipping from affecting the tweeter and treble clipping from affecting the woofer. Also, the active 40's are bi-amplified. In terms of disadvantages I can think of two. First, they require stands, this add's slightly to the cost. Second, they require a nearby power outlet, this can be a problem in some rooms.

Compared to the paradigm reference active/450LR's that used to be my main speakers I have the following comments. The active 40's extend further than the active/450LR's and do so without much of a 100Hz emphasis, which was really the only flaw that I could find with the active/450's. The big surprise for me was that the tweeter did not sound that much better than that in the active/450's. To sum up how I feel, the studio v1 series sounds a little grainy in the upper treble, but the active v1 series speakers do not. The passive v2 studio series sound quite similar to the active v1 series in the high treble. So you can see why I was surprised that the active v2 didn't sound way better than the active v1 in the treble. My suspicion is that the studio v2 series has far better crossovers than the v1 studio series did, but that is just a guess.

Compared to the top speakers in the B&W 800 series, the active/40's were not as open, but the did seem cleaner and similarly extended. Obviously the B&W speakers that I listened to were far more expensive, and they were being driven by a bryston 4B-ST, I am just including this comparison for completeness.

Compared to other speakers in the same price range, they weren't many speakers that even came close (including B&W in this price range). One thing that has surprised me lately though, is how much improve the v2 paradigm monitor line is. They now sound much closer to the reference line in quality and I would urge those with less money to spend to give them a listen as well, you might be surprised.

In closing, I would like to discuss the bass extension. These speakers extend well enough to be used without a subwoofer (even in a small home theater, not in a large room home theater) but the servo-15 does give you that extra bit of extension from about 25 to 15 Hz that the active's don't cover. This gives you a slightly fuller sound and some more shaking, some will like this and some will not. I suggest that you audition the system both ways. For a review of this speaker by a well known audio magazine please go to www.audioideas.on.ca.

Similar Products Used:

B&W speakers (many different models), paradigm and paradigm reference speakers (many different models including active, semi-active and passive designs)

Flat reproduction from about 30 hz up
No need to purchase amplifiers
Small size given the base reproduction

None execpt you will hear all the warts of recorded material. Splices become evident, breathing on choral music, etc.

Very flat and clear. Cleaner than B&W based on very subjective comparisons at different dealers.
Only potential weakness is a limited sound stage, but I expect that problem is due to my small 11 x 13 room rather than the speaker. Much better imaging/sound stage was heard at the dealer. No need for a subwoofer, except, perhaps, for some very low organ notes. The "perhaps" reflects my suspicion that the low organ rumble I heard was a result of the recording. Similar low organ material is fine on differnt sources, including live FM.

Electronic front end is a Morrison Pre-amp and Rotel 971 cd player. Both highly recomended. The entire system is new, so I can't evalute the impact of the individual components. But I doubt the electronics make that much of a difference.

I doubt there is any speaker available that is sufficiently superior to justify the higher price and electronics. I was capable of spending much, much, more.

Similar Products Used:

Compared to B&W Nautilis
Own and have compared to old Paradigm Vii and new Titans, etc.

highs, lows, size, looks

can't think of any

Simply unbelievable! The highs are crystal clear, the mids are full and open, the lows are strong. You will get better base out of a tower, but not much better. Paradigm uses the same tweeter on their Studio's and Active's, but the highs are noticably clearer on the Actives. Paradigm Active 20's are good, the 40's are great! B&W's too expensive for what you end up with. If I had not liked the Active 40's i would have gone with the Studio 100's or PSB Silver's. If you can find them, YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO Paradigm's Active 40's!!!

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm Reference Studio 60 and 100, Paradigm Reference Active 20, PSB Silver i, B&W 805, 804

Imaging precision, frequency response, bass, detail, dynamics. Simply put, just about everything!

Takes a bit of break-in to remove the upper-frequency glare

Nothing one can say will ever fully convince dyed-in-the-wool "separatists" that a fully integrated active speaker can compare sonically with a top-notch amp/preamp combo. And that's a crying shame, because those people are truly missing out on one of the best things to hit high-end audio in a good, long while. I won't launch into a discourse about the numerous advantages of active-speaker design; those who already own the Active 40s hear those advantages every day. What I will say is that these speakers are hands-down the smartest audio-related investment I ever made. They excel at everything that a world-class speaker should excel at. The fact that they do it for a shade over $2K should be cause for rejoicing for every audiophile who's ever caught himself thinking, "I paid (INSERT DOLLAR AMOUNT) for that?" The Active 40s will continue to remain a secret to the audio world at large--for any number of inexplicable reasons--but this is one secret I'm glad I'm in on!

Incredibly tight and coherent frequency response.Imaging that is rock-solid

An expensive speaker if you already own quality amps.

I have had these speakers for just over a year now and feel very spoiled by the quality that I have become used to. I did a comparison test of the above mentioned speakers and felt that the 40's combined the best attributes and possessed the fewest weaknesses. I continue to be surprised at the bass these speakers put out, tight, low and very clean. My only lament is that super audio cd players and software have yet to hit a price point that I can afford. My advice to anybody in the market for beautiful sounding speakers is to give these a try. They may not appeal to everyone since they are not all that sexy or large, but if you want seriously good sound they are worth a listen. I am giving them 5 stars for value since they sound unbelievable and come with amplifiers. I am also giving them 5 stars for an overall rating because I believe that there is no other speaker/amp out there at this price that betters the performance of the Active 40's.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, mirage,Magnepan,PSB