Incredible clarity, lots of sound from a small speaker!

Non-removable front grill.

Well, I used to think that Bose was #1... Then I started reading and decided that friends don't let friends buy Bose. So I moved my Bose 301's to the rear and bought these HUGE Jenson floor standers with 15" woofers... I thought I had a great speaker. Then one day a buddy of mine asks me to go with him to check out these speakers in orlando called Paradigm... I figured I'd humor him cos my speakers were the greatest. I went to this place with about $300 in my bank account... We sat down and he was demoing Mini Monitors (which i just recently bought off him), Atoms, and Titans... After I heard the Atoms, I was sold... I came home $120 poorer (he knocked the price down for me a bit), and a LOT more happy... I have been completely satisfied with these speakers from day one. An all around great buy, and great sound... For awhile I had a Boston center and KLH in the rears, but I recently upgraded the whole system. Put the mini-mon's up front, atoms in the rear, replaced the Boston with a CC-170 and bought a Velodyne CHT-80 sub... The paradigms blend in perfectly all around. A great buy on a budget, and one of the best speakers i've heard... I really give this product a 6! I want to be the Paradigm spokesperson. I love this company! :)

Similar Products Used:

Jenson floor standing speakers, Bose 301's, Pioneer floor standing, Infinity bookshelf speakers.

HUGE sound from a small package, clear and accurate

Bass can be a bit boomy, bright until broken-in

I picked these up for my sister's apartment at college, brought them home first and decided to try them out. I am still amazed at the great sound that comes out of such a small, light speaker. The only thing that can be considered a fault is that the bass can be boomy, perhaps this depends on placement. Highs are clear and accurate (its nice to see that a relatively high-tech tweeter has made it down the line into a small bookshelf unit). If you've got a bit more to spend, the only thing that will clearly sound better is the Mirage FRX series. But for the price these can't be beat.

Similar Products Used:

mirage, altec, bose, infinity

Just incredible for the price. Period!

None for the price

Ok I bought these for Surrounds to go with my Mini Monitors.
Then a few weeks ago my wife say's " Move all these Speakers wires!..... Now!" So being the nice guy I am I agreed and orderd Inwall speaker wire and all the connections To run it. But now its just going to have to wait till I can get some Monitor ADP's surrounds. Because I am enjoying the heck out of the little speakers hooked up to my Computer! I have moved them into the study and they are not leaving. Nope their is no better! They Blew away my Boston Acoustics. Even without the sub! I am totally impressed. They sound incredible. Go buy them and put them in a small room and be happy!

Similar Products Used:

Infinity Overature ones, DCM KX-6, Polks, Yamaha.

everything

none for this price

Six years ago I spent $800 on a set of the Bose Acoustimass V speakers. They were so much better than the $200/pair Pioneer speakers I had in college, and I thought they sounded fantastic! Not only did they look cool, everyone was telling me how great Bose speakers were.

Enter 2001. I have just bought a house, and wanted to get a Sony Wega TV, and upgrade my system from a Pioneer ProLogic system to a digital 5.1. Since I am an internet junkie, I tirelessly researched all the components. I started out needing new rear channel speakers, as my current set was garbage, and I knew that the 5 channel digital would need a bit more quality. So I went to a big electronics Superstore and tested out a bunch of speakers in the $200 price range (Infinity, etc) and they just sounded so tinny, too bright. If there was any bass, it just did not sound right. Not expecting the world, I went down to Audio Labs (a small dealer in Des Moines) and asked to hear a pair of the Paradigm Micro speakers. They were ten times better than anything I had heard at the Superstore. So I asked for a pair in black, but they were out of them. For another $25 I could upgrade to the Atom. I fired up the Atom next to the Micro, and WOW!
I could not believe the sound. I bought them and took them home.
I hooked them into my stereo on the B channel to hear them against my BoseAM5's. I could not believe how much better the tweeters were on the Atoms. And the bass was quite good, very tight. For only $180! I was a Paradigm believer.
Next up was the center channel. I called up my new best friend (the Audio Labs salesperson) and ordered up a cc-170 center channel speaker. Compared to my old Audio Source, this speaker is unbelievable. Voices have nice bass to them, all while being very accurate. Another fantastic purchase, I was hooked!
So I thought I would just go ahead and update the fronts. More research was done and I stopped in and picked up a pair of Titans, and matched them with the PDR10 subwoofer. With tax and mounting brackets, the Titan/Subwoofer combo cost me $600. So I went home to test them against the $800 Bose (which currently sell for $600.)

OMG!

The difference is unbelievable. I am just stunned. The sound is incredible. At first I have had to turn the bass down, as I am not used to truly deep, rich bass with my Bose speakers, but how was I to know?

I got a complete 5 channel speaker system which blows the doors off my old Bose speakers for $900. That is only $100 more than I paid for my Bose speakers originally. I found some sucker at my office to buy my Bose speakers for $300. Good Riddance.

Similar Products Used:

Bose acoustimass 5

I've had these little speakers for over two years now and am extremely happy with them. I replaced a pair of Bose bookshelf speakers and the result was a dramatic difference in clarity and detail. Being such a small speaker, it doesn't have much bass, but I've just added a PDR-8 subwoofer which makes the overall sound fuller and richer. I would use some higher quality speaker cables with them. I use the Audioquest Type2 cables ($1.50 a foot) and there is a big difference from cheap mass-market cables. I highly recommend these speakers for both beginning audio enthusiasts and home theater. You can't beat the Atoms in their price/size range. (I bought them as a demo model for $140.)

I used these little speakers as a replacement for my Sony mini-hifi (lo-fi?)'s packaged speakers. Man do these Sony speakers sound like crap. The Paradigm Atoms are detailed and smooth, and I no longer need to play with the equalizer to get clean sound out of the speakers (not that the equalizers did a good job on the Sonys anyway). I use the system as my computer sound system. The Atoms deserve a four star for their performance, and a 5 considering the price.

I purchased the Atoms to replace an older pair of Koss Dynamites in my second system. With a NAD 310 integrated amp, Sony CD player, and standard interconnects and speaker wire, I am quite pleased with the performance. The highs are somewhat laid-back but very natural, not zingy or tizzy. Vocals are excellent, particularly on female jazz. The bass is a big improvement over the old dual woofer Koss's and I tend to listen with no tone adjustments on the amp. The speakers, and perhaps the system overall, cannot produce roof raising volume but in a casual environment are very satisfactory. They produce a nice wide soundstage and often details appear to come from well to the left or right. Bass guitar is a real strong point, very full and realistic, even without the bottom end of larger speakers. Stringed instruments are very lively and articulate.
I compared the Atoms to Energy 1.5's which cost at least as much (>$200 Cdn) and preferred the Atoms sense of dynamics and overall "musicality". Of course, listening is subjective and depends on personal taste, so pick a price range and listen to as much as you can. There's a new Version 2 out now for about an extra $30. Don't know what the improvements are, other than some grill and rear enclosure revisions.

As a note, I tried introducing an unpowered sub to the system, a Paradign SB-80, with no integral tone or cutoff controls and could only stand it for about 4 weeks. Way too boomy. Not sure if the Atoms have a mid-bass bulge (don't think so) or if the sub is just a bloated box without any real deep note capacity. Looking forward to trying a powered sub like Energy ES-8 or Paradigm PDR series.

I purchased these speakers about 6 months ago for the purpose of rear suround sound. One day I got to thinking how they would do hooked up to the fronts. Was I ever blown away!! There was such big sound coming from these little speakers. With the PDR-10 the music gripping. I would definitly recomend these speakers. But don't take my word for it, and go have a listen to them and I am very sure you will be impressed. Paradigm is on of the best if you ask me, they don't win all the awards by putting out a speaker that doesn't sound good!!!!!!!

i just wanted to post an update of my earlier review of the atoms (see below). they are still one of the best of the paradigm line, and are still great value for the money, but after comparing them to other speakers, i decided to spend more money for a higher quality monitor. If you like the sound of b&w speakers, the atoms will give it to you at a much lower price. but, i like the nht sound (their higher end speakers, NOT their budget line - i own the 2.5i's), and Monitor Audio has come out with a speaker called the Silver 5's (reviewed in this month's home theater magazine) that has that "sound" that i like - neutral, ultra detailed, great imaging, and very fast & delineated bass (fast bass is the most important aspect to my wife - she cannot stand the sound of "mushy" speakers). for the money, the atoms are good, but a little more money will get you much better sound - try the nht 1.5's, or monitor audio Silver 3's, both around $600. If you want a serious step up, much better than the 1.5's 7 silver 3's, try the dynaudio audience 50's - they are the best bookshelf speaker i have heard in the up to $1300 range - they only cost $899! Any way, back to the atoms - what turned me off to them was over time they just sounded too lean, even with a sub, plus it was also very difficult to integrate the sub seamlessly, probably because i had to set the crossover so high to avoid gaps in the frequency response. these speakers certainly do 'wow' you at first (i certainly was), but after listening to them over time, i decided i could not live with their overall thin sound. 3 stars for performance, regardless of price.

For the price these can't be beat. Very clear and smooth highs and midrange. The sound isvery detailed. I liked these better than the Titans, which sounded a bit muddy by comparison.
These are truly a bargain! I plan to buy a pair and use them until I get the funds together for (much) more expensive
speakers, then use them in my den. I think most people would be satisfied with these as primary
speakers.