Good dynamic range, nice detailed highs

Bass output (Which is understandable given their size)

I purchased these speakers for around $200 Canadian, and use them as the rear surrounds in my home theater. At the time I didn't have DVD, so just Dolby Pro-Logic. Considering that Pro-Logic doesn't send a full range signal to the surrounds, I felt these would suffice. I also tried them as B speakers, with my Paradigm Eclipse Bipolars being the mains. While these speakers didn't match that well with my Eclipse's, that is understandable considering they are from Paradigm's budget line and the Eclipse's were at the top of their Reference line. They did have a nice full sound, and really filled out the sound stage in the room. I have them mounted on the wall at the opposite end of my living room. They do well as surround speakers, but since I have upgraded to DVD, I will probably go with Paradigm's Studio ADP surrounds.

These are great beginner audiophile speakers, and can't be beat for the price. Paradigm excels at delivering great sounding speakers at a great price. As for those who compare these speakers to expensive bookshelf speakers, that comparison is unfair. If you want a high end bookshelf speaker, give Paradigm's Studio 20's a listen. I am sure they would stack up more favorably with the other high end speakers, albeit with a higher end price.

mid, highs

not found yet

The Atoms are great speakers, they are best for all speakers less than $300. Titans are too boom. I initially driven my Atoms with a Pioneer VSX-D508, I thought that was good until I upgraded my receiver to Yamaha 595a. I was blown away. Pioneer receiver did not do justice to these good speakers. If you have a regular Pioneer receiver, you are not going to get full potential of any good speakers. You need to have decent receiver to get full performace of these good peakers. When I side by side compared with Polk RT25 (MSRP $250/pair), Atoms (MSRP $179/pair) are definitely better.

By the way, my Paradigm dealer has been gave me great deals on my Paradigm purchases. I ordered a vidoe shielded version, which gives me a lot flexibility in placment around TV. Video shielded version costs $20 more a pair. If you are around Indiana, you can come to my Paradigm dealer and get good deals on any Paradigm speakers. If you are far from IN, I can help you purchase with your name (so you get the warranty) and ship the speakers for you by doing my dealer a favor. Paradigm does not allow their dealers to ship Paradigm to other dealer's teritory.

E-mail me for more info if you want to purchase new Atoms from my dealer.

Even at full MSRP, Atoms deserves 5 stars, based on my purchase price, they deserve even 6 stars.

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Infinity RS-1, Bose 21, pioneer

A truly excellent speaker for a beginner or pro.

None

I was looking for a small, modest speaker setup for a newly purchased home theatre system to be used with an Onkyo Integra DTR-5 Receiver. My main audio system being all McIntosh, I was cautious concerning these or any small speakers. I'm also a professional musician & studio recordist. What I'm saying is that I deal with top end equipment of all types and these Paradigm's are truly amazing for their price & size. I ended up with all Paradigm speakers for this HTS.
- Atoms - Front
- Micros - Rear
- CC70 - Center
- PDR-10 - Subwoofer
The level of performance is so far above & beyond competing speakers in this price range that it's scary. Their sound is clean & crisp & dynamic.
You have to buy them through an authorized dealer. I tried to purchased them on the internet with no luck. In fact, one site displayed the message that Paradigm's purchased this way would have their warranty voided by the factory if they ever required servicing.

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Energy Take5, Klipsch Quintet, Def Tech ProCinema 80

Absolute bargain

It weakness is its strength, it does not try to do the bass and lives the subbass alone instead of making a mediocre preformance

First of all, they are not mine but a friend of mines. He bought them new with a used Rega Elex, Rega Planar 3 and a OK Cd player. Totally less than 800 $. He has done every effort to tweak then and the cables are OK. The sound is amazing, really amazing to the price. Personally i have a high end system and was astonished that you could get so much for so little. The Rega Elex cost 800$ alone I think,so he was lucky getting it so cheap. We tested it out with a B&W 602 and B&W CDM1. Quite unfaire of course, but the Atom were able to outperform the 602. The 602 were better in many ways but had no audiophile "touch" and the exstra bassresponce were of bad quality. I think the Rega Elex was partly responsible for this great preformance. There is much to gain using a good amplifire on this speaker, costing 2-5 times the Atom itself.

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noen it that class

wonderful, clear highs. easy on the ears.

it's a small speaker, only enough bass for a small room

I've owned these speakers for 5 years now. I've been driving them with an old R-1000 yamaha (a giant battleship of a receiver). The highs are airy and open. I find their bass output to be adequate for a small room, but larger spaces need to add a sub.

They would benefit from stands, but I don't have room at the moment, so I make do with the metro shelving the receiver is on.

a great little speaker.

Great highs, base is incredible, good proce for the power

not much mid

GREAT SPEAKERS
I bought these as my first pair on a component system,a nd have since complimented them with a pair of Paradigm Monitor 5's. Together in my room, they rock the house. The bass is incredible, and you barly need to flip the volume to be rockin'.

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none

price/performance ratio, detailed pleasant-soounding mid-range,extended,open,airy highs,wide soundstage,nicely balanced bass.

none

bravo! paradigm. the best money i ever spent on loudspeakers.
easy on the ears,thoroughly enjoyable listening experiences
from day1.connected via monster cable mcx1s,terminated with banana plugs.cambridge cd4se connected with cardas crosslink
to jolida202a integrated tube amp.i had read reviews here
before auditioning paradigms.these speakers sounded better
than what i had expected.the total package of the atoms truly
defies the laws of physics.the bass,mid-range + highs deliver
natural sound in a well-designed small box. absolutely incredible performance.

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boston acoustics models hd8+hd5,polk4a

Awesome highs and midrange, first rate tweeter for the price

Lack of deep lows but adequate for my bedroom considering their size

I was looking for a pair of bookshelf speakers for my bedroom which measures 12'x 14'. I did'nt have very high expectations but was very surprised with the speakers I listened to. I was originally going to buy bic 52s to go with my bic subwoofer, a 60 watt 8" unit, adequate for a small room. A friend of mine said I should check out the paradigm titans or atoms at a local stereo store. I'm not a big shopper and the bics sounded good to me. But I took his advise and went to that store. Am I ever happy that I did. These little speakers are amazing, especially considering their size and price! I listened to the other speakers at the store and they all sounded good, but none could match the highs of the Atoms. The Titans are better in the bootom end but were a little big for the shelf I have, and I have a small sub. The quality of the drivers Paradigm uses in this budget speaker is first rate. My hats off to paradigm which is a company that takes as much pride in their lower cost speakers as they do with the high end ones. I would highly reccomend them. Oh I'm running them with a Denon 3300 receiver and Denon CD changer.

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psb minis, boston accoustics, klipsch, bic 52s

I built a second system around these with an Adcom GFA-545 (100 watts per channel & way too much power for these speakers) driven by an Adcom GCD-575 CD player with volume control. A quick story as to their reliability. My two-year-old son turned up the volume the whole way while the system was off, then my wife turned on the system. I happened to be downstairs and at the opposite end of the house, and the blast was loud even to me. What was incredible was that not only were the little Atoms not damaged by the big Adcom, but they sounded terrific with some pretty impressive bass output! These sound good enough that sometimes I have to power up my main system to reassure myself that it was worth the exponentially larger outlay. Sometimes I think if had found these first I might not have even built my reference system.

Nice sound, clear.

None so far.

Purchased 4 Atoms, CC 170 and PDR 10 for my first home theatre system. Looked at a number of sub satalite systems before a saleman steered me to this set. I am extremely pleased with the set up and think I got a great deal. Salesman was excellent. If you are in Vancouver area and want his name email me. al@acdrealty.com

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First speakers purchased in over 5 years.