Cost

Tweeter; wood laminate looks cheap

I went to listen to these speakers at a Hi Fi shop and was about to pull the trigger in a suicide attempt when the music stopped. The Model 3, 5 and 7's were being run of a decent Rotel integrated and Rotel CD Player. The reference series was an improvement but not by much. I convinced myself to want to like them by reading all the Paradigm reviews on this board. Unfortunately, Paradigm will not get my business. The Proac 2000 is calling my name. Just my .02 worth.

Similar Products Used:

Monitor Silvers; Aerial Model 7

excellent sound, great bass, and spectacular clarity

none

I was on the way to buy a porsche for my birthday, stopped at this store to see how much to put a system in the porsche. well I saw a demonstration of a paradigm system with yamaha components. These speakers included monitor 5's for the front, MS345 center and m944 surrounds. At first i thought these would sound average considering their size. BOY WAS I WRONG! The set of speakers has a spectacular sound. When I listen to music I never use the surround speakers, just the 5's. I must say these things are spectacular. this has to be the best sounding set of speakers in the 100-1000 price range i have ever heard. When you put your ears up to these they make you feel like your right there at a concert and it isnt a speaker. I always thought that fancy monster cable and titanium interconnects etc were all a buncha gimmicks, but with these speakers I actually hade to upgrade my speaker wire to get optimal sound. overall these speakers are a tremendous value for the price. (I ended up with a corvette instead and I purchased this system. The wife was surprised, but Ive been very happy with it.

Similar Products Used:

B&W nautlis, PSB reference series

Not many. Still a good speaker, but overrated.

Constant hissing sound in backround of Music.These are a good speaker, but when comparing to other high end speakers that I have heard, these don't compare. Way Way Overrated!!!!

Overall: Listen to all other good speaker brands before you buy these. I got a great deal on these, and still returned them because I could not figure out why the sound was not right. I fist thought it was the reciever, then the CD player, but in the end it was the speakers. They just did perform as well as everyone said they would.

Similar Products Used:

Speakers:(Klipsch Heresy's, KG4.2's, KG1's, KSC1, PSB Sub's) Recievers & CD's: (Denon, Yamaha)

I just purchased the monitor 5's, and I'm very impressed with them. I've been a car audio enthusiast for many years. These speakers are the first ones I've owned for the home. I can actually hear a difference in speaker wire now (after years of listening and being skeptical). The build quality is great. I would recommend these to anyone building a modest home theater system. I give it five stars. Although they lack very low bass, they are superb compared to like speakers.

I listened to the Monitor 5's several times while I was speaker-shoppingrecently, over the course of several days, and liked them quite a lot for
the money. The imaging and soundstage was good, and they handled music
from Puccini arias to Ry Cooder and Koko Taylor well. In the end, I had
a preference for the B&W 602s which were approximately in the same range,
more-or-less, which had a very clear and spacious sound without losing the
warmth of the Paradigms.

I did feel that the Monitor 5s were just a bit boomy in the mid-bass, but
they were by no means incompetent, compared vs. the B&W, Mordaunt-Shorts,
PSBs, and NHTs that were in the same price range.

Rating is based on value-for-money.

The Monitor 5's are the best value of all the monitor series speakers. I use them in a modest home theater set-up with Paradigm Atoms in the rear and a PS1000 filling out the bottom end. The sound has been very entertaining. They are detailed enough to be used in phantom mode without any problems with speech intelligibility on movies. Also, the bottom end is more prominent than the Mini-Monitors. For the price they are definitely a best buy.

I went with Boston Acoustics Microseries over Monitor I did like the little 8 inch 75 watt sub, but wanted a 10 inch in the same, and there was not one, so they kept trying to push into the 700-800 range.

Boston Acoustics Microseries go with my new new Yamaha 795 and Sony DVP6000 5 changer DVD/CD player and am VER happy with sound!! My friends are estonished when they hear the quality, and then I point out the little-bitty front speakers that are almost "hiding" in my bookcase (yes, i got the white as my wife suggested), and they are more estonished. The Cast-aluminum construction is the best on the market, each front speaker must weigh 10-12 pounds. You get the high-end Lynnfield series tweeter to go along with the 3 1/2 midrange, and the speration adn highs are very good. For my room Cr400 is very good, although I have a trade-in agreement to go to the CR500 if i think i need it within 30 days.

Buy these speakers, put in Fleetwood Mac "the dance", and you think you are at the real thing. Kenny G, Kirk Whalum, and other jazz tunes come through clear. Even Rush - Tom Sawyer - soungs great for jammin rock.

I looked hard for 2-3 months at Paradigm, Energy, B&W, and they are all good. I think the final factor was the high-end tweeter, the rock-solid construction, and the overall sond for the size. Was willing to go for a 12" or so bookshelf, like the CR7, or B&W 302, but could not hear the reason why.

Do yourself a favor and listen to BA before you spend the extra $$$ on these.

4 stars for sound, but overall 3 stars for value and sound

I listened to multiple brands, and finally decided I was gonna buy a pair of Paradigms from the 300 to 500 dollar range. It came down to Paradigm Phantoms, 3's and 5's. I decided on the Phantoms because they had the most bass, they weren't as precise in the higher and mid frequenceys as the 3's or the fives, but they also weren't as bright. If you like Classical or jazz or whatever, these would probably the best. Otherwise, go with the 3's or phantoms, they have more bass. I liked the 5's the least of the three and they were also the most expensive, the phantoms being the least and the 3's the same price. But these are definently not for Home Theater. That's why they made cheaper speakers with bigger woofers. I'll be generous and give them a 4 cause they sounded so much better than JBL and AR.

I am very pleased with my Monitor 5 speakers. I listened to Klipsch, Boston Acoustics, B&W, and Polk (These were the only speakers in my area that I could audition).It came down to the Paradigm Monitor 5 and the B&W DM602 for my budget of $500-$550. I chose the Paradigms because I felt that they were more accurate and neutral. The B&Ws produced more bass than the Paradigms, but it was not as tight and was actually boomy in comparison. The highs of the DM602s were tinny and strained, not nearly as accurate or neutral. The only area in which the B&Ws surpassed the Paradigms was in size of soundstage. The B&Ws imaged equally as well, but overall the Monitor 5 just sounded better. If you want a big soundstage and listen at high volumes, then the DM602 is tough to beat. If however, you want to hear all of the detail in a classical or jazz piece, then go with the overall better sound of Paradigm. They will also sound great with any type of music or movie. I was able to find my Monitor 5s in light cherry for $465.00 out the door. I have them matched with a CC-350 center and a pair of Mini Monitors for the rear.

Really dig these speakers. At $500 I don't think they can be beat. I listened to B&W, klipsh, kef, BA, and found these to be the most well rounded.
At some point i might add a subwoofer to the system, but otherwise no complaints. I found the comparable b&w's to be a bit unnaturally heavy in the highs, although I too thought their stereo imaging was slightly better.