outstanding clarity, nice warmth

bass mush at lowest freqs...

first of all, let me say that this is an outstanding set of speakers. for two slices more than true entry-level, you can have clarity. i have really enjoyed listening to all but a few tracks, which include really low bass notes, during which the speakers seem to lose clarity. (eg: "going out of my head" on fatboy slim's "better living through chemistry") not sure if this is "bottoming out", so i decided to write and ask for advice. have tried various speaker positions to no avail. my system:
sony ca7es cd player
h/k avr 75 rcvr
h/k pa 5800 amp
paradigm monitor 7's mains
paradigm cc-350 center channel

the monitor's are bi-amped and bi-wired (highs from avr 75, lows from pa 5800). so to all you highfalutin' audiophiles, how about some expert advice (besides spending a few more grand)? a bass focused across the entire spectrum would warrant a double nickel like mj's return to ball against the knicks. thanks...

Impecible build quality, handsome construction, excellent bang for the buck, smooth sound

Slight lack of extreme low end bass under 30 hz (natural for a tower with two 6.5 drivers)

I walked into a high end store and told the salesman I had a $750 budget for a set of tower mains. He immediately recommended the Paradigm Monitor 9's, but said he didn't have one in stock - that they were flying off the floors. So I gave the Monitor 7's a good listen. No product has ever sold itself to me in the first minute of use...except for this one. A big grin ate up my face as I listened carefully. I couldn't believe a speaker so cheap could sound so good. I got even more excited when I found a demo set for $480 off the showroom floor. I ran back the very next day, plopped down my cash and smiled all the way home - knowing that I had gotten a very good deal.
These speakers absolutley blow away anything I've ever heard under $1k. They made similar priced Mirage speakers sound like crap. They almost compared to the flagship $15K JM Labs I listened to (just for fun, and I did say ALMOST). The midrange is cool and liquid, very smooth sounding and uncolored. Imaging is wide and open. Soundstage is great, with the vocals a little wee bit to the front. Highs are crisp without brightness and the midbass is tight. I plan, and suggest, that people run a sub with this set for the ultra low freq. These speakers sounded good with Theater Dolby Digital in a 5.1 set up, and excelled musically. The cabinet is sexy and simple and well constructed. The drivers are a joy to look at. You'll be tempted to run these without the grille! I love the semi-transparent cones. People who don't know better will think you have multi-thousand dollar speakers!!!
Are their better speakers? Of course! But I promise you that you will be very hard pressed to find a better value. Listen to the crap they sell at Best Buy or Circuit City and then find a hi-fi dealer and give these babies a listen. You will wonder why companies like Bose and Cerwin Vega stay in business.

Similar Products Used:

Tested JM Labs, Mirage, NHT, Polk, Infinity, Energy

Price, soundstage, strong bass, extended, smooth highs

A bit honky at higher volumes, grainy, a bit fatiguing

Maybe the hype on these speakers left me with unrealistic expectations. I really expected to be blown away, but that was hardly the case. Yes, for the price, (under $700), they do offer good value, but I could never live with these speakers. They are loud, but at higher volumes, the upper midrange became glaring, and I wanted to turn them down (never a good sign). Also, they sounded a bit grainy. If you've never heard a speaker that isn't grainy (like the Vandersteens), you won't understand this, but audition the Vandersteens (I ended up with them - review on the way), and you'll immediately understand the term. If you don't have a sub, and need good bass from your mains, I would compare these speakers to the Mission 703 and the NHT Super2, which are both superior to the Paradigm, IMHO. As always, listen carefully before you buy.

Similar Products Used:

B&W 603, Mirage FRX7, PSB Image 4T, Polk RT-55i, Mission 703, Tannoy M5, Vandersteen 1C, Energy exl 26

VERY neutral, great imaging, clarity, acurate bass, and anything else that you can think of!!

None yet

I wasn't prepared to buy speakers when I did but when I saw these on Ebay going for $400 I had to do it!!
These speakers are absolutely incredible for the price that they go for even in an audio store. And if you are planning on buying new definetly go with a either the light or dark cherry finish. Makes them look way better than the plain black ash at no extra cost.

I had them wired for about 2 weeks with some crappy old wire and using the bi-wire bridges and they seemed to be a bright speaker but still great. I then upgraded to some Kimber 4VS at only $3/ft(which I highly recommend) and bi-wired them and wow what a difference. The cable really cleaned up the low ends and made the mid/highs even tighter. I can't understand why people don't like the low range on these speakers... they are quite accurate for me; maybe it is the wiring or placement for others?

They produce a very neutral and accurate sound so that no extra processing is needed at all. Soundstaging in plain old 2-channel is great. I popped in one of Jewel's cd's and it sounded as if all the vocals were coming out of my center channel, and they is the way it should be!!

These speakers also kick some ass for home theatre. They produce a very powerful and accurate sound espcially when used with a timbre matched CC-350. I can't wait to get some cash together for some ADP-170's (even though the 350's are recommended).

Overall... probably the BEST bang for your buck. Definetly check some out at your local high-end store. And for god sakes people, don't use crappy cable or interconnects... especially MONSTER!!! YUCK!!

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Paradigm Mini-Monitors

Imaging, Acurate overall sound

None other than they take about a month to break in

When I decided I needed new speakers, I started looking for something that was the best value for the money. I came across paradigm monitor 7 and compared them to an Infinity speaker that cost $100 more. The mon 7 blew away the infinity in all respects (except the cool terminology used to describe infinity's "breakthrough technology"). I also was able to compare them to some b&w towers (i can't remember which) and realized that the paradigms were 90% the performance for 60% the price. I've had them for 4 months and couldn't be happier.

Similar Products Used:

B&W, Infinity, JBL, etc