We replaced a pair of Polk Audio speakers (passive) with the 90P's and I was amazed at the difference. I always liked the Polks but they lacked alot even with a seperate sub. We hooked the 90P's to a Marantz SR780 and a CC350 center channel with ADP-350's for the back. It is an unbelivable sound. One note, make sure the 90P's are not on the floor, they have to be up on feet (Don't let the carpet or floor touch the bottom of the speaker) or it ruins the sound. They are WAY too tall for stands, you have to use the spikes even if it means imbedding the spikes in your hardwood floors! This is a really good system for people who want to stay within a certain budget.

Wonderfully imaging and flat response from sub woofer to highs (since each has built in subwoofer which mixes LFE channel with normal speaker input. Beautiful speakers!. You can get these and NOT have to get either seperate sub-woofers or a center channel (gasp - see below).

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These are by far the best speakers I think you can find under $2000, and are better than almost all above it (IMHO).

I got great cables (mostly high end Ultralink), Toshiba 5109 DVD player & matching 480-progressive TV, Onkyo 595 receiver, center speaker (Paradigm CC 350), rear speakers (Paradigm Monitor 3's).

After a while I noticed something - since most of the TV/movie sound comes out of the center channel and it has to be either on top of or below the TV, it just didn't sound like it was coming out of the TV where it should. I tried the unthinkable - I turned my system into center phantom mode (as if there was no center channel) so the center sound was redirected to the monitor 90P's. The result was INCREDIBLE as I had hoped! Since the tweeters of the 90P's are exactly at the height of the middle of the TV and placed at equal distances from it, the sound is just as if it came out of their mouths! The imaging is that good. I tried it with and without the center, and I always liked it better without. You should give it a try with your system.

By the way, the Monitor 3's are the greatest buys for under $400 per pair, and are great as rear speakers (I even have a pair of them at work in stereo). IMHO, they are the best bang for the buck that exists, period!

My advice: Get 90P's for left-right, 3's for rear, and forget the center and you don't need seperate sub-woofers (this looks great, too!). The MSRP of this is $1900 total, but if you try hard enough you can get good discounts from an occasional dealer (but they are loathe to let anyone know of this since Paradigm is so strict on this). The 90P's also have a LFE subwoofer input on each speaker and a mixing knob to blend it with the normal sound (which also uses the sub woofers), so you get the best of all worlds for music and 5.1 Dolby digital! If you have to get by on less money, get Monitor 3's for fronts and backs (with stands to get correct height - very important) and wait until you get more money to add Monitor 90P's and take one pair of 3's to work or another room.

By the way, there way nothing wrong with my CC-350. It is a truly excellent center speaker. Until you've heard such incredible speakers (90P's) without a center, you really don't know what you're missing. I've also owned 4 Monitor 3's and CC-350 for my other TV room for MANY years and I'm sooooooo glad I bought them (wish I could say that about all the other stuff I have :-)

Paradigm rules!

Similar Products Used:

Other Paradigm equipment.

I was in the market for a new audio system. I compared and reviewed many systems in my quest for audio satisfaction. After comparing Bose, Polk, Mirage, etc., the best buy for the aquired sound was the 90Ps. This speaker is a very well engineered speaker with the required power for performance but the clearness of a blue sky!!! I give this unit, a honourable mention!! A great buy.
Dan Parsons, Professional Engineer

bass extension, musicality

tweeter blew...

I demoed a pair of the 90p's recently and was initially very impressed. Even without sufficient break-in I was hearing things in recordings I had never heard. I was running them with a Denon AVR-2700 (80Wx5), which I knew might be a little lean for the 90p's (though with the powered sub, they really only need the juice for the tweeter and 6.5 inch mid). The result was a blown tweeter after about an hour of listening. I was sad to say the least.

If you have a fairly low powered receiver (100W or less) then the 90p's would be a fine choice. Don't push them too far, though, or you may end up like my tweeter did.

Personally, I've decided I can buy reference 80's for a couple hundred less and buy a three channel amp to power them and a reference center (using the Denon receiver as a temporary pre-pro). It will cost about $500 more for the reference 80's with an amp, but at that price, it's worth getting into the reference line and not feeling the urge to go to the next level.

I'll let you know more when I get the 80's, but 90p's sounded sweet!

Similar Products Used:

infinity, polk, energy