I bought the earlier version of the Studio 100's, when they were simply known as Studio Monitors, about 4 years ago. After letting them " Thaw-out", I introduced them to some Reggae music, to get the blood..going! Immediately,I I was astonished to hear the realism of the music. It was like if I was in Jamaica, listening to the "Master" himself! From then on, it only got better. Pavarotti and Domingo all sang for me in my room...it was that realistic. I was "smitten", I got the Paradigm "Bug". I bought the CC-350 centre...The PDR-10 subwoofer, not that I really needed a sub...Titans for front effect, and The ADP-150's for rear effect. Nedless to say, I am the envy of many of my friends who purchased more expensive speakers, that just don't DELIVER!

Solid cabnet, front grill heavy and made of wood also. These are great attributes.

needs lots of power to get the maximum high end and low end out of these speakers. If you dont have at least 200W per channel dont mess with these.

When I brought them home and hooked them up I didnt expect to hear what I heard at the store where I bought them. You know, the store has a special room where all are displayed. Well, I was thoughrouly impressed!!! The lows were incredibly pure and clean, not to mention the mid's and highs. The clarity of these were by far better than any other speaker I have ever heard for the $. I have been shopping for a good pair of speakers for about a year, and my search is OVER. I recall reading a review from a guy who said " i would leave my wife for another pair of these". Well thats not far from the truth, but I love my wife and she too loves the speakers, and for a woman to say that, they've got to be great. There just isnt enough one can say about these except PARADIGM HAS DONE IT AGAIN!!!!!! Thanks Paradogm, and thanks Audio Review for letting me submit this. Your site is awsome.

Similar Products Used:

B&W's, Klipsch.(only similar)

Excellent price-performance value! Great bass

I purchased the Paradigm Reference Studio 100 (version 1) a few months ago. I got it for a great price ($1200) from
the dealer since it was version 1. I use these speakers
as my front left and right speakers. I use the Paradigm Reference Studio CC-450 (version 1) for the center channel,
the Paradigm Reference Studio ADP-450 (version 1) dipole
speakers for the side left/right surrounds, and the Paradigm
Reference Servo 15 subwoofer. Originally, I was using
the Paradigm Reference Studio 20s for the front left/right
channels, and thought that they were great, especially
since I was using the Servo 15 subwoofer. Well, I found
the Studio 100s at a great price, since they were phased
out in favor of version 2. However, I preferred to get
the version 1, not only for the great price ($1200), but
also because the center and surround Paradigm speakers
that I had were also version 1, and I preferred to
have all my speakers be version 1. I later purchased
the Rotel RMB-1095 5x200 watt amplifier. It is amazing
how much the bass improved as compared to my previous
configuration with the Studio 20s. The Servo 15 is
a wonderful subwoofer, but the bass improved even more
with the Studio 100s, and even more when I upgraded
to the Rotel RMB-1095 amplifier (formerly, I was using
my receiver's 85 watt per channel amplifier).
The Rotel was an excellent match for the Paradigm since
the Rotel is a tad on the sweet side, while the Paradigm
(version 1) is a tad on the bright side. Overall, the
Paradigm was an excellent value, and it is hard to
compete with the Paradigm, even with speakers costing
2 to 3 times more! Enough said! This is an excellent
speaker.

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Paradigm Reference Studio 20

Best bank for the buck! Great looks, incredible bass, a complete Home theater and muscial speaker.

I would pay the extra money to have these speakers built with real wood, not veneer and MDF.

I currently own the B&W Nautilus 802, which i purchased for stereo listening. As i was building a home theater, i needed another pair of speakers strictly for this purpose. I did intend by all rights to purchase another set of B&W, but because my wife is the boss, i has to settle on spending slightly less then i had intended! :)

Anyways, after listening to these wonderful speakers for several months now, i must tell you all, i think for the money, i certainly made a mistake with B&W. The 802's cost me well over $9000 dollars US, and the studio 100's by Paradigm were slightly under $2000 dollars CANADIAN! Because i took the trip to buy them in Canada, since my brother lives there, and he told me all about them.

I must tell you, the 802's do not sound $10,000 dollars better than the Paradigms, speaking in Canadian funds. These paradigms, if anything, are well up to par on a set of speakers which i paid a hell of alot of money for! If you speak in terms of bass performance, then i must say, the studio 100's even blow the 802's away! Its shocking really! Sure the 802's are a bit fancier, and are made from real wood, but from an owners point of view, they are in no way $10,000 dollars better than the studio 100's.

I just thought i would come on and tell all of you, that you have litterly stolen a great set of high end adiophile grade speakers from paradigm. They are very affordable, very attractive, and perform exceptionally well. I'm going to wrap it up, because time is money... :)

If you are on the fence, and reading reviews to help you buy a good set of speakers, speaking from experience, the Studio 100's are an excellent bet for all around musical, and home theater performance. I am definitely going to invest some more time in Paradigm, hey... i never new?

Similar Products Used:

B&W Nautilus 802

More laid back in the high's than the Monitor series, rock solid bass, tight and very controled. No need for a subwoofer with this one gentlemen.

none so far except my listening room is 3 flights up, man buy a pizza, get a 6 pack, but get some help in moving these speakers, they weight 110 LBS in the box, about 85 out of the box...

Well the break in seems to be over so it is time for a review. The bass has become more controlled as the cones loosen, the mid-range has become a tad bit more transparent, the highs are still the same. Yes, just like an old shoe, they need time to break in. Count on about 40-60 hours of 90Db Metallica before they come around and give you smooth listening. Or you could just listen to Cannon in D minor for a while and wait. I listen to a vast collection of different music, from Beethoven to Black Sabbath. I have yet to hear a song that the Studio 100's can't handle well. I opted for the non-Veneered towers, so I could snag a set of Mini Monitors for the rear surround channel. I threw a coupple of movies at the Studio 100's with the Studio CC, the Completely seamless mix of the front's and center channel was most noticeable on the Eagle's DVD. These speakers and just as at home on an Arcam 10P amp or that new Krell you have been drooling over. They are power hungery and Bi-amping if you have less than a 100 watt amp is a good idea. To rap it up, the Studio 100's are worth a Serious listen.

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none this good for a price this low....

Outstanding soundstage, imaging, highs, mids, lows, etc. Great looks too.

no way!

WOW! I had been researching what speaker to buy for a long long time. I did not have the funds till now so I was content on just researching and now it has paid off. I want to get an audiophile system and am just starting off with the speakers. These things are just plain wonderful. The sound is liquid and envelopes you all over making it very difficult to even tell where the sound is coming from. The B&Ws did sound good (the 804 was quite close) and yet on transients the 100s were superior (I like electronica) - making the 100s an even better buy. I was really expecting the $2500-$3500 speakers to sound better but it was just not there. The 100s don't even need a subwoofer - unlike the Cobalts and S125s.

I have the 100s hooked up to a Sony receiver, an older Dolby version that sounded OK with the polks but with the 100s it sounds fantastic (I am surprised by it actually)! I auditioned the 100s in two different stores. One had them with a McIntosh setup of the MC602 (600 wpc) amp, MX132 receiver, and MVP831 cd/dvd player, and I just about died and went to heaven. The room was 30'x30' and it was full of beautiful sound. They were amazing and I was all the more impressed by the store having removed B&W Nautilus 801s to audition the McIntosh with the 100s! I will soon be getting a McIntosh amp/preamp for the added power/quality over the Sony (100wpc) and, of course, that McIntosh sound I have never heard rivaled (even by Mark Levinson, and definately Krell).

Anyway, you must audition these if you are looking for great speakers. You can get them for a good price too if you only care about their sound and not the laminate casing - which actually looks very good (veneer is optional). I wanted black and will not buy real wood only to have it painted anyway. They are heavy and very stable too. I just cannot wait to get home from work and listen to them! BTW, biwire them - I use MIT Terminator 2 biwires which help in making the sound stage even more unbelievable.

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JMLab Cobalt 820, B&W Nautilus 804/803/CDM9NT , Polk Audios, Vandersteen 2ce, M&K S125

EXCELLENT IMAGING, GREAT BASS, SMOOTH MIDRANGE.

NONE

The best under 5,000 dollar speaker. The top to bottom tonal
balance is superb. All you here is the music the way it was intended. Imaging is excellent, bass is also first class.
Compared to the speakers mentioned above, no other offered
the overall sound quality of the Studio 100's. Build quality
is also first rate. At close to 120lbs each you can tell cabinet construction was a top priority. I feel these speakers represent one of the best values in the audiophile
industry. Highly recommended. Simply superb!!!

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TOTEM, VANDERSTEEN, MARTIN LOGAN, B&W, MIRAGE, AND MANY OTHERS.

IMAGING! Clarity, DEEP bass - I mean DEEP!, Sweet mids, did I mention imaging?

Long Break-in, heavy, needs power to sound best (200+ wpc) no audible flaws once broken in...

With ~200 hours on my new cherry wood Paradigm Stidio 100 v.2's, they have transformed since initial power on... At first they were bright and quite sibilent... After break in, the Ti. dome tweeter amazes me as it is so smooth, it it's hard to believe it is a metal dome tweeter! It won't however take the sibilance out of the recording! This brings me to my next observation- this is a revealing speaker! That's not bad, but a warning, as it will only sound as good as the components you have attached to it! My setup for now consists of an Anthem MCA-3, Lexicon DC-1, and (gulp) Pioneer DV-333 and Onkyo R1 CD player... Speaker placement does make small differences, but this speaker in my room seems to be fairly unfinicky - it will give good results even 6" away from the front wall... Amplification- these speakers need power!!! It is an 8 ohm speaker BUT 100 wpc will not do these speakers justice!!! It's worth the expense to find a decent separate amp like an Anthem MCA-3 or 2... If you can afford it try the Anthem AMP-2 or better yet a Bryston 4B-ST... I would be wasting time reiterating what has already been said, but here are the strengths in more detail-

Imaging- WOW! wide and deep, truly 3 dimensional! This depends on the recording, but try this one, pop in Madonna's Immaculate Collection, track 15 (Vogue) and take a serious listen... About 45 seconds into the song you will hear Madonna behinde you on either side!!! This CD BTW is a delight with regard to a 3D soundstage! The sweet spot is very big, and placement is simply awesome! Sarah McLaughlin Surfacing is another phenomenal CD to test out... Close your eyes and she is right there in the room with you - the speakers just disappear!!! I have had many non hi-fi people who swear they cannot tell the difference between a 100 and 2000 dollar pair of speakers comment just how amazing the imaging of these speakers are- a true compliment!

Bass - The woofers will need some time to break in, and bass in my system is still getting stronger... Honestly, you will not need a sub with these speakers!!! I have a moderately large room 375 ft x ft or 3000 cubic feet and the bass still is powerful!!! The other amazing thing is how responsive the bass is - it is so crisp and clean, it integrates so well with the music... If you want sloppy, overblow bass, get Def Techs or some other brand that is bass biased... These speakers are just so natural and will deliver a powerful yet balanced presentation... You may think they are weak on bass until you find some 20 Hz note that causes the whole room to resonate!!! Then you will know!!!

These speakers are truly a flagship, but if space or cost constraints prohibit you from getting these incredible speakers, try other paradigm reference speakers - Even the 20's have a LOT to offer at a very reasonable price... To give you an idea, I shopped around for 2 years and after quite a bit of consideration, I have foun these speakers to be the best overall speaker you can buy at nearly any cost - they are simply that good! If you are looking for exclusivity or a company that charges 10x as much becuase they make far far less than Paradigm (a very large vertically integrated Canadian company) then look elsewhere... But if you want the best speaker for the money, give Paradigm a serious listen - you will be amazed!

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Paradigm Studio 20, Def. Techs (yuk- sorry...), NHT 3.3's, Dynaudio, Kef, Energy, Celestion, Audes, and many more...

awesome bass response,big soundstage,very powerfull speaker

none yet

I just bought these speakers 4 days ago..I made a long inquiry about which speaker to buy for my system..At the end I found this unused 1999 model Studio 100....
First of all with this price ,this quality is unbelievable..With this price you can"t find anything better than these speakers..I think these speakers are one of the very best ones up to 5000 $...
I used to have jamo 707 speakers before..i loved their really tight bass.When i got the Studio 100 i was really astounded with the huge bass response.Although I have a very small room for those speakers they sound great...
The other difference with my previous speakers is that the great soundstage Paradigms create..the soundstage is so big.I usually listen to new age,ethnic and world music.With these speakers I got the extensive bass that i was looking for.
The midrange is also very smooth though I would like them to have another one more midrange driver..maybe one more 5" midrange.then the midrange would get better I think...
Anyway at the end I am very much pleased with the choice I made..these are really good speakers with a big , big soundstage

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Jamo 707

Tone, image, ability to keep the signal clean and constant

weight

The Studio 100 v.2 are amazing. They replace my Q65.2 and have made a HUGH improvement to my stereo system. Not only do they look better (rosenut veneer) but also sound much better. The Paradigms best the KEF's in every department. They are tonally superior and can carry much more volume while maintaining their composure. The KEF's would flake out at about 70% volume on my Yamaha RXV1000 receiver (soon to be replaced with a Bryston 4B for fronts and a Bryston 5B for centre and rears).

Stereo imaging is sweet. Not much else to say that has not already been discussed below.

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KEF Q65.2