Incredible sound, great Bass, midrange sweet. No need for subwoofer with correct amp. Clarity at all levels.

Weight, Speaker connection module unsecured out of the box on one speaker.

I have had these for a year , WAS driving with a Denon 2800 at 85wpc. Just purchases BK pre amp and BK Reference 2220 at 220 clean watts per channel... WOW. What an incredible difference. I have been reading reviews on this page for over a year with various comments on the power needs of these speakers. I had not heard these speakers for the past year. Amazing what the correct power amp will do.

The speakers are incredible. I listen to all types from Pink Floyd to Yo Yo Ma. These work really well with vocals; check out Rebecca Pigeon's CD " Raven" for an excellent check of your tweeter and midrange. Or anys CDs with Stevie Nix and you can see the vocal cords resonate.

Bass is incredible. Was thinking about a sub - no longer. I use these for two channel audio and have a separate video setup in another room. Diana Krall , Holly Cole - Jazz is absolutely DEEP on these speakers. I can finally understand some of Mark Knopfler words

It took me a year to wait and write this review. I know you can spend more on speakers - dont believe you can beat these for the cost.

I am running biwired . Really really happy

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None

Smooth, full, effortless sound at high volumes, great soundstage/imaging, detailed sound without being harsh, heavy well built enclosure,

Threaded inserts for spiked feet could be more substantial.

First of all my objective was to find a speaker that could produce full effortless sound at high volumes in a large listening area and these speakers fit the bill. I can keep turning the volume up on these speakers without a hint of harshness. Not once have I had to reduce the volume because it was uncomfortable (no listener fatigue). These speakers are still very detailed on the high end with defined imaging.

I auditioned the above B&W, Dynaudio and Monitor speakers in their 2-5K price ranges. Originally I auditioned the Paradigm 100's just to give me a reference as to how much better the other, higher priced speaker lines are. After all I didn't expect the Paradigm at it's lower price point to have a chance when put up against a 5K pair of speakers? Boy was I wrong.

Although the other speaker lines were better in some areas (and then only by a small margin) I felt the Paradigms sounded better at higher volumes while having no significant sonic weaknesses. They really envelop you with sound and vocals sound great. By the way, the Paradigms sound better in my listening room than any of the three show rooms I auditioned them in. This may be because I am using a properly located sub with an 80hz crossover point and have the speakers located 5 feet from the front wall?

The 100's have solid cabinet construction. The spiked feet are easy to adjust but only 1/4" in diameter (probably should be 3/8-1/2" for a 100 pound speaker). One of the reviewers here had one of the threaded inserts for the spiked feet come out of the enclosure so I was careful in this area. I did have one of the inserts feel like it wanted to turn in the enclosure, so I was careful in this area. If you are going to move these speakers with the spikes installed don't try to drag it or walk it, this may be too much stress on the foot inserts?

The 100's sounded great right out of the box. Initially I powered them with a Musical Fidelity A3cr, 120 watt, 2-channel amp. I then bi-amped using the A3cr on the highs and Marantz MA700's (200 watts per channel) on the low end. Comparing the two setups, the sound was not as open and sounded a tad strained at high volume with the single amp setup. These speakers do sound better with higher avaliable power as others have noted.

My speakers have the black ash laminate finish which looks identical to the black ash wood finish for $500 a pair less than the wood. I have a dedicated listening room so I was not concered as much about decor. These are fairly non-descript boxes (with great performance). Other speakers mentioned are fine pieces of furniture. Me personally, I wanted to spend my money on speaker performance only and Paradigm hit the mark in this respect.

The bottom line is these speakers are a fantastic value. After listening to these, there was nothing up to 5K that had enough improved performance to justify the added cost of more expensive choices. If you are looking at speakers in the 2-5K range, do yourself a favor and listen to these. If you listen at low to moderate volume only, the other speakers listed above may be a better choice.

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Infinity Overture 3, auditioned B&W Natilus - Dynaudio Audience - Monitor Silver Series.

Fantastic sound. Excellent bass. Flat response over wide frequency range.

None that I wouldn't happily put up with.

This is an exceptional speaker at an exceptional price. Especially if you are Canadian because you won't have to exchange monopoly money for USD$! I am driving these speakers with an Onkyou TX-DS747 AV receiver which pops 80Wpc on the front 3. Although I am certain that these speakers will sound much better with more power (175 Wpc+) as many other reviewers here say, it also sounds very good with the 80 Wpc it gets out of my Onkyo. Having said this, it means only that I will live quite happily with my Onkyo for a year or two until I can afford a 200 Wpc 5 channel amp. Long range am considering the Anthem MCA5 or Rotel RMB 1095. The Anthem will be at least $600 cheaper than the Rotel here and maybe more. Decisions. As for complaints about the weight - they are harder to steal, and will likely stay put when the volume is cranked. As to the long breakin time - Paradigm used the materials necessary to make these puppies sound great and to make them last, again a price I am only too happy to pay. I don't know of any speaker that sounds this good at this price. Great for jazz, classical, rock, you name it. Now I still have to get rid of my JBL 030's which are taking up too much storage space in my home. If you want a great speaker at a fair price that will play details in music you've never heard before that will bring a tear to your eyes then look at Paradigm Reference Studio 100's. I have them mixed with a Studio CC and a pair of Paradigm Mini-Monitors on the rear for Home Theater and am exceedingly happy with this although I will upgrade the rears at some point. BTW I am using this system without a sub! It would only get me kicked out of my block anyhow. Good listening and remember that you won't go wrong with these!!!

Similar Products Used:

JBL 030; B&W; other $1200 -$2500 CDN stuff demo'd in various shops.

My review was previously posted and it has come to my attention Paradigm doesn't file individual driver characteristics (that may have been a misinterpretation of the part in the Paradigm catalog about filing driver charateristics for future reference during speaker design and development). The Studio 100s are sold in stereo pairs as I had stated. Also, is Paradigm aware of numerous quality defects in their products reaching their customers? Are we communicating this information to the dealers and even directly with Paradigm?

Imaging, depth, bass, midrange, all around they just dissapear into your room.

none, just got to be biamplified to bring out the true beauty of this speaker

After fooling around with the above speakers, and mostly playing my audio at 100+ decibles, those speakers above did'nt do it.
I knew i would have to spend additional bucks to get sonic wave, natural sounding, speakers. I read about these on this site and decided to purchase the V2 ROCKETS.
first audition, i was happier than the speakers i purchased in the past but knew that these needed power and decided to take the 8 week plunge into an ODYSSEY amplifier.
with a quality amp these speakers kick into another gear, and god forbid that you bi-amp them to what they were intended to be and you got yourself the damn best speakers in the $1500-$2000 price range that your ears can ever imagine. If you were to ever, ever , ever consider going into an audio shop and say "i want to spend $5,000 on a pair of speakers and they better sound like $5,000" , go and audition the paradigm studio 100.
needless to say , the speakers would improve greatly if biwired, bi amped, i cant tell you how my house shakes when done that way and i have fooled around with many different configurations on the ODYSSEY amp , and my Yamaha DSP-A1 reciever.

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polk rt2000 infinity IL 50

Highs, midrange, lows, price!! Basically everything.

None that I can see so far.

I have only had these for around a month so far, but am very happy with my choise. I upgraded from Polk RT2000 speakers. I liked the Polks, but was not happy with having a powered subwoofer within the speaker. I look forward to many years of happy listening. You can see my system in the "My System" portion of the Gallery on this site.

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Polk Audio RT 2000

Price, if you live in the US and take a drive over to Canada you can pick these speakers up cheap! Great for Movies and Music. No coloration of the Music. Bass is very tight.

Take forever to break in, At 100 plus hours they continue to get better.

These speakers are an absolute bargain when purchased in Canada. No duty to pay and you get all the taxes refunded to you. For the price you can't beat them.

If you are used to speakers that color the music, you may not like these at first. These are really clear and make good recordings sound great and bad recordings sound terrible.

Huge soundstage, even throws the sound high above your head which when watching movies is awesome.

Make sure you give them enough power. A high current amp with at least 150 watts per channel.

just perfect sound all around: good bass, perfect highs, sweet mid, good build

cabinet is not the finest in quality materials and overall shape is slightly boring

These speakers are it! The sound is just to die for and at their price, the weaknesses listed above are truly peanuts. I owned the N804s and just never fell in love with their sound. The highs were shrill and the bass was too soft. The Vandersteens were great but the beauty of the N804s seduced me away. Now the 100s (version 2) have seduced me away, but this time for the right reason - the sound!

I had Kimber PBJs and now have MIT Terminator 2 biwires that have given the perfect amount of sound refinement my ears needed in addition to the 100s' perfect tonal balance and musical grace. The 100s are overwhelmingly musical, paired up with my lovely McIntosh MC202 and McIntosh C712 and Sony CDP-80ES 5 disc player (don't laugh, it sounds great and is too practical to replace).

I miss the 804s looks but whenever the 100s are singing, I forget all about it. I am in love.

Similar Products Used:

B&W N804, Vandersteen 2ce

imaging great for a floorstander; soundstage is big;bass is controlled and deep;midrange is super sweet

long break-in; expect a good 300 hours plus before these speakers come alive; they weigh a ton.

When I first got these speakers I did a lot of talk with some local vendors. I read the usual reviews which were very positive ( are any reviews ever negative?). I had already used sonus fabers and knew that I wanted something similar ie. neutral but with more range. Most dealers knocked down the Studio 100s and I seemed puzzled over this. Why would they knock down a speaker that they were carrying and favor something else. There seems to be a rule of selling that if a product like Paradigm, which has many retailers selling it, then price competition heats up and the retailers make less because they have to discount. That is why many will knock down the studio 100 over some other brand that they have exclusivity in selling. Believe me I have heard many speakers and although individual tastes should always be the determing factor when choosing speakers, for the money the studio 100s do not have anything close to compare.
Beware: sitting position when listening to these speakers is critical..Because they stand tall make sure that you are at ear leve with tweeter; they will so much better this way as they came alive after I changed chairs and was higher up.

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sonus faber; dynaudio and b&w

Wonderful Music

None

I was looking for a pair of full range speakers in the $1,400 CAN range. I listened to as many different speakers as I could. I must say that none of the speakers I listened to in my price range sounded bad. However, none of the speakers sound as clean as the Studio 100 v.2 They are more expensive than the rest that I was looking at, but for my ears, it was well worth the investment. I highly recommend that you give these a listen. I have spent the last couple weeks rediscovering my CDs.

I would also like to put a plug in for the folks over at Stereo Plus in Kanata. I got excellent service, and a fair price. If you live in the Ottawa area, I would recommend a vist.

Happy listening!

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Mission, Axiom, Mirage, Boston, Polk, Tannoy