Neutral, balanced. Musical. Great bass. Build.

As noted below, minor: undynamic looks, thick binding posts won't accept most spades.

I could not agree with Stephen Jennings below any stronger: these speakers are indeed about as complete as they come, and at $1900 list, they put many, many other higher priced speakers to shame. (The June 2000 Stereophile has just published a phenomenally positive review of the v.2 model.) IMHO, these speakers are without peer at the price.

I started out with a pair of Studio Reference 80s, which are excellent, but decided I wanted flagship Paradigm goodness—my dealer allowed me to trade up after 3 weeks. I then completely upgraded my electronics, auditioning many different components with the Paradigms. I can tell you without hesitation that these are neutral (with my cables they are ever so slightly warm), tonally balanced (truly full-range), and well-matched with virtually any set up. That said, I do think they are at their peak with higher power amplification (100 watts+). No SETs, please. With the 50 wpc Conrad Johnson MV 55 they had truly phenomenal depth, sweetness and presence, but at higher volumes lost a bit of effortlessness.

I was struck immediately by how flat out gorgeous and lifelike these sound. Nothing detracts from the music. No boxiness. Transparent. And unlike the B&W sound, which I find a touch too crisp and analytical (yes, even the mighty 803s—heresy to an audiophile!!), notes stream together in a realistic, ORGANIC whole.

Bass is tight on rap, yet lyrical, snappy and fluid with stand-up. Midrange and vocals are airy, emotional. Treble is accurate and unfatiguing. They can be a touch boomy in a very live room when placed to close to the rear wall. Vibrapods help. On the plus side, positioning is not hypercritical as they have a wide, even soundstage. Depending on your tastes, you do not need to toe-in.

They can be played quite enjoyably at low volumes, but I find they really come to life at moderate levels. Then, the sense of being able to "see" into a recording becomes much more palpable and involving, turning it into a performance.

Basically, these do everything right. I think their only competition are the PSB Stratus Gold ($600 more) and the Hale something-3.

If you’re looking for a speaker under $5K, audition these. They may very well disprove any notions that to get a lot you have to spend a lot.

Incidentally, I had various dealers tell me emphatically that Paradigms were alternately colored, boxy or bright. Bull ****! Coincidentally, none of these dealers sold Paradigms. Why must "high end" shops consistently trash the brands they don’t sell? Have they become the new used car dealers of our generation?!?!


SYSTEM:
Arcam FMJ CD 23
NAD S100
NAD S200
Sony SA50ES
Paradigm Reference Studio 100
Audioquest Viper
Tara Labs RSC Prime 1000 bi-wire
Audioquest Little Feet/Vibrapods

all-around competence in reproducing music/home theater accurately, extremely flat and neutral-sounding, low price

size (obtrusively large), requires amp with substantial power, imaging and soundstage are good but unspectacular.

Summary: Fabulous speakers for the price. Not everyone's cup of tea, however. There are other speakers in a similar price range taht will do better in specific areas, but IMO none that provide the same quality overall. They also work very well as part of a home theater setup.

Experience: I have owned Ref Studio 100s for about 3 years. I got the first versions, and was led to them by reviews that described them as good value. At $1450 a pair they were 30% less than most of the others I was then considering. I chose them after careful listening, but not side by side, since most of the the alternatives were at audiophile shops that do NOT carry Paradigm.

Comparison: I have certainly heard speakers that are better in specific areas, including warmth when playing certain types of music (Vanderseens) clarity (electrostatics), imaging (high-end B&Ws), seamless treatment across the crossover range (electrostatics again) and bass depth and power (speakers with active, that is separately powered, components such as Definitive. But the Pradigms won out overall for combining the best of these aspects. Any speaker purchase on a budget is a compromise. But if you have $2200, these speakers will not sound like a compromise on much of anything. The price hike seems to reflect both the improvements to version 2 over v.1 (improved looks and better bracing, perhaps slightly better electronics)and also their success in marketing downmarket speakers to an audio enthusiast community.

Home Theater: In a home theater, coupled with Studio CC, the 2200 subwoofer, and ADP dipole surrounds, the ref 100s perform very well with movies. The main thing you want in such a set up is for the stereo speakers to blend in well and not be obtrusive. The matching across the Paradigm series seems to work well, without perceptible differences in how the midrange (voices espeically) sound on the Ref 100 versus the Studio/CC. The remaining components are reviewed separately in their respective sections.

On Mass Market: I'll conclude with a few words on marketing and branding of speakers. Paradigm's attack on audiophile is a classic example of how a lower-budget speaker can disrupt an existing aristocracy. High-end audio dealers cannot really match the price performance of companies like this, and have to use bad-mouthing to idscourage customers from going down to the low-markup 6th Ave store. The argument for high-priced alternatives sounds especially thin considering that the companies they carry have thmeselves brought lower-priced versions of their flagship products to market (Eg Martin Logan, B&W, etc). But they can maintain the aura for a while by making it difficult for customers to do side-by-sice comparisons with mass-market brands. Ultimately, companies who do not produce high-volume, good value products will be driven into the rarefied high end in price, where they may or may not survive but certainly can't grow, a strategy good for neither audiophiles nor shareholders.

In the three years since I bought my ref 100, they have adopted 6th ave (can't get more mass market than that) as dealers. The salesman at 6th ave who sold me my surround speakers says most of his customers are buying the Paradigms over this other speaker brands (JBL, Bose, Klipsch, Infinity)after listening to them. Since they do not sell over the net, and tend to sell with at most 10-15% below MSRP, Paradigm can make very good money, leaving plenty to maintain quality, pay shareholders, and a good marketing and advertising budget. In other words, watch this company - they are in the virtuous phase of their cycle. High-end audiophile brands have to scrape by on a fraction of that budget, and eventually it will show. On the other hand, Paradigm's mass-market approach may eventually dictate a descent into audio mediocrity, like many other massmarket brands. We'll have to wait and see.

Similar Products Used:

definitive 2000, b&w 600 series, vandersteen 2c, other mass-market brands such as bose, JBL, Klipsch and Polk Audio

Tonal neutrality, extended powerfull bass, build quality.

Nuts loose on five way binding posts

I think the June 2000 issue of stereophile says it all!

- Top-to-bottom tonal balance
- First-rate bass performance
- Inexpensive

If you like this type of sound you will have a difficult time if not impossible to find a better speaker in this price range.

Similar Products Used:

Studio 80 ver.2, paradigm titans.

The Paradigm’s offer it all: full range to 45hz, excellent soundstage, very good imagining, top rate construction, good looks, and a tremendous value. You will not find better overall performance from any speaker for less than $2k and to obtain significant improvement be prepared to spend two to three times as much

You won't be able to get these over the internet. Size and weight (over 100 lbs each!)

I just purchased these speakers after a very long, tedious investigation. I read just about every review (Stereophile, Soundstage, Sensible Sound, Secrets of the Home Theater, Audio Ideas, and others. It is not very often that there is such a consistent and favorable opinion about a product. For example, Home Theater raved about Monitor Audio’s Silver Series speakers and gave the now infamous, “Just Buy It,” recommendation. Secrets of the Home Theater responded with a cautious recommendation. In my opinion, I would agree with the editor of HT with his assessment of the Silver Series’ outstanding imagining and detail but its sound-staging and base output/reproduction was less than appealing. However, I was informed that if you filled the speaker cavity with sand or a lead weight, the base would sound much better. But for a few hundred dollars more, the Paradigm 100s offer much more for the dollar.

I own version 2 of this model. I am using the Paradigm 60 version 2 for the rears. I was able to get a 20% discount for the entire package. I also picked up an Arcam Alpha 9 CD player for 25% off list from the same authorized dealer.

Similar Products Used:

Engery, Infinity, Polk, Monitor Audio, JM Labs

Impressive speakers, Wood option, Bi-wire, price

Quality Control, Tuff to move, plain looking

I worked hard at getting these babies!!! I searchednd searched and called. Finally, I rode tripped it to Canada!! It was worth it. I saved a fortune, I will post in speaker tech talk if it gets enough hits(REPLIES). Go there if you want to know and reply to post. I don't want to get bombarded w/ e-mails because of my great price. That happened on my Rotels, still getting e-mails and wrote that 5 months ago.
These speakers are HUGE. At first I was pissed even though I knew they had to break in. They sounded like SH*T. But now they are clear as a bell, I hear every detail. Everyone loves listening to CONCERTS at my house because it is better than being there. I am spoiled, Live concerts are no longer any good because they sound so bad. They were lacking Bass until I Bi-Wired. I also used solid 22 gauge wire, someone recommended it and it is better sounding w/ more bass & detail than stranded wire was. I took the pieces of wood they put on top & bottom of carton to protect speakers and used as a base. I stained to match rosenut speakers and put trim on it and they look like I paid big bucks for wooden bases! I got mine in rosenut wood, I wanted a more solid better sounding speaker than the veneer. It took time to get because they built them to order and ran out of wood on my 100s so I had to wait a few extra weeks. The quality control on High End speakers should be better. The wood does not meet flush w/ top of speaker. It varies either level or above the speaker. It also shows the deep circular sander marks on the wood, whats up w/ that?? The wood is not sanded all the way down so there are pits or grooves in wood, ,don't know if this is intentional. But aside from looks they sure sound great and loud. No distortion when turned up full tilt w/ 200+ watts!!

Similar Products Used:

B&W, PSB, Bose 601s

Its ability to perform various types of music and sound convincing

sheer size of speaker

After reading about some concerns questioning Paradigm’s QA/QI I inspected each speaker and am happy to report that they arrived as should be expected. The cherry finish was flawless and quite beautiful. It took only a few minutes from that point to have them singing. And sing they did!! The first CD in was Four Play and despite their size my first impression was ‘sweet’. The high end was quite familiar to me (no surprise there having 60’s) but the mids seemed more forward (not in a bad way). The bottom end…OHMIGOD!!! I realize that with only 5 or so hours on the speakers the overall sound will slightly change but my first impression gave me goose bumps! Over the next 5 hours or so I mumbled many a time ‘this is what I’ve been missing’ …the strength of the 8” drivers over the 6 ½” allowed me to feel the music as well as hear it! I then proceeded to play various cuts from a dozen of so CD’s (to include Faith No More, Steely Dan, The Bloodhound Gang, Blue Oyster Cult, The Rippinton’s, Jeff Healy, Barefoot Servant’s, The Pogue’s, Pink Floyd, The Chieftains) to try to get a feel for a wide variety of music. I was very very pleased to say the least!
Dynamically speaking the 100’s are more than just a step above the 60’s but really light years. (IMHO) Please don’t misinterpret my view of the 60’s as they are awesome speakers but for those that enjoy rock/blues music the way it is meant to be heard (in your face) you’ll need a sub to get the full effect. Without a sub and my 60’s I found myself forever fiddling with the bass tone control to compensate/adjust for different types of music. With the 100’s the only adjustment I had to make was wiggling a bit in my chair to get me arse comfortable and the up and down control for the volume…NO MATTER WHAT CD I WAS PLAYING!!! Because of my many trips to audition the 100’s the big question for me was how will the sound transpose itself from the showroom floor to my home? That answer simply put is seamlessly!

Similar Products Used:

paradigm mon. 9's studio 40's and 60's

neutrality; transparency

cant be a little harsh on poor recordings; weight

Paid $1710 for rosenut laminate. After auditioing PSB Stratus Silver i, Tannoy S10 and Vandersteen 2CE Signature, I felt that the Paradigm Reference Studio/100 v2's were the most neutral, transparent, and accurate of the bunch. The PSB Stratus Silver i's were very close but were a little lacking in the bass. I think some people would prefer the PSB Stratus Silver i's and thus I recommend you audition both. They are so neutral that it is difficult to ascribe a "sound" to them. They are very heavy and difficult to unpack (you really need > 100 foot ceilings to be able to slide the boxes off and clear the tops of the speakers).

Similar Products Used:

Magneplanar 3.3/R, EPI 202, PSB Stratus Silver i, Tannoy S10, Vandersteen 2CE Signature, NHT 2.9

Sound, look, finish

Terminals

I purchased the Rosenut wood finish Studio 100 v.2 about 2 months ago and am just now getting them to the point where I am enjoying them. They are powered by a Denon AVR3801 (100W+) receiver and a range of CD source components (Sony, HK, Denon) with the final source still to be determined.

These speakers were well packaged and you will need a high ceiling (taking the boxes off) or a friend to help you unpack them since they are heavy (100 lbs+ each). The gold spike feet were easily installed.

I first connected these to the AVR through in wall speaker wires that run about 20 feet through the dry wall to the equipment rack. The wires were terminated using gold plated audio plugs using set screws. The speakers (and AVR) were connected to audio plugs using Monster cables with hard soldered banana plugs.

My first impression was that the speakers offered a full range response but the mid and high end was harsh and the bass was there, but weak and rolled off quickly. The terminals were very hard to work with and seemed to loosen easily. I hard soldered all of the audio connectors and this eliminated much of the high end harshness. Imaging, mid and bass just weren't there. Me unhappy!

I moved the speakers to about 6 ft apart (from 10 ft) about 10ft from the listening area and the imaging improved a bit. I made a pair of jumper wires (5 inch 12 guage soldered ends) and connected this from the bass terminals to the mid and high terminals (read about this in an audio review) and the mid range improved subtantially. The harshness was significantly less. Connecting the source components via digital coax instead of analog brought out additional improvements in imaging.

My most recent changes included direct wiring the speakers via 7 ft Monster cables with hard soldered screw type captive banana plugs and taking the source components to the AVR via Toslink fibre cables. Now I am a happy man. The bass is full range and smooooth. The mids and highs are well balanced. Notes I've never heard jump out. Vocals are marvelous. Each note from CDs with electric bass (Riding with the King) can be heard without any overtones or boom resonance. Voice (Opera, Sade, etc) are all clear and without overtones.

Imaging and sound staging is good and I can now tell great differences from recording to recording. So now, I'm on the path to improve my source components and recording quality.

Conclusions:
Compared to the Aerial 7b, Hales Rev3, the JBL studio monitors, B&W and Klipsh I auditioned (sorry about leaving off the model numbers, I forgot them) I think the Paradigms are the best value. Of all of these, I believe the Aerials had better imaging and sound stage (this may however, be due to the quality of the amp, and very high end source, cables, etc. used in the demo).

My old Aristrocrats with the coaxial speakers (horns for mid and 12" bass) I think provided the best overall sound for voice, cymbals and brass. These didn't provide the full range and imaging of the Paradigms.

I've also become a believer in the fact that cables, source etc have a dramatic effect on system performance.

Similar Products Used:

Vintage Aristrocrats Electrovoice Coaxials (Paul Klipsch design), Aerial 7b, Hales Rev.3, JBL Studio monitors, B&W, Klipsch

Rich, clear, full range sound....very detailed top end.

I am very pleased with my purchase of these speakers. I primarily use them for HT, but I enjoy 2 channel audio as well with them (~25% of the time). I find they (coupled with other Paradigm Reference Products) are great for Home Theater and excellent for 2 channel as well.

My set-up is as follows:
Parasound HCA-3500 & (3) Parasound 1201 AMPS
Parasound AVC 1800
Rotel RDV 985 DVD Player
Panamax Surge Protector
Paradigm Studio 100 V2 Fronts
Paradigm Studio CC V2 Center
Paradigm Studio ADP V2 Rears
Paradigm Servo 15 Subwoofer
Audioquest Ruby Interconnects
Audioquest Indigo Biwire Speaker Cable

I find that the Parasound/Paradigm combination is a great match for those of us who like very detailed and may I say a bit forward (perhaps even a shade bright) sound. I have been using this combination now for a couple of months and I am very pleased with the results. I find myself stealing time away from my normal activities just to listen to the system. I (like many people with the audiophile affliction) have owned many different audio systems, but this is the first one in a very long while that I am not rushing out to try and "upgrade". I am very pleased, and very suprised by how little I had to spend on this system to achieve these results.
Net, if you are looking for speakers in the $1500-$3000 range, do yourself a favor and audition these....they are definitely worth a look IMHO.

Similar Products Used:

NHT 2.9, PSB Stratus Gold i, Paradigm Active 20 v2