anyone heard the v.3 Paradigm Studio yet?

Bookshelf is a bad idea. Play around with placement and you will soon prove it to yourself. But with a wife.... BTW, the older Paradigms are probably getting discounted and I think they all have front ports. My 100.2 are fantastic.

Our local dealer said he expects the v3 Paradigms to reduce sales of B&W CDM series.
Apparently, they're significantly better than v2 in some respects.

Personally, I'm interested in the new Paradigm Reference series, which will be competing directly with the B&W Nautilus series.(the current Studio series will be relegated to 2nd notch I guess)
No other info from the dealer yet, except the vague reference here.

I'm guessing they'll feature real wood veneers(studio v3 is vinyl-only AFAIK), more advanced tweeters(umm, how 'bout a high-end Paradigm with a copy of the VIFA ring radiator?!), and active amplification/electronic crossovers.

Neither the Studio 20 or 40 v.2 are ported in the front. These are the only two bookshelf speakers in the Studio v.2 line. I would try to talk your wife out of putting any speaker in a bookshelf/wall unit. These speaker need to be on stands. I own a pair of the 40 v.2's. I think that you will need a sub to go with the 40's or 20's. I have not heard the v.3's but have read there are significant changes. The new line coming soon is called the Signature series. If you go to www.paradigm.ca there is a pretty lame intro that plays about the Signature series but has nothing of interest.