2. speakers
  3. 166508-156992

Anyone own/listened to Paradigm Prestige 95s?

Paradigm is phasing out Prestige speakers. There are some deals to be had.
I'm looking at a set of deeply discounted 95s.

These have been kind of polarizing speakers.  Stereophile reviewed them, and some people took the review as saying between the lines, eh, not as good as they'd expect for the money. 
Others have said they found them too bright, hard on their ears for extended listening.
Still others praised them. Sometimes the 85s seemed to get more love than the 95s.

I have a set of Studio 20 bookshelves. Also early Canadian-built Atoms at work.  Compared to Klipsch Heresy II speakers which I have also owned  for 30+ years,  I'd say the Paradigms I've had have a particular house sound,  very detailed with a decent soundstage, no matter what the front end components are.  The Heresys are pretty efficient, generating a lot of sound even with the volume knob at pretty conservative settings. The Paradigms seem to like incrementally more watts, though I wouldn't say they are difficult to drive.  When going from a budget phono pre to a JC3+, I noticed the difference in detail more on the Klipsch than the Studio 20s. 

Few brick and mortar stereo shops around me.  I much prefer the shop that deals in Paradigm.  Most of what they've sold me has never needed service.  When one item did, due to an accident, not a failure,  they fixed it in house. 

I'd welcome any input on the 95s based on real ownership or experience.
cincinnatipete

Showing 1 response by cincinnatipete

cincinnatipete OP
43 posts
 
I  wound up buying a pair of 95s still under factory warranty from a brick and mortar dealer.

They were phasing out the Prestige  for Paradigm's new  Founder series. 
Those aren't in stock yet, so no comparison to be had.

I gave them a listen.

I agree with Calvinandhobbes on the broad soundstage. Bass response was better than anything I've had, no real surprise as my others were bookshelf Studio 20s and Klipsch Heresy IIs. 

As far as better performance with one amp over another, I only listened through one  set up at the dealer.   I would say they actually sound  slightly better to my ears in my own place, with my front end. Not night and day, but at least noticeably a little better.  My phono section is quite decent, not outrageously expensive stuff (VPI Classic 2, Sumiko BB low output, JC3+ preamp, but the amp is a 30+ year old Yamaha integrated.  And the room is an odd sized rectangle, cathedral type ceilings, wall to wall carpet.  

Price was very good, a little more than 1/2 original price. 

The speakers were  floor models, but were in excellent cosmetic condition, with boxes, manuals, etc.

For some reason, all the Paradigms I've seen for sale on Audiogon or E bay are scuffed, scratched, etc.  These look basically new. 




 
More to discover