Are the Paradigm Founder Series really, really good speakers?


I'm considering them as a replacement for my beloved Phase Technology PC 3.5's. I'm looking at the 80f or the 100f. 

I've listened to them but can't help but think that they sound really good but do they really sound good or just different than what I'm used to even though I'm very happy with them but feel like I want something new/different. 
todd1010

Showing 2 responses by daaajester

Steve59, No disagreement from me. I listened to the 7f in their own room being driven by 1.2kw Mcintosh amps, and I forget the source(equally impressive). In a dedicated 2ch setup, for that price point they are some of the best speakers I have ever experienced, but at 26k I wouldn’t say they are worth 3x what the founders 120hs are.. or 6 times the 100f’s.

The founders line is really really impressive for its price point. You could literally have a 6 speaker founder 120h setup in 5.1 config for the price of 1 pair of persona 7f’s.

The Founder 100's are amazing, I demod them for a few hours and was blown away by them. They honestly have me 2nd guessing my Paradigm Tributes that I use for my front left/right. At ~5k for the pair its a no brainer when comparing to 10k pairs, I can see them undercutting the lower end persona models on bang for buck(the personas are better...but are they really 10-12k better?).

I'm not sure the founders center channel 90c(which I own)is better than the cc-690 v5(which I also own), the highs/mids are definitely better on the 90c but the 690 digs juuuust a little bit deeper which I notice on deeper baritone voices in movies. The 690 also has a much beefier enclosure, like 35lbs heavier over the founders. The founders is gorgeous with the grills on or off.  

I also demod the founders 40B(bookshelf stand mounts) as my rear 6th and 7th channel in my system for a month, which were replacing my studio 40 v3. They had a cleaner upper range, but I thought they were a bit underwhelming in the lower end, the studios were for sure a better all around speaker, but if you crossover at 80hz I didn't really notice much of a difference between the two, and the 40Bs just seemed quieter/smaller vs the 40s. The founders bookshelfs again were absolutely gorgeous though with the grills off. 

Hope that helps?