Help? Paradigm Studio40/ Def Tech or GMT Europa


I am in the market for a monitor speaker for my family room. This room is essentially connected with the open kitchen to form a very large rectangular room. 10’ celling and hardwood floor and bare wall with some curtains. The primary listening area would be probably 18’x18’. The speakers will be placed on the book shelf and currently no plan to add a subwoofer. They will mainly be used for 2-channel music (mainly classical and jazz) purpose and for HD TV program.

My primary system is Maggie 1.6/Classe CA 150/Meridian 561/ HSU sub/Sony mega disc changer. Given the limited budget and time/energy, it’s a decent real world system for me and so you know what my ears are accustomed to.

So the monitors are for the 2nd system. The electronics for the 2nd system is Acurus ACT3 and Carver TFM-25 amp (probably will be replaced soon, depends on the speakers I am getting), again, a very modest set up. And I thought $1K is something I can pull off for the pair. Def Tech Powermonitor 700 piqued my interest for its build in powered sub. I will audition it soon. But I listened to a nonpowered version of that speaker and wasn’t impressed with the upper range when compared to Vienna acoustic’s Hydan Grand. Someone mentioned Paradigm Reference 20/40 and again will audition them soon. Now I have found rave reviews on Green Mountain Europa.

Any fellow Audiogoner care to point me to the right direction? I understand that I have to sacrifice some bass which is the trade off. But is Europa’s performance that much better?

Much appreciated.

RL
ddl24
I had a pair of the Paradigm Studio 40's for a little over two years. I just replaced them last month with Dynaudio Focus 140's. I am very pleased with them. My room size is a bit smaller than yours- 18x12x8. When looking for speakers to replace the Paradigm's I listened to the Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grands. They are a fine sounding speaker. I think they would be too small for your room. They were for mine. The Dynaudio Focus 140 would be worth a listen. What may be a problem is that they are rear ported. If there is any way you can go with stands you will be happier with the sound, front or rear ported.
Your set up sounds very familiar to mine. I own the 40's and would not recommend them for two channel in your situation. I am not real happy with in mine. The 20's are actually better due to better bass response. Paradigm's are a little bright and they will get worse in your set up.