Paradigm 100 v.3 – B&W 804 dilemma… please help

jgaudon:
Or should I call you Mr. recording/producing artist? You may very well know how musical equipment "sounds from the get go", but your point was smothered by your unintelligible rant, poor grammar, and very poor choice of some words. If you wish to weigh in on a subject, please do so without insulting people and name calling.

That behavior might work at AA, but please don't bring it to these forums.

More information on the new Paradigm 100v.3's...... I just purchased the new Studio 100s v.3 a week ago and per the dealer, it was the first pair sold here in the DFW area. I have previously owned the Studio 60 v.1, and Studio 100 v.2., and there was not too much of a difference between the v.1 series and v.2 series sonically, but there is now a huge improvement with the new v.3s. The new v.3 100s are phenominal, the cabinet is totally redesigned and all the drivers have changed, most notably the mid-range. The 100 v.3s are physically a little smaller than the 100 v.2's and are much narrower (the look a lot like the Monitor 11s). As far as the sound, they image much better, so good in fact they completely disappear - the boxes are simply non-locatable. I was always somewhat aware of the 100 v.2's location, but not now. The new S-PAL tweeter sounds just as good, if not better, than the Nautilus tweeter. The midrange is where the v.3 is most improved, it is almost electrostatic in speed. The v.2s were a little laid back in the mid-range, but the new Studios have world-class mid-range, I wouldn't say there's more mid-range, but the quality is exponentially better & faster - more detailed and defined - vocals and drum rimshots are startling. The quality of bass seems to be slightly better as the new 100's have three 7" woofers per cabinet vs. the older two 8". Bottom line, the new Paradigms have slightly better bass (which was already outstanding), *much* better (again near electrostatic quality) mids and the top end has more air and is slightly sweeter, but not harsh. It does seem that they do now take slightly more power (or just can handle more power) than the v.2 as my Rotel 100W X 5 AMP now runs out of steam as it never did previously. To conclude, IMO, the new v.3's have the combined the sonic attributes of both the Natilus and 100 V.2 stengths. Previously rated as a class-B speaker, I think that it could now be near class-A rating. Good luck all.

Forget about Paradigm 100 v.3 if your going for B&W 804s.I have the complete v.3 set for the last 2 months.I also read reviews like you. Finally i want to get rid of of my V3's,and go for a better home theater.I dont say they are bad.I am not satisfied.Listen to all the flagship model in the market with your personal CD's & DVD's you will surely find a better one.Paradigm does good marketting.if you like them,i wont say no.

I just replaced Studio 100 V2's with the new V3's and for all of you who haven't given a good listen to the 100 V3's please don't compare them to the V2's. They are quite simply better... The 50hz. hump that existed in the V2's is virtually gone, meaning for most people no more subwoofer with the V3's. Although the factory ratings on the V2's(25 hz extension) is slightly lower than the V3's 28 hz I can tell you most assuredly that the bass produced by the V3's is overall much more refined and substantial than the V2's. I use SS amps on the bottom of the V3's with a damping factor of 1000 and the control and quantity of bass produced by the V3's far eclipses the previous version. in regard to the midrange of the two, I can again tell you (IMHO) that the V3's represent a tremendous increase in the already substantial qualities of the V2's. Much more detailed,unrivaled in this price range clarity and liquidity. The tweeter in the V3's has been totally redesigned as well and the improvement is superb. I will agree with a previous post that the V3's may utilize more power than the V2's as that is my experience as well. I'm currently running 300WPC monoblocks on the bottoms of my V3's and 250 WPC SS on the tops with arousing results. I also utilize a tube preamp and tube CD player with Kimber Hero IC's throughout with Audioquest Slate true bi-wire (2 full pairs of cables) with great success. The imaging and three dimensionality of these speakers is awesome in my system.The speakers virtually disappear and I'm treated to an accurate and well defined sounstage that's hard to find in almost any system I've heard in over 30+ years of trial and error in this hobby. Of course there are better speakers out there for SUBSTANTIALLY MORE $$$ but for the amount of money I personally can afford to invest I'm thoroughly intrigued and impressed with my Paradigm Reference Studio 100 V3's. Keep in mind this is how MY system sounds to ME (and my audio hobbyist friends...) in my listening environment with MY residual components. To me, that's what this is all about, how it sounds to the individual that puts their system together. Forget the $$$ and EGO arguements that some posters utilize in their posts, that's not important. What is important is how YOUR system sounds to YOU. Not the amount of money you've spent or all the various reviews and opinions posted by rag mags and people like me. It's about "Enjoying the MUSIC"!