Paradigm or Monitor Audio's?? Any thoughts?

When I got my Studio 100's I plugged them in to my Onkyo HT receiver and was impressed. I already had the Studio CC and a pair of mini monitors for the rear. Still somewhat disappointed in the bass I added an Anthem MCA 20 amp and wow. After listening a while I found a Sonic Frontiers Line 1 pre for sale on Audiogon and that improved the two channel sound enormously. After that I added the Virtual Dynamics Audition cable package (biwire) and all was wonderful. My only knock now is that in the last several months the bass has become a bit muddy and has a peak around 120 Hz. Time for new tubes in the Line 1 I guess. If you are going to take things a step at a time because of budget condiderations then I would say go ahead and do it because you will wind up with more of what you want in the end.

You might look into Anthem for your preamp/amp. They are the sister company to Paradigm. I think they are even made in the same building as Paradigm. When I got my Studio 40's I had a Yamaha receiver. There was much less bass when I got them home than when I auditioned them. (I did try several different speaker placements) I am still trying to decide what to upgrade my components to. I am thinking about Rotel, Outlaw Audio and NAD. Do you have a price range? Any space restrictions?

In your message you stated that you are going to add the center and backs later. From this I am assuming that you are interested in speakers for a home theater set-up? I am sure you will also be listening to music too. Anyway, I guess I am a rare breed over here on Audiogon (not much disscussion about MA) and I would say that I would go with the Monitor Audios. I started out with a pair of S8 about 1 year ago and then I purchased a pair of Gold reference 60 from MA. In my opinion these are fantastic speakers for their price. They are very easy to drive and work extremely well for both music and home theater. Some people feel that MA in general are bright. Maybe at first but after they have been burned in they sound fantastic especially if they are connected with a good pair of cables such as the Zu Cable Wax which I use. I am not sure that "bright" is the correct way to describe them. My opinion is that they are very detailed with a very tight bass response. When I was auditioning speakers I listened to the Paradigm Monitor series and the PSB stratus golds. In my opinion these speakers were not as revealing as the Monitor Audios I auditioned. I am not sure how much you want to spend but I would look here on Audiogon for Monitor Audio. If you want a bookself speaker you might want to look at the Gold Ref 10 and if you want a floor stander the S6 should work very nice or you could check out the Gold Ref20. Good luck

hello, i have the studio 60's and am using a denon pma 2000ivr integrated amp that is rated at 80 watts but is high current it brings out goobs of bass from the 60's. give it a listen.

I made my decision I am going with the Paradigm 40's now for a receiver/Amp any suggestions? I listened to quite a few speakres and read about them. I have to say I didn't listen to the Quad's I sort of wished I did, but I don't know where to listen to them around here (Boston). For the money I liked the 40's better than the MA's however, I have read they are hard to drive and I have to maek that decision next.

Thanks for all the input.

A word of caution. The Paradigms like a good amp with lots of current. I have the Studio 100's v.2 and love them. Be aware that Paradigm has come out with the v.3 of the Studio line. If you do get them, get the real wood veneer - that is my biggest regret. If your amp is of more modest means then consider the PSB's. Although I haven't heard them I have heard that some of their line are well regarded and perhaps don't have the same amp needs as the Paradigms. Good luck. I might consider selling my 100v2's down the line and getting the v3's.

Both Paradigm and Monitor Audio are nice speakers and give you a lot of bang for the buck. Paradigms can be a little harder to drive
while Monitors are generally really efficient speakers.

I recently auditioned Paradigm Studio 20s / B&W 603s / and ended up buying Quad 21Ls (would've got the 12Ls but got a great deal from www.canadianhifi.com on the 21s)

I was completely unimpressed by the Paradigms, the B&Ws were nice, the Quad's (11Ls / 12Ls / 21Ls) were all gorgeous.

I would highly recommend auditioning some Quad's if you get the chance I also am simply running the two fronts but (and i have run 2 channel in the past for dvd movies) I am not missing my center channel for DTS movies (DD movies a bit) I cannot believe how amazing these speakers are for dispersion and all dialogue is perfectly centered its incredible.

I picked up my gorgeous piano black 21Ls for $1200 CDN.... ;) (Ask for Rob @ Canadianhifi)

Hell, my girlfriend spent the day after the purchase telling her friends how much she loved my speakers (and she's not generally into that kind of stuff)

Those are my thoughts anyways.

Paradigm and PSB are both wonderful values. Most of the Canadian speaker brands are not only first-rate, but have great price/performance ratios. I agree that the Paradigm Studio 40's will serve you well, particularly at a closeout price.

Agree with Aball. I've auditioned both and prefer the 40s. But, my tastes tend toward the smooth and neutral, maybe a tiny bit laid back. Both are good speakers. The Monitors are just a little brighter and forward. It's a matter of personal preference since any speaker is imperfect so you have to balance trade-offs. Good luck.

I would just get the Studio 40s - especially for a closeout price. The entire Paradigm Studio line is fantastic for the price - and I have tried several brands like B&W, Hales, Soliloquy, etc. I love my 100s to death. Good luck!