Why would such a huge center channel only be rated at 75Hz?

P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
I made no assumptions. I made accurate deductions from the specification provided. What assumptions were wrong?
It's not difficult to drive, it's extremely efficient; it's not sealed. Moreover, it's not a poor design, as it's been a Paradigm staple style for many years, highly rated and very sought after among Paradigm enthusiasts. I'm not sure why you would say it's a speaker to stay clear from. That's the complete opposite sentiment from those who own it- a lot of testimonials on AVS. Not trying to be argumentative either, just pointing a few things out!
 
isolar8001

isolar8001

Audioholic General
It's really-really ugly....that's fur dam sure.


I always wince when people use power tools to work on speakers...are your wrists that wimpy, buddy ?
One slip and...disaster.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
It's not difficult to drive, it's extremely efficient; it's not sealed. Moreover, it's not a poor design, as it's been a Paradigm staple style for many years, highly rated and very sought after among Paradigm enthusiasts. I'm not sure why you would say it's a speaker to stay clear from. That's the complete opposite sentiment from those who own it- a lot of testimonials on AVS. Not trying to be argumentative either, just pointing a few things out!
It is strange that it has an F3 of 82 Hz if it is sealed, however I see from the FR that was published that it is rolling off at 24 db per octave typical of ported enclosures. Even given it efficiency I'm surprised F3 is not in the 40 to 60 Hz range. The negative phase angle of -63 will upset some amps.

Generally to get a good sub blend optimal crossover is F3 + 50% which would put it at 120 Hz. I still think its design is not optimal.
 
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
It's really-really ugly....that's fur dam sure.


I always wince when people use power tools to work on speakers...are your wrists that wimpy, buddy ?
One slip and...disaster.
That's not my video!
 
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
It is strange that it has an F3 of 82 Hz if it is sealed, however I see from the FR that was published that it is rolling off at 24 db per octave typical of ported enclosures. Even given it efficiency I'm surprised F3 is not in the 40 to 60 Hz range. The negative phase angle of -63 will upset some amps.

Generally to get a good sub blend optimal crossover is F3 + 50% which would put it at 120 Hz. I still think its design is not optimal.
It is not sealed; it has two large ports on the back. Voices have plenty of heft without sounding muddy, and it is extremely detailed. It actually sounds great—the v5 lineup was designed to be extremely efficient. It's very dynamic and clear, substantially better sounding than my SVS Ultra. Audyssey set the crossover to 60Hz, and I changed it to 80Hz, which seems correct to me given its specifications. As some have mentioned, you don't really want your center channel putting out a lot of bass to begin with, and I'm sure the design was meant to accommodate human vocals mostly.
 
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
It's really-really ugly....that's fur dam sure.


I always wince when people use power tools to work on speakers...are your wrists that wimpy, buddy ?
One slip and...disaster.
To be honest it's style has kind of grown on me, I like the way it looks. It's a man's speaker!
 
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
Calm down, no one said it was.
It's rather odd why you'd bother making such a post just to insult some random dude and then proceed to tell me my speaker is ugly. It appears you find pleasure in belittling others, which is most definitely indicative of underlying issues, possibly related to depression. Take care of yourself, mate.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
It's rather odd why you'd bother making such a post just to insult some random dude and then proceed to tell me my speaker is ugly. It appears you find pleasure in belittling others, which is most definitely indicative of underlying issues, possibly related to depression. Take care of yourself, mate.
Don't be so sensitive for a newb with limited knowledge....
 
isolar8001

isolar8001

Audioholic General
It's rather odd why you'd bother making such a post just to insult some random dude and then proceed to tell me my speaker is ugly. It appears you find pleasure in belittling others, which is most definitely indicative of underlying issues, possibly related to depression. Take care of yourself, mate.
Now come on, that speaker and its matching towers were the ugliest Paradigms ever made....and I used to sell Paradigm in the mid 90's.
Why they made them look like a JVC boombox set is anyone's guess. Someone actually got paid to come up with that design.
It's said that they sound good like most Paradigms do though, and that's what matters
.
I posted that video to show others what those speakers are...I will call out anyone using a power drill to take out/put in screws on a speaker...that's just begging for an accident.
Don't ask me how many times I've seen installers run a bit through a cone using a damn power drill (especially doing it from above, like he did)...you don't want to know.
 
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
From you, yes.
Everyone's always looking for a fight... as long as it's only on a forum :). Why not just keep things positive? I never understand why people pop into a thread just to say something completely off-topic and negative. Actually, I get why people do it; I've already covered that. It's just that there's no positive outcome for anyone.
 
isolar8001

isolar8001

Audioholic General
Everyone's always looking for a fight... as long as it's only on a forum :). Why not just keep things positive? I never understand why people pop into a thread just to say something completely off-topic and negative. Actually, I get why people do it; I've already covered that. It's just that there's no positive outcome for anyone.
Let's get back to the whole reason for your post...
The reason they are listed at 75hz is because its a center channel, and they attempted to tune the bass for that purpose. A center doesn't need to go lower.
You were told the same thing over at Audiokarma also.
(no one there told you how butt ugly they are though)
 
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
Let's get back to the whole reason for your post...
The reason they are listed at 75hz is because its a center channel, and they attempted to tune the bass for that purpose. A center doesn't need to go lower.
You were told the same thing over at Audiokarma also.
(no one there told you how butt ugly they are though)
Beauty is subjective. . . It is ugly though.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Everyone's always looking for a fight... as long as it's only on a forum :). Why not just keep things positive? I never understand why people pop into a thread just to say something completely off-topic and negative. Actually, I get why people do it; I've already covered that. It's just that there's no positive outcome for anyone.
Not a fight, but if that's the way you interpret things aside from your particular beliefs, maybe it is.
 
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
Not a fight, but if that's the way you interpret things aside from your particular beliefs, maybe it is.
I'm about to do something that you've never seen done before on an online forum; I apologize for being rude.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Why would such a large center be designed with such a limited low end frequency response? This seems extremely unusual to me and very unexpected.
For most consumer speakers, you either design the speaker to have deeper bass with lower sensitivity or a speaker to have less bass with higher sensitivity (more dynamics).

So it’s a speaker engineering compromise - You want more dynamics or you want more bass?

So in the case of the big speaker, they wanted more dynamics - the ability to play at higher volume with less distortion and higher efficiency. My kind of speaker. I like big speakers and I ain’t gonna lie. Let the subs do all the heavy lifting because that’s what subs do. Let the speaker have more dynamics.
 
Last edited:
P

privateeye

Junior Audioholic
For most consumer speakers, you either design the speaker to have deeper bass with lower sensitivity or a speaker to have less bass with higher sensitivity (more dynamics).

So it’s a speaker engineering compromise - You want more dynamics or you want more bass?

So in the case of the big speaker, they wanted more dynamics - the ability to play at higher volume with less distortion and higher efficiency. My kind of speaker. I like big speakers and I ain’t gonna lie. Let the subs do all the heavy lifting because that’s what subs do. Let the speaker have more dynamics.
It's undoubtedly the finest center channel I've ever experienced. Initially, I planned to remove it from my system due to its mismatch with my fronts and its considerable size, which doesn't quite aesthetically align with my setup. However, upon reconnecting my SVS Ultra, I was immediately underwhelmed.

The Paradigm surpasses it by leaps and bounds, prompting me to reinstall it despite the aforementioned concerns. It actually does deliver deep bass when necessary, with male voices resonating powerfully and female voices coming through with clarity, articulation, and nuance.

With a DIN rating of 40Hz, it's likely to produce bass levels significantly lower than its rating in most rooms, but as you rightly mentioned, that's of little consequence... Without a doubt, I'm keeping this gem!
 
newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top