Paradigm Founder 100F & 70LCR Review

[ErinH]

They were not overly sarcastic, they were underly sarcastic.

I've got no horse in this race. I just found this comment funny. Especially after having seen James' in video and being able to hear him say that sentence in my head.

 

[ErinH]

Why don't you always provide spinoramas? You provided one for the 70 but not the 100. Why?

I agree, having the full SPIN would be nice. BUT...

I've been in James' shoes and done full spins on large tower speakers, so allow me to play devil's advocate.

Doing this stuff is a huge PITA. As he said in the video Gene posted, James does provide SPIN data for smaller, more manageable speakers. But large, heavy ones are a different topic. Namely, towers with the reference axis point that is off-center.

Think about it: in order to have SPIN data in this case you have to essentially balance a floorstanding speaker on its side, many feet in the air, on the tweeter location. The majority of the weight is on the other end of the speaker. Which means it'll want to topple over. Unless you build a rig that allows you have the speaker on its side, in the air, with the point of origin/spinning at the tweeter axis. I did that. I hated it. I made it work. But I hated it. And, my god, is it scary. Not to mention hard to get some of these 70/80 lb speakers carried up a 6 or 8 foot ladder and then carefully tipped on their side. I actually fell the f*ck off a ladder when I was testing the Revel F226Be.

IOW: It's incredibly tough. I know from personal experience.

Not to pick on you @buckchester but I wish people had a true understanding of what it takes to get SPIN data the "manual" way. I think it would give them a legitimate appreciation for the work that is provided and might relent on requesting additional things that just aren't feasible. This is a general statement and, again, not picking on @buckchester. Others make this same inquiry to James now and again. I hope they see this and understand the work he's already doing is quite a lot.

 

[buckchester]

I agree, having the full SPIN would be nice. BUT...

I've been in James' shoes and done full spins on large tower speakers, so allow me to play devil's advocate.

Doing this stuff is a huge PITA. As he said in the video Gene posted, James does provide SPIN data for smaller, more manageable speakers. But large, heavy ones are a different topic. Namely, towers with the reference axis point that is off-center.

Think about it: in order to have SPIN data in this case you have to essentially balance a floorstanding speaker on its side, many feet in the air, on the tweeter location. The majority of the weight is on the other end of the speaker. Which means it'll want to topple over. Unless you build a rig that allows you have the speaker on its side, in the air, with the point of origin/spinning at the tweeter axis. I did that. I hated it. I made it work. But I hated it. And, my god, is it scary. Not to mention hard to get some of these 70/80 lb speakers carried up a 6 or 8 foot ladder and then carefully tipped on their side. I actually fell the f*ck off a ladder when I was testing the Revel F226Be.

IOW: It's incredibly tough. I know from personal experience.

Not to pick on you @buckchester but I wish people had a true understanding of what it takes to get SPIN data the "manual" way. I think it would give them a legitimate appreciation for the work that is provided and might relent on requesting additional things that just aren't feasible. This is a general statement and, again, not picking on @buckchester. Others make this same inquiry to James now and again. I hope they see this and understand the work he's already doing is quite a lot.

Thanks, Erin. This is the kind of response I was looking for. I guess my comments could have been construed as being a little insensitive and under appreciative; lesson learned. I'm still a little surprised at the overly defensive manner in how I was responded to though. Anyways, I think all you guys are doing great work - putting out info that the audiophile community should greatly benefit from. Thank you.

 

[Mushinoshin]

Is there any chance you'd be measuring the 80F's in the future? I'm curious how they'd stack up against the 100F's as far as how similar the measurements would be. Thanks for the great review!

 

[lc6]

"I had a stroke of luck as Adele’s new album “30” had just dropped and landed on Qobuz"

What piece of equipment did you use to play this album for speaker testing?

 

[Spock]

In your opinion, how does the Founder series compare with the Signatue v. 3 series?

I believe the Sigs measured better than the 100F, and are still the most accurate/flat speakers Paradigm has made. In my opinion, none of the later Paradigm speakers measured up to the Sigs, pun intended.

l’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the Sigs v. 3 versus the Founder series.

 

[shadyJ]

In your opinion, how does the Founder series compare with the Signatue v. 3 series?

I believe the Sigs measured better than the 100F, and are still the most accurate/flat speakers Paradigm has made. In my opinion, none of the later Paradigm speakers measured up to the Sigs, pun intended.

l’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the Sigs v. 3 versus the Founder series.

Where do you see measurements for the Signature 3s? I haven't seen any.

 

[buckchester]

In your opinion, how does the Founder series compare with the Signatue v. 3 series?

I believe the Sigs measured better than the 100F, and are still the most accurate/flat speakers Paradigm has made. In my opinion, none of the later Paradigm speakers measured up to the Sigs, pun intended.

l’d love to hear everyone’s thoughts on the Sigs v. 3 versus the Founder series.

I agree with you.

SoundStage! Measurements - Paradigm Reference Signature S8 Loudspeakers (9/2004)

I'm not sure if these are v.3, but these do appear to be the best measurements I have seen for a Paradigm speaker.

 

[shadyJ]

I agree with you.

SoundStage! Measurements - Paradigm Reference Signature S8 Loudspeakers (9/2004)

I'm not sure if these are v.3, but these do appear to be the best measurements I have seen for a Paradigm speaker.

That is a very good measurement set. Those don't look like V.3s though.

 

[Spock]

Where do you see measurements for the Signature 3s? I haven't seen any.

Link to S2 v3 measurements.

Here is a link to the S1 v2 measurement. Could not find the one for the S1 v3, unfortunately. Nevertheless, my point is that the Sigs with the P-Be tweeters (v2 , v3) seem to be the most accurate speakers Paradigm has made. I was asking if others think this is true.

 

[mbl11428]

I stumbled across this thread as I’m currently looking at speakers in the $5-6k range

I’ll be listening to the 100fs for the first time tomorrow. I’ve had a chance to hear the Revel f208, Goldenear Triton 1r and I currently own Focal Aria 928s

I’ve had 2 dealers absolutely rave about the 100fs while completely dismissing the Revels…and then 2 others do the exact opposite

wish i could compare side by side

 

[shadyJ]

I stumbled across this thread as I’m currently looking at speakers in the $5-6k range

I’ll be listening to the 100fs for the first time tomorrow. I’ve had a chance to hear the Revel f208, Goldenear Triton 1r and I currently own Focal Aria 928s

I’ve had 2 dealers absolutely rave about the 100fs while completely dismissing the Revels…and then 2 others do the exact opposite

wish i could compare side by side

If your system is going to include a center channel, get the Revels.

 

[mbl11428]

Thanks for the reply, i watched your video review earlier. It seemed like the 70LCR was the biggest area of concern. Did you ever get any time with the 90c?

 

[gene]

I stumbled across this thread as I’m currently looking at speakers in the $5-6k range

I’ll be listening to the 100fs for the first time tomorrow. I’ve had a chance to hear the Revel f208, Goldenear Triton 1r and I currently own Focal Aria 928s

I’ve had 2 dealers absolutely rave about the 100fs while completely dismissing the Revels…and then 2 others do the exact opposite

wish i could compare side by side

The Revels are great if you want background music to go to sleep to. Dry analytic, "neutral"? They need a sub or you will be bass deficient.

Check out the new MartinLogan F100s if you want an engaging speaker that images beautifully and also has bass! Paradigm Founder 100s and 120s are awesome but as James mentioned their 70LCR is weak for center channel duties. I wasn't thrilled with the new MartinLogan Motion XL center in first demo but I need to get one in for a more critical evaluation.

 

[Cos]

The Revels are great if you want background music to go to sleep to. Dry analytic, "neutral"? They need a sub or you will be bass deficient.

Check out the new MartinLogan F100s if you want an engaging speaker that images beautifully and also has bass! Paradigm Founder 100s and 120s are awesome but as James mentioned their 70LCR is weak for center channel duties. I wasn't thrilled with the new MartinLogan Motion XL center in first demo but I need to get one in for a more critical evaluation.

Is there a reason you wouldn't consider the 90C as the center outside of cost? Or does that not perform?

I have owned the Studio CC-690 v5 and currently using the Persona C and have had not had any complaints?