Paradigm Signature S8's for music Or Paradigm Studio HT setup?

[sydney]

My wonderful wife has greenlighted me to spend extravagantly (a one time offering) on what will probably be my last pair of speakers for 10 yrs or more. I'm in love with the Paradigm Signature 8's which are all I could ever hope for for music, but I know that for the same amount (maybe a bit more) I could buy a Studio line home-theater setup (100 v.4's, seismic-12, CC-590, ADP-590, etc..). ..I've been struggling with the decision (a nice problem for which I am grateful). I suspect I'll enjoy music more with the Sigs, but going the way of a home-theater setup would be better for movies with the family. Any thoughts??

 

[tn001d]

A pair of S-8 or a whole studio HT set-up?

Go for the HT Paradigm set-up. The difference between the signature line and the studio line is smaller than the difference between the studio line and the monitor line. You wont be dissappointed with the studio v4!

 

[j_garcia]

I'd tend to disagree, I felt that the difference between the Studios vs Monitors was about the same as the Sigs vs Studios, and the upgrade is worth it IMO. If you are mainly going to do music, maybe just a pair of S8s would be sufficient, but what is your rough percentage of movies/TV vs music? If you were 50/50, maybe go with the full setup. If 20/80, I'd opt for just a pair. That is not to say that the Studios aren't good; they just aren't as good as the Sigs IMO.

I'd probably opt for an Internet Direct sub rather than the Seismic also - less money to get the same quality sub, or same money and a lot more sub.

 

[sydney]

..what is your rough percentage of movies/TV vs music? If you were 50/50, maybe go with the full setup. If 20/80, I'd opt for just a pair. That is not to say that the Studios aren't good; they just aren't as good as the Sigs IMO.

At least 80% music, or more.

One argument for going multi-channel is the possibility that multi-channel music will one day overtake 2-channel red-book CD's. If I go with the Sigs and this happens, I'll be sunk. ..For as I said, this is it - spend now then forever hold my peace ..Other concerns like kids in college, retirement planning, etc.. will take priority in not too distant future.

One argument for staying 2-channel and going w/ the Sigs is electronics. ..Currently I have a Bryston 3BSST amp, and Bryston BP25 2-channel pre-amp which I love. ..If I go multi-channel, I'd have to sell these to fund a processor and multi-channel amp, neither of which is likely to be of the same quality as Bryston gear if I'm to hold my spending to what I yield from their sale (Bryston stuff is too expensive to do multi-channel).

I appreciate the replies thus far. Any others??

 

[Warpdrv]

sydney, do you have a budget in mind...? As I remember, your coming off the Vandersteens... still love those speakers.
What type room are we talking about here... large/medium/small...?

Also if you were thinking about a sub, you might want to do some research on that as well... Far better products out on the market these days then the Seismic for less that are equally priced.

I have both the Studio's and Sigs in HT scenario's.

Studio .v4 100's, 690, 20's (2`x`SVS Plus/2) +++ Sigs .v1 S4's, C3, (Studio ADP-590) JL F112 sub

Both systems are above and beyond what I ever expected... Now that I have more time in with the Sigs I find them to be a more enveloping and engaging speaker, as well as cleaner and tighter with less overhand, but both systems certainly IMO require good subs.. I'm a bass head that way though...

 

[sydney]

Yep that's me. ..The Vandy's gotta go on account of their forboding appearance. ..But boy do they sound nice. The S8's, however, are better yet (and should be at twice the price).

Total budget? ..Well I'm prepared to spend around $6300 on the S8's. If I sell my Bryston 3Bsst and BP-25 on Audiogon, I'll likely fetch around $2700. So all told, my budget if I were to go HT would be around $9k - to include processor/amps.

Room size: Our "great room" is 17' wide and 33' deep. The front-half is the den portion - the speakers/TV against the front-wall with my sofa (listening position) about 16' back. The kitchen portion is behind the sofa and extends the remaining 17 feet. ..There is a 42" half-wall behind the sofa separating the two rooms which will provide some degree of sound containment. The ceiling in the den portion is 10' (clipped) and steps down to 8' in the kitchen.

 

[codexp3]

Yep that's me. ..The Vandy's gotta go on account of their forboding appearance. ..But boy do they sound nice. The S8's, however, are better yet (and should be at twice the price).

Total budget? ..Well I'm prepared to spend around $6300 on the S8's. If I sell my Bryston 3Bsst and BP-25 on Audiogon, I'll likely fetch around $2700. So all told, my budget if I were to go HT would be around $9k - to include processor/amps.

Room size: Our "great room" is 17' wide and 33' deep. The front-half is the den portion - the speakers/TV against the front-wall with my sofa (listening position) about 16' back. The kitchen portion is behind the sofa and extends the remaining 17 feet. ..There is a 42" half-wall behind the sofa separating the two rooms which will provide some degree of sound containment. The ceiling in the den portion is 10' (clipped) and steps down to 8' in the kitchen.

I'm getting ready to try my S8s on a pair of Brystons next week. Why not keep the 3B?

 

[Warpdrv]

Yep that's me. ..The Vandy's gotta go on account of their forboding appearance. ..But boy do they sound nice. The S8's, however, are better yet (and should be at twice the price).

Total budget? ..Well I'm prepared to spend around $6300 on the S8's. If I sell my Bryston 3Bsst and BP-25 on Audiogon, I'll likely fetch around $2700. So all told, my budget if I were to go HT would be around $9k - to include processor/amps.

Room size: Our "great room" is 17' wide and 33' deep. The front-half is the den portion - the speakers/TV against the front-wall with my sofa (listening position) about 16' back. The kitchen portion is behind the sofa and extends the remaining 17 feet. ..There is a 42" half-wall behind the sofa separating the two rooms which will provide some degree of sound containment. The ceiling in the den portion is 10' (clipped) and steps down to 8' in the kitchen.

Keep your eye on audiogon.com and see whats out there for some savings..
What finish are you going for... ?

Don't rule out the Studio ADP's for rear surrounds to match the Sigs.. they work splendidly..

 

[Rickster71]

I agree with j garcia on this one.
I have the S8's and the S4's and thoroughly enjoy them.
You listen to 80% music, up to this point, that's not likely to change.
If it does in the future, you can figure a way to wear down the wife.

 

[cornelius]

If you're listening to music 80% and you're trying to visually integrate a system into your home - keep it 2 channel. Bryston gear looks great and finding spots for more speakers in the room might prove difficult.

If you already have the Sigs, stepping down to the Studios for surround effects is going to be a disappointment... The diff between the Studios to the Sigs might be less than the Monitors to the Studios, but that's what happens at this level... Everyone here knows that you're incrementally getting improvements as you move up, but you'll miss that level of quality. For music listening, it's that last bit of improvement that we live for!

Bryston gear is great, and I bet your rig sounds amazing with the Paradigms. I'm with you, I couldn't afford a Bryston surround system, but it's hard to come down from that level. One thing you should try, is listening to a bunch of H/T systems, to see if that's a direction that you want to go. I'm sure for your family to enjoy movies, the 2 channel set-up will carry you for a long time!

 

[Warpdrv]

If you're listening to music 80% and you're trying to visually integrate a system into your home - keep it 2 channel. Bryston gear looks great and finding spots for more speakers in the room might prove difficult.

If you already have the Sigs, stepping down to the Studios for surround effects is going to be a disappointment... The diff between the Studios to the Sigs might be less than the Monitors to the Studios, but that's what happens at this level... Everyone here knows that you're incrementally getting improvements as you move up, but you'll miss that level of quality. For music listening, it's that last bit of improvement that we live for!

I partially agree here with you cornelius...
Let me reiterate, If you are mainly doing 5.1 audio I probably would not use the Studio line for rear surrounds, I would stick with Sigs for sure... If the surrounds are only used for movies then thats a different story.... There is far less material in surround effects, that I'm not sure one would see a huge difference. I have absolutely no complaints using the Studio ADP's for my side surrounds with my Sigs... More then adequate and it has been done by many. I don't listen to 5.1 audio at all though, but Dolby Digital Music is great.

 

[j_garcia]

That's what I was going to say as well - you can fill out the rear of the system with Studios and that should be sufficient for multichannel music IMO, though the center would want to be a matching Sig. Even in a multichannel setup, you could still use the Bryston amps for the S8s That way you still have great sounding 2ch, and with multichannel you simply benefit that much more.

Multichannel music is a LONG way from overtaking 2ch in the general consumer market. Not because it isn't great, but because so many people don't place high quality music as high up in the food chain as many of those like us who are on forums like this one.

 

[sydney]

Thank you all for your well considered replies.

Q. If I could save $ by opting for the S6's rather than the S8's, would they be adequate for this room?? ..I could apply the savings to either a Sub (a half-measure at making this otherwise 2-channel setup movie-ready) or a Center channel?? ..In the case of a center channel, however, I'd then have to get a processor, correct?

 

[Warpdrv]

Thank you all for your well considered replies.

Q. If I could save $ by opting for the S6's rather than the S8's, would they be adequate for this room?? ..I could apply the savings to either a Sub (a half-measure at making this otherwise 2-channel setup movie-ready) or a Center channel?? ..In the case of a center channel, however, I'd then have to get a processor, correct?

I'm not sure if you stated what finish you were looking at... If Piano Black was a suitable alternative, I would be looking heavily at these http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?spkrfull&1215565797
Audiogon.com search for Paradigm, and whatever you like for Amp, tons of great deals to be had there..

I am a very budget minded person, although I really don't need to be, but It allows me great components in this ever increasingly depreciating society.

Do you do alot of 5.1 audio or just 2 channel stereo like you stated in your original post with the Vandersteens...?

If its 2 channel and 5.1 for movies, I think the S6's with a C3 like I linked at audiogon and add in a set of Studio ADP-590's and you will have a good budgeted system with incredible performance... and Still be able to keep your Bryston amp.... or sell the Bryston for a 5 channel and call it a day...

For a sub, if you don't mind the size I would look at a SVS Ultra13 or a used Paradigm Servo 15 .v2 or a JL F113 for the best in SQ. Obviously there are others but these ae some of my favorites with well known fantastic SQ. The Ultra 13 will fill that size room really well. The Ultra 13 is one of the best subs that will truly do justice for both music and movies... handling deep tight bass accurately... The Ultra is a great bang for your buck, and SVS hit that one out of the park

If I do the math right here...

Used S6 & C3 @ $5500.00
Studio ADP-590 @ $1000.00
SVS Ultra 13 @ $1500.00 (Check B-Stock)

Total - $8000.00 roughly... leaves room for you to sell your Bryston and get a really good 5 channel amp...

What do you think about that...?

 

[sydney]

...

What do you think about that...?

Your math indeed works. ..Not sure about the black - that may be a problem, but perhaps not. A Cherry finish definitely matches the rest of our furnishing much better than piano black.

Would it perhaps makes sense in this scenario to keep the Bryston Amp to use for the fronts (S6's in this example), then sell the Bryston Pre-amp to fund the purchase of a reasonably good 7.1 Receiver to use as a pre-amp for 2-channel listening and to use to drive Center and ADP-590's when watching movies? ..The 4 unused channels could be used for music on the porch, etc..

What should one expect to spend for a good 5.1 - 7.1 receiver that would work well with movies and yet to a credible job with 2-channel stereo? The great thing about the Bryston Pre-amp is that it was dead quiet. ..Not a bit of hiss, hum, or noise of any sort even with full gain. ..Looking at the scads of connections on the back of a surround receiver, I can't help but wonder if hum, noise aren't a problem, at least in the units that are affordably priced.

Again, thanks for you input - everyone.

 

[Warpdrv]

I can't see why that wouldn't work... I'll leave it up to others with more expertise in the receiver area. I don't like to make suggestions for that type of thing. Just remember that claims of power from receiver co.'s is usually inflated, but powering 3 channels should be a breeze and would be a good idea.

In situations like these, I like to take my time and just see what comes up at Audiogon, or Videogon, or Ebay... There have been a small amount of the .v2 version of Sigs coming up there... I'm a firm believer in "Good things come to those that wait !!"


Go with Piano Black for a good Color Contrast...

Good luck in your hunt...

 

[jcPanny]

Paradigm setup.

How about this option.
Buy a lightly used pair of S8's on audiogon for about half off and use the savings to buy a studio center, surrounds, and a sub.

 

[Warpdrv]

How about this option.
Buy a lightly used pair of S8's on audiogon for about half off and use the savings to buy a studio center, surrounds, and a sub.

Nothing wrong with the used S8's, but I wouldn't mix and match them with Studios on the front stage.... The front 3 should be the same for a seemless timbre match.

I'm sure you will find many that agree that the surrounds are less important to match then the Front 3. I'm not suggesting you buy crappy speakers for the rear, as the Studio's are not crap, but they are surely good enough for my rear surrounds with my Sigs.

 

[codexp3]

Thank you all for your well considered replies.

Q. If I could save $ by opting for the S6's rather than the S8's, would they be adequate for this room?? ..I could apply the savings to either a Sub (a half-measure at making this otherwise 2-channel setup movie-ready) or a Center channel?? ..In the case of a center channel, however, I'd then have to get a processor, correct?

The S6v2 sound 100% identical to the S8v2, with the exception of a slightly improved low end in the S8. The S6 has identical tweeters and midrange drivers, but the S8 has four woofers as opposed to two. All four bass drivers are the S8 have four coils where the S6 has only two coils per driver. That being said the S6s with a JL fathom f112 (same price as S8s) sounds better than the S8s alone. If you happen to be in Florida (shot in the dark) the shop that repaired the tweeter on my S8 (smashed by my movers) has great deals on the Signature series. I went with the S8s, but I cross them over at 80hzs, so the S6s would have been more than enough.

 

[sydney]

The S6v2 sound 100% identical to the S8v2, with the exception of a slightly improved low end in the S8. The S6 has identical tweeters and midrange drivers, but the S8 has four woofers as opposed to two. All four bass drivers are the S8 have four coils where the S6 has only two coils per driver. That being said the S6s with a JL fathom f112 (same price as S8s) sounds better than the S8s alone. If you happen to be in Florida (shot in the dark) the shop that repaired the tweeter on my S8 (smashed by my movers) has great deals on the Signature series. I went with the S8s, but I cross them over at 80hzs, so the S6s would have been more than enough.

The S6's are slightly less efficient (89 vs. 90 db/ 1w). Would they be okay given the room size (16' x 17' w/ 10' ceiling and open kitchen behind listening position)?

..Also, when you say "great deals", can you give me an example? ..I tend to prefer buying locally (if buying new), but I'm curious to know the extent to which these are being discounted.

Thx!