Sorry to come off a bit rude all, but I post on other forums and I have the same problem. I post a new thread and it just falls pages and pages behind and no one ever helps me out. What's worse on the other forums it's totally different subjects - cars, computers, etc. I don't expect people to rush in and answer my question like it's all that important but I figured someone could provide some helpful insight. I know the B&Ws are nice, regardless of what some people might say but again I'm unsure of how to persuade him to sell them to me. Reasonably so he thinks he'll make more selling all of them as a full system.
Since most people I know are perfectly satisfied with Japanese speakers like Sony, brand names would be lost on them. I could tell them I have B&Ws and they'd ask "Are they as nice as Sony?" and that's not much of an exaggeration. I'll admit though, while I try to listen to the sound more than anything I can't help but be biased by brands sometimes. I mean lets be honest, Axiom speakers might sound just as good as or better than B&Ws or [insert established high end audio brand here] but how annoying is it when telling anyone about it to have to defend your equipment as not cheap no-name stuff? Let's face it, people with those Vizios, Olevias, V7's - they all get some of that no-name brand flak. Brand name means a lot to a lot of people and again I won't say that it means nothing to me - think of it this way, how many people buy McIntosh equipment because they truly appreciate the quality and how many buy it just because so many people know McIntosh is a high end brand? Jeez, it's how Bose stays in business - being a well known name. There was a speaker company out of Lexington, Kentucky known as Black Max speakers I believe and it was owned by two brothers who built them in their garage. Total no-name, but their speakers sounded fantastic and each pair was handmade and tested by the two brothers. They have long since stopped making speakers but you can't even find that stuff on eBay. A great example of a barely known company making a nice product. I mean, just peruse Audiogon and look at some of the brands of speakers - stuff that most sensible people will never be able to afford. The biggest hoax to me though are those stupid overpriced wires - I saw some go on eBay for $20k because they were some liquid based wires or something gimmicky - wow, like anyone can hear that? Definitely a difference between super thin and cheap wire but once you get a little thicker it makes no difference that you could truly hear.
Perhaps I'm not as picky yet as some audio enthusiasts become but to me most speakers sound good, but I can definitely identify elements of cheap speakers and bad ones - particularly tiring speakers to listen to. The only part I wasn't sure as far as quality of sound would be between those Paradigm's and the B&W's because I know both would sound good but more than likely in different ways. He lets me listen to everything before buying and I certainly will listen to both anyway, I was simply trying to see if anyone had them to vouch for as I did when I went to look at the Denon receiver I ended up buying (Which while being nice as I expected, received a rave recommendation).
