Paradigm Monitor SE 8000F Tower Speaker Review & Giveaway!

[gene]

The Paradigm SE 8000F is a large 5-driver, 3-way bass reflex, floorstanding speaker featuring technologies like their PPA lens found on their higher end ranges of products. The SE 8000F may not be as refined or neutral as their Premier series but their high sensitivity and prodigious bass output may steer you away from other big box brands like Polk and Klipsch if your shopping for a full range tower under $1,500/pair.

Best of all, we are giving these speakers away to one lucky Audioholics reader that resides in the USA as part of our "We Review It, You Win It" promotion!

Read: Paradigm Monitor SE 8000F Loudspeaker Review

>> Buy the Paradigm SE 8000F for only $679/ea!

>>> Enter to Win Our Review Samples of the Paradigm SE 8000F Speakers

 

[gene]

 

[Danzilla31]

The Paradigm SE 8000F is a large 5-driver, 3-way bass reflex, floorstanding speaker featuring technologies like their PPA lens found on their higher end ranges of products. The SE 8000F may not be as refined or neutral as their Premier series but their high sensitivity and prodigious bass output may steer you away from other big box brands like Polk and Klipsch if your shopping for a full range tower under $1,500/pair.

Best of all, we are giving these speakers away to one lucky Audioholics reader that resides in the USA as part of our "We Review It, You Win It" promotion!

View attachment 58863

Read: Paradigm Monitor SE 8000F Loudspeaker Review

>> Buy the Paradigm SE 8000F for only $679/ea!

View attachment 58864
>>> Enter to Win Our Review Samples of the Paradigm SE 8000F Speakers

@gene I want to thank you for your brave sacrifice for us your readers when your wife wanted you to turn down the bass and you pressed on!

The risk you took for us will not go unnoticed and will not be underappreciated!

 

[adrianconst]

The Paradigm SE 8000F is a large 5-driver, 3-way bass reflex, floorstanding speaker featuring technologies like their PPA lens found on their higher end ranges of products. The SE 8000F may not be as refined or neutral as their Premier series but their high sensitivity and prodigious bass output may steer you away from other big box brands like Polk and Klipsch if your shopping for a full range tower under $1,500/pair.

Best of all, we are giving these speakers away to one lucky Audioholics reader that resides in the USA as part of our "We Review It, You Win It" promotion!

View attachment 58863

Read: Paradigm Monitor SE 8000F Loudspeaker Review

>> Buy the Paradigm SE 8000F for only $679/ea!

View attachment 58864
>>> Enter to Win Our Review Samples of the Paradigm SE 8000F Speakers

How would you compare these speakers against Polk R700s? Which ones have stronger/punchier bass above 80 Hz? Also, how does the dialogue compare. I plan to buy tower speakers to upgrade my HT but without a center speaker, since I watch the movies from a central position.

Side note, I'm surprised there is no commentary on your review of these speakers.

 

[shadyJ]

Side note, I'm surprised there is no commentary on your review of these speakers.

I think that is because these are just too close in price to the Premieres. The Premieres look significantly better but do not cost a whole lot more.

 

[adrianconst]

I think that is because these are just too close in price to the Premieres. The Premieres look significantly better but do not cost a whole lot more.

One reason for looking to upgrade my towers is the fact I think they lack mid base. Initially I was bouncing between D17 and R700. I've got second thoughts on D17 since your review mentioned the D15 don't have that strong bass. I stumbled yesterday on the review of 8000f that shows they have stronger bass even than their bigger brothers, 800f, in room. So, how would you compare the 8000f against R700?

Regarding the D15, if I look at your measurements, they show reasonable spl down to 40 hz. R700 start to drop around 60 hz. So, why do you think R700 gave you better bass than D15, for movies?

 

[shadyJ]

One reason for looking to upgrade my towers is the fact I think they lack mid base. Initially I was bouncing between D17 and R700. I've got second thoughts on D17 since your review mentioned the D15 don't have that strong bass. I stumbled yesterday on the review of 8000f that shows they have stronger bass even than their bigger brothers, 800f, in room. So, how would you compare the 8000f against R700?

Regarding the D15, if I look at your measurements, they show reasonable spl down to 40 hz. R700 start to drop around 60 hz. So, why do you think R700 gave you better bass than D15, for movies?

The slope of the roll-off is more illustrative here. The R700s have a gradual roll-off whereas the D15s have a sharp roll-off. The R700s are better positioned to take advantage of room gain with a gradual roll-off.

Many times, mid-bass problems are the result of the room acoustics rather than the speakers. What are your speakers? And have you taken some in-room measurements?

 

[adrianconst]

The slope of the roll-off is more illustrative here. The R700s have a gradual roll-off whereas the D15s have a sharp roll-off. The R700s are better positioned to take advantage of room gain with a gradual roll-off.

Many times, mid-bass problems are the result of the room acoustics rather than the speakers. What are your speakers? And have you taken some in-room measurements?

My towers are Yamaha NS-555. They are in my living room which has a lot of windows and pretty large volume. I have blinds but no curtains. There is one window behind each tower. Nothing to do about it.

Here is an REW measurement for sub (SVS SB 3000) and the two towers, with Audissey. It has 1/12 smoothing.. When I did the EQ I turned off Audissey. I took this measurement at the end to see the final product. I also turned off dynamic EQ and LFC.

I played with sub distance and cross over (now it's set to 80Hz). The towers are set to small. I also used the SVS app to reduce 2 peaks and raise a bit the valley around 50 hz.

I also posted a measurement of one tower alone, without sub or Audissey: https://forums.audioholics.com/forums/threads/svs-prime-pinnacle-tower-speaker-review.115204/page-3

 

[shadyJ]

I wouldn't think that mid-bass would be a problem with that kind of response. One thing that can have significant alterations of the sound in that frequency band is the placement in room. Maybe try different speaker distances from the back wall.