Paradigm upgrade from SEs, I’m torn though…

[Ponzio]

At your price range I would seriously look into the Salk SongTower QWT & SongCenter. When I started upgrading my speakers I was very impressed by the Paradigm line of speakers, especially the Studio 20 v. 5's and I came very close to purchasing a pair. But as I continued making the rounds to the local B&M shops I fell in love with the KEF LS50's and purchased a pair. Flash forward to 6 months ago and I was on the lookout for another pair of speakers. To make a long story short I purchased the Salk SongTowers & associated center and I'm extremely pleased. If you like the Paradigm tonal qualities, you're just gonna love the Salk's. More depth, better imaging, expansive soundstage and a more neutral/truer presentation. Definitely, definitely worth an audition.
SongTower speakers

There's also a thread here you might enjoy reading a bout the ST's.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/36600-impressions-salk-songtowers.html

 

[wlmmn]

At your price range I would seriously look into the Salk SongTower QWT & SongCenter. When I started upgrading my speakers I was very impressed by the Paradigm line of speakers, especially the Studio 20 v. 5's and I came very close to purchasing a pair. But as I continued making the rounds to the local B&M shops I fell in love with the KEF LS50's and purchased a pair. Flash forward to 6 months ago and I was on the lookout for another pair of speakers. To make a long story short I purchased the Salk SongTowers & associated center and I'm extremely pleased. If you like the Paradigm tonal qualities, you're just gonna love the Salk's. More depth, better imaging, expansive soundstage and a more neutral/truer presentation. Definitely, definitely worth an audition.
SongTower speakers

There's also a thread here you might enjoy reading a bout the ST's.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/36600-impressions-salk-songtowers.html

Thanks for your input. I'm intrigued...........I like how Paradigms are a bit more focused and revealing (and ever so slightly bright) and show mid-range detail....is that a bit how Salks sound? I read a bit of the thread you posted but couldn't find my answer.

 

[Ponzio]

Tonally, yes, the Salk sound similar to the Paradigm's but without the mid-range colorization. It's all about the crossover design & drivers ... top of the line BTW ... and I found the Salk ST's more natural/neutral with excellent bass reproduction, courtesy of Jim Salk's cabinets, Dennis Murphy's crossover & Paul Kittenger's(?) tower design. I'd contact Jim Salk and see if he can hook you up with someone who lives close buy with a pair to demo. He's very responsive and helpful. Good luck whatever you choose.

 

[skads_187]

Paradigm Has Two New Stories to Tell | Sound & Vision

Sound & Vision

thanks for that, i also found the following:
CEDIA 2014: Paradigm and Martin Logan - Reference Home Theater

75F is 3000$ the pair, 85F is 4000$ and the 95F 5000$

the real question for me is how the 75F will compare to the studio 60's and what the price is on the centers and bookshelves.

 

[wlmmn]

Update time: I brought my test CD to the store and the owner had a pair of Studio 20s (no 60s, they didn't have them there) and a pair of SE3s just like mine in the listening room. After I listened to a track I noticed the left and right imaging was backwards and told them about it; they checked the connections on their Parasound CD player and realized they had connected the left and right backwards, and had it summed to mono (whoopsie there guys, as my boss would say "that should've been caught, the client shouldn't be catching these things!"). After that was corrected I started listening back and forth between the 20s and the SE3s.

The 20s definitely had more "air" and better midrange detail. The SE3s have detail but adds some harshness. After telling the guy I live in a condo with a medium-sized room, he talked me out of buying the Studio 60s as he said the midrange driver offered in the studio 20s is better. I ended up getting the 20s (had to order them, said it'll be 5 to 8 days) and the CC-590. The 20s could hold their own in the low-midrange department during my listening of my CD, and I'll be crossing over at 80Hz with my Emotiva sub anyway, so I don't really need all those woofers the 60s have. I'm buying for better midrange/high-end detail.

I would've loved to hear some Salk towers, but I always like hearing speakers first before I put money down, and I would've felt guilty shipping speakers back to Salk if the sound wasn't quite what I was looking for.

 

[GranteedEV]

I would've loved to hear some Salk towers, but I always like hearing speakers first before I put money down, and I would've felt guilty shipping speakers back to Salk if the sound wasn't quite what I was looking for.

Pretty much every ID speaker brand has owners willing to invite you over for an audition.

Regardless though, if you're in Colorado, then the Rocky Mountain Audio Fest is next month (October 10 to 12). This will give you an opportunity to audition a whole bunch of different speakers. I'm not sure which ones exactly will be exhibiting, but a few that you should certainly check out if they're there:

Soundfield Audio
Salk Sound
Pioneer (their new atmos towers look like solid regular performers too)
Fried Audio
Revel
KEF
RBH
Madisound-SEAS-Linkwitz Lab
Vapor Sound
Angel City Audio
GR Research
Audiokinesis


...Definitely go check out the event.

 

[wlmmn]

Nice, I'll have to check the Audio show out!

 

[GranteedEV]

Nice, I'll have to check the Audio show out!

Do make a checklist of which rooms you want to visit beforehand. It's easy to waste hours listening to cool-looking stuff way out of your price range. I'm sure a catalogue will pop up as the event comes closer.

 

[Ponzio]

The 20s definitely had more "air" and better midrange detail. The SE3s have detail but adds some harshness. After telling the guy I live in a condo with a medium-sized room, he talked me out of buying the Studio 60s as he said the midrange driver offered in the studio 20s is better. I ended up getting the 20s (had to order them, said it'll be 5 to 8 days) and the CC-590. The 20s could hold their own in the low-midrange department during my listening of my CD, and I'll be crossing over at 80Hz with my Emotiva sub anyway, so I don't really need all those woofers the 60s have. I'm buying for better midrange/high-end detail.

I would've loved to hear some Salk towers, but I always like hearing speakers first before I put money down, and I would've felt guilty shipping speakers back to Salk if the sound wasn't quite what I was looking for.

Congratulations are in order, enjoy the 20's. I came very close to buying them myself before deciding to go with the KEF LS50's. I can understand you're hesitation in not buying a speaker without hearing it first. Previous to purchasing the Salk ST's & center, all my speaker purchases were demoed live at my local B&M shops. It took quite a leap of faith and I'm glad I did but I understand.

 

[GO-NAD!]

Update time: I brought my test CD to the store and the owner had a pair of Studio 20s (no 60s, they didn't have them there) and a pair of SE3s just like mine in the listening room. After I listened to a track I noticed the left and right imaging was backwards and told them about it; they checked the connections on their Parasound CD player and realized they had connected the left and right backwards, and had it summed to mono (whoopsie there guys, as my boss would say "that should've been caught, the client shouldn't be catching these things!"). After that was corrected I started listening back and forth between the 20s and the SE3s.

The 20s definitely had more "air" and better midrange detail. The SE3s have detail but adds some harshness. After telling the guy I live in a condo with a medium-sized room, he talked me out of buying the Studio 60s as he said the midrange driver offered in the studio 20s is better. I ended up getting the 20s (had to order them, said it'll be 5 to 8 days) and the CC-590. The 20s could hold their own in the low-midrange department during my listening of my CD, and I'll be crossing over at 80Hz with my Emotiva sub anyway, so I don't really need all those woofers the 60s have. I'm buying for better midrange/high-end detail.

I would've loved to hear some Salk towers, but I always like hearing speakers first before I put money down, and I would've felt guilty shipping speakers back to Salk if the sound wasn't quite what I was looking for.

I just came across this thread - congrats on your new purchase! I think the salesman was probably right about sticking with the studio 20's. Since you live in a condo, I suppose you won't be cranking them up too much? When I auditioned my 20's, they also had 60's there, so I was able to compare them directly. As you can probably imagine, they sounded pretty similar except in the bass - as I expected. If you had a large room and needed to move a lot of air, the 60's might be worth the extra cash. Plus, you're crossing over through a subwoofer, which takes a fair load off them. I think you'll be very happy with them.

I don't find mine bright at all though - maybe it's because I'm almost 50 and my high frequency hearing isn't what it used to be.

 

[jliedeka]

Knowing you are in a condo, I'm glad you took the advice to get the 20s over the 60s. I'm not sure if there is a fascination with towers or suspicion of monitors but a lot of people seem to prefer towers. I myself had to buy a pair once even though I didn't need them. Unless you need the power handling to fill a big space, there's really no reason to pay for the extra drivers.

 

[wlmmn]

Ordered the speakers from my dealer on the 13th, was quoted to get them between 5 and 8 days.....September 23rd and still no speakers. When I called on the 19th being curious as to when they think the order will come on, the dealer said they never got a shipping notification from Paradigm and are trying to get a hold of them. I just left a message on Paradigm's order inquiry voicemail asking them what's going on. Frustrating.

 

[Cos]

Ordered the speakers from my dealer on the 13th, was quoted to get them between 5 and 8 days.....September 23rd and still no speakers. When I called on the 19th being curious as to when they think the order will come on, the dealer said they never got a shipping notification from Paradigm and are trying to get a hold of them. I just left a message on Paradigm's order inquiry voicemail asking them what's going on. Frustrating.

Paradigm was always good at getting back to me, I sometimes called at different times during the day to get a live person.

 

[wlmmn]

Paradigm was always good at getting back to me, I sometimes called at different times during the day to get a live person.

I got a live person today and I said I was wondering why my order I placed on the 13th hasn't even shipped yet; they said my dealer would have to call receivables and promptly hung up. My dealer has been terrible at getting back to me with what's going on and why such a delay in shipping; still haven't even gotten a shipping notice, they've been no help and Paradigm's been useless. If they don't ship by tomorrow, honestly, I'm canceling the order and looking into some Salk SongTowers.

 

[Cos]

If I were to speculate, I would wager that your dealer my be behind on payments? tough call. I am surprised that they would just be that rude. I had my seismic 12 sub in for service and I was communicated with promptly.

There is no way these speakers should take 2 weeks to be delivered. I never had to wait more than 2 business days. I highly doubt it's on Paradigm's end. I could be wrong, but Salk is definitely not a bad option.

 

[Cos]

Curious if you ever got your speakers, or if you went another direction?

 

[wlmmn]

They said it shipped last Friday..........it should arrive tomorrow, which if they do I'll be really excited as tomorrow I'll just be coming out of a mastering session for one of my recordings! I will report back tomorrow with what happened.

Update: I got them, dealer said Paradigm gave them no explanation as to why it took so long, nor even an acknowledgement of it. The dealer said "We're re-evaluating our relationship with Paradigm, they've been having issues."

Took a while to set up, especially those speakers stands and filling them with sand, aligning the speakers, the works. I still have to phase the sub (and I wish I could set the speaker distance on my Denon receiver, but I think you have to have the Audyssey active to mess around with that), but I think this'll do. Thanks again everyone for you help and recommendations!