Picking up my first Paradigms

[Pandaman617]

Buying a pair of Reference Studio 60 v4’s and a CC-570 v4 for $300 on Saturday as it’s about a 3hr ride to get them. Any opinions on these? The only Paradigm speakers I’ve ever owned were the BP towers and I enjoyed them very much. Also isn’t Paradigm and Martin Logan owned by the same company?

 

[j_garcia]

Seems like a great price, almost too good. If you can check that they work first, I would. I've heard them a number of times, solid speakers.

Yes, the original owner bought back Paradigm, Martin Logan and Anthem.

 

[Cos]

That is an amazing price. The Studio 60v4s were my first entery into an audio obsession. I have owned the Studio 100v5s and now Personas (Goldnear inbetween those)

Congrats.

 

[lovinthehd]

Sounds like an amazing price if all functional....good luck!

 

[Cos]

Curiuos if you were able to get the 60v4s and how they turned out?

 

[Pandaman617]

So sadly I made the long drive under the impression that all the drivers worked great as the seller TOLD ME THIS. Upon arrival it was clear the tweeters and woofers had very visible and obvious damage to the domes as well as tears in the surrounds. I figured worst case I could find replacements, but I than connected each speaker to the monoblock I brought with me and beyond the cosmetic damage the tweeters all sounded very distorted and in one of the mains none of the woofers had any output. It was very disappointing and I find it hard to believe the seller wasn’t aware as he was able to describe many of their technical specs specific to the Studio series. However when I arrived and showed him the small preamp and Outlaw Audio monoblock I brought he started to get nervous and kept repeating that he was already late to some fabricated event. Everything about his body language and micro expressions was indicative that he was being deceitful and making a poor attempt at being clueless to the defects and issues. Needless to say I passed, I did however enjoy a great fresh shrimp, scallops and cod dinner right in the heart of the city near where I used to live in Charlestown so it wasn’t a totally wasted trip. I should also add the pictures from his ad WERE NOT the speakers he was selling, there was clearly a bit of thought put into this scumbags attempted sale and I believe he was hoping to sell them to someone who doesn’t know Bose from RBH.

 

[Cos]

Sorry to hear, that deal did seem too good to be true. Not sure if Paradigm even makes the drivers for the speakers, but your visual inspection should have been enough lol.

While you will never get a deal that low for those speakers in good condition, I would check www.usaudiomart.com www.audiogon.com, facebook marketplace, craigslist, avsforum market etc. You may end up finding some good deals there.

 

[Hetfield]

So sadly I made the long drive under the impression that all the drivers worked great as the seller TOLD ME THIS. Upon arrival it was clear the tweeters and woofers had very visible and obvious damage to the domes as well as tears in the surrounds. I figured worst case I could find replacements, but I than connected each speaker to the monoblock I brought with me and beyond the cosmetic damage the tweeters all sounded very distorted and in one of the mains none of the woofers had any output. It was very disappointing and I find it hard to believe the seller wasn’t aware as he was able to describe many of their technical specs specific to the Studio series. However when I arrived and showed him the small preamp and Outlaw Audio monoblock I brought he started to get nervous and kept repeating that he was already late to some fabricated event. Everything about his body language and micro expressions was indicative that he was being deceitful and making a poor attempt at being clueless to the defects and issues. Needless to say I passed, I did however enjoy a great fresh shrimp, scallops and cod dinner right in the heart of the city near where I used to live in Charlestown so it wasn’t a totally wasted trip. I should also add the pictures from his ad WERE NOT the speakers he was selling, there was clearly a bit of thought put into this scumbags attempted sale and I believe he was hoping to sell them to someone who doesn’t know Bose from RBH.

What the heck did this guy do to these beautiful speakers is my question? Good you did a full check on them. Buying used can be pretty tricky.

Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

 

[Eppie]

Wow , that is so sad. There are some very nice Studio Series speakers available in Canada but it's a shame you drove that far for a scammer. A v4 Studio 60 would sell for C$1000 up here, without the center.

I would also recommend USAudioMart or Audiogon. I have purchased twice from CanuckAudioMart and both were good experiences. I'm still running a pair of Studio 20v5 and they're a very good speaker. If you can find another pair of Studio 60 or 100 that are v4 or v5, I can recommend either. The matching center (CC590 or the larger 690) is an excellent center as well. The 590 sells for around C$750 if in excellent condition. (Multiply by 0.8 to convert to USD.)

 

[Pandaman617]

Thanks guys! It was a definite bummer man. I hate seeing quality equipment treated like they’re some Best Buy open box specials it’s a shame man.

 

[Pandaman617]

I am going to pursue the Paradigm route. I own literally every decent model Mirage ever made from the M1’s to the OMD-28’s and was always impressed with the Canadian engineering and build quality. It’s a shame their former head engineer Andrew Welker ended up at Axiom where they make some odd speakers. Just based on his name alone I purchased and did an in home trial of an M80 tower based setup with the giant matching center and QS8 surrounds and was not impressed by any means. My 15+ year old Mirage HDT’s sounded exponentially better.

 

[Alex2507]

I am going to pursue the Paradigm route.

Paradigm owners are sketchy.
Be careful out there.

 

[Pogre]

Wow, what a douchebag. Hopefully you at least gave him the hairy eyeball...

 

[Pandaman617]

Wow, what a douchebag. Hopefully you at least gave him the hairy eyeball...

Oh absolutely! I throughly explained to him how I’m not the guy he wants to scam and than gave him a short run down of had it been 10 years ago before I decided to grow up and start acting like an adult the entire situation would have resulted in him requiring urgent medical care.