Ready to spend - please help!!!

[Paul F]

I finally pulled the trigger after about 2 years of analysis and reading reviews and forum discussions until my eyes bled - and bought a 3805!!!

Now the bad news is that it is still in the box because I don't have a decent set of speakers to hook it up to - which is where you all come in (I hope!)

I have pretty much narrowed the 5.1 (future to be 7.1 w/ direct radiating rears) systems I'm considering down the the following 3:

1. Monitor Audio Silver Series (S10 mains, SLCR center, and Sfx surrounds).

2. Paradigm Monitor series (Monitor 9 or 11 mains, CC370 center and ADP370 surrounds).

3. Axiom Audio Epic 80 (M80 mains, VP150 center and QS8 surrounds).

These would be paired with a Sunfire sub and the mains would be powered by a Harmon Kardon Citation 16 amp to let the 3805 have more ooomph to give to the rest of the speakers.

I have listened to the Paradigms and the Monitor Audios at local B&M's but they are not inclined to let me have them for an in-home demo (I'm just small potatoes to them). I can in-home demo the Axioms (if I want to pay about $125 to send them back if I don't like them) but can't listen to them at any B&M.

My contemplated budget for these five speakers is around $3,000 which really doesn't get the Monitor Audios or the Paradigms, but will easily get me the Axioms. I know the Axioms get great reviews from owners etc. but so do Bose. Paradigm and Axiom get kudos for their websites and responsiveness to questions whereas Monitor Audio across the Atlantic in the UK can't be bothered to respond.

Do you think my family and I will really hear the difference spending almost a $1,000 more for the Paradigms or Monitor Audios??? Bear in mind I'm moving up from a 15+ year old stereo only mid-range Sony system and I also have to spend another $1,000 - $2000 on interconnects, speaker wire and a better DVD/SACD/DVD-A player just to get this all to play anything worthwhile!!! Oh yea, and the Sunfire sub is another grand, and then I need to buy some new CD'd, DVD-A's, SACD's, DVD's . . . . . . . . . ad infinitum!

Thanks for your input!

 

[nova]

I think it really depends on what you think sounds good. I have some Monitor Audio Silver 5i that I hooked up to my 3805,.... I was pretty well impressed, especially with the Chicago soundtrack. I really thought the horns sounded fantastic. Now with my RBH 1266SE's the horns sounded a bit more subdued, but pretty much everything else sounded better. What does that mean? Nuthin',... other than "I" prefer the sound of the RBH, and you need to pick what you like rather than what anyone on this board suggests. I have never heard the Axioms, but I would bet that you couldn't go wrong with any of the speakers your looking at.
So, my only real piece of advise is to find another dealer,...a small hi-fi / home theater dealer that will work with you. If you can get some speakers into your home where you can really listen to and hear them you'll be much more satisfied when you do pick the right speakers for you. I'll also say add RBH ( www.rbhsound.com ) to your list, IMO the MC series are the best value out there for 50/50 home theater/music, and would come in about $600 or so under your budget.
As for the rest,... I think you'll notice a difference just in the upgrade from to old Sony to the new 3805.

 

[slmcdonald7]

I was going to wait until my 11's were completely broken in to post about them, but since it sounds like you're in the market for speakers right now, I will do my best to give you the most complete review that I can.

If I were to liken the 11's to a child, they would be like the ugliest baby you've ever seen, that ends up as a beauty queen. When I first plugged them in, I was very disappointed. I knew that there would be a break-in period, and from reading various reviews, I knew that it would be a rather lengthy one at that (one review said approx. 40 hours, and they weren't kidding). All the same, with expectations high, I hooked them up to my 3805, put in a Norah Jones album (at my wife's request... really), and sat back and listened.

It was Norah all right, but the 11's made her sound super-bright and (despite having three 6 & 1/2" inch bass drivers) very hollow. Out of the box, I strongly preferred my old Paradigm Phantoms v.3 to the 11's. We all know that speakers need break-in time, I included this section only because I wanted to stress that the 11's sounded really, really bad out of the box.

Fast forward three days, and approx. 30 hours of use, to right now. After a little tweaking of the eq on the 3805, and some break-in time, I am happy to announce that the 11's I remember from the demo floor are (mostly) back! They sound great at subdued listening levels, but the louder they go, the better they sound.

The bass drivers have really loosened up, and do a really nice job of keeping the lower end very musical. I still wouldn't dream of hooking these up without a sub, but the 11's have added enough detailed bass that I have been able to turn my sub way down (which has made my wife very happy). Their low frequency extension isn't quite as good as the Paradigm Monitor 9's (32 Hz compared to 35 Hz), but I love the punchier sound you get from the 6 & 1/2" inch drivers as compared to the 8 inch drivers on the 9's. I didn't care for the 9's at all (in fact, I had the opportunity to purchase a demo pair of the 9's that were in fantastic shape for $700, and still decided that I liked the 11's better enough to justify spending just under $400 more, but I also have friends who love the 9's so this is more of an individual preference sort of thing).

Two other threads on this site (that I have found) mention how incredible the high frequency driver of the Paradigm Monitor series sounds, and I must admit that I absolutely concur. I am and always have been, (as long as I have been aware of the world of high-er-fi audio, only about 3 years) a big fan of Paradigm. It seems to me that, whereas other speaker companies try to produce more "realistic" type speakers, Paradigm has spent their money on researching how people like speakers to sound. So, maybe Paradigm doesn't make the most accurate speakers around (I think they're very accurate), they are very musical and just sound "right" to me. I think that the 11's are a wonderful example of this rightness of sound, and I enthusiastically recommend them to you.

Limitations of my system:

I am only running these off of the 3805, and I have yet to bi-amp them. Thus, they are only getting a fraction of the power yours will have with the Harmon Kardon amp.

My CD player is absolute trash, and it's digital outputs aren't compatable with the 3805, so I'm using the regular line out with rca cables (sigh). I'm sure this has lowered the quality of the sound I used to evaluate my 11's.


I hope this helps,
Stephen

 

[Unregistered]

Have you looked at anything from AV123? I auditioned Monitor Audio silvers, B&W, and Paradigm at my local retailer and was SET on getting Monitor Audio, but then by chance decided to try a Onix Rocket HT 2 package because of the return policy and the speakers pedigree. I think it kills the Monitor Audio's and Para's and also the B&W's I listened to as well. I felt the others were all a little on the 'Bright' side and the Rockets are a little more laid back but without loosing any detail in the treble. Plus the midrange and bass on the Rockets is nothing short of great.

Go to www.audioenvy.com and see about a demo or just ask to see if anyone over at the av123 forums could give a demo. Most everyone there is really nice and more than willing to help.

Just a thought....otherwise I think the Monitors are a great buy and to "me" sound a little better and look a little better than the Para's, plus cheaper.

 

[Gatorchong]

I think you've got a great list going there. I have Monitor Audio's myself but I just use a pair of them for music. Honestly if I were going to buy the whole system, I'd probably just save the $1000, and go with Axiom. You could actually save more if you drop from the M80's to the M60's unless your listening room is extremely large. Of course if you get to listen to the Paradigm's or the MA's and you just hear something that you can't live without, by all means get them. I think with your list, you really can't go wrong. They all sound excellent, just different. So unless you're really committed to the more expensive brands, save the money and buy a great DVD player or something. JMO.

 

[Unregistered]

I'm not sure why (unless you are in Canada) $3,000 won't get you the Paradigm Monitor five speaker set-up you are talking about. The U.S. MSRP for the five speakers are:

Monitor 11's - $1,099/pr
CC-370 - $379
ADP-370's - $729/pr

That's $2,207. With a not uncommon 10% discount, that's under $2,000.

If you're in the U.S. and your budget for the five speakers is $3,000 and you like the Paradigm sound, you would be doing yourself a favor by auditioning their Reference Studio line. I'd recommend the following:

mains - Studio 40's - $1,200/pr
center - CC-470 - $650
surrounds - ADP-470's - $970/pr

That's $2,820. With a 10% discount, it's $2,538. Add tax and you're still under $3,000.

Paradigm's Reference Studio line is one of the better bargains in audio, IMHO. I know your choices for mains included floorstanders and the Studio 40's are standmounts, but they will image better than floorstanders and with your sub, you won't miss any bass out of the mains. If your heart is set on floorstanders, you could move up to the Studio 60's for $400 more, but they are basically floorstanding 40's that don't image as well, IMO.

 

[Paul F]

Thanks to each of you for your intelligent and thoughtful replies - exactly what I like about this board compared to some others I won't mention. I will try looking into all the the options listed above - although I do dread opening up any more cans of worms - but better now than sorry later. Another friend has also suggested AscendAudio.

One question that may help you understand why I am considering full range larger diameter drivers in floorstanding speakers:

If you like to listen to pure-direct 2 channel stereo sources at times - especially quite loud (ok, very loud) in a large room (24' x 24' with high ceilings, and large openings and windows) - wouldn't you want to turn off the sub and just listen to a pair of really good full-range floorstanders???

 

[cam]

We have a recommendation for the 11's $1099, cc370 $379, and the adp 370's for $729. This is a very impressive set up. But one change I would make is change the 11's for the 7's. You will not be sacrificing very much bass or efficiency but you will be saving roughly $400, maybe more. Now, if you don't already have a good sub to compliment your system you atleast have $400 extra to go towards one. I have heard the paradigm 7's,9's and 11's quite extensively and I see absolutely no reason at all to spend more for either the 9's or 11's over the 7's. Any three of these choices is still going to need to pair up with a sub. If you are looking to spend more for the 9's or 11's I would then be inclined to step up to the studio 40's.

 

[Unregistered]

Why don't you go my route... buy 3 pairs of the Paradigm Reference 20v.3's and a pair of ADP 470's. Set the 20's (on stands) as your fronts, center & rears(moveable along back wall or back corners) - and yes, you will have one extra 20, but stay with me... Then put the ADP's on your side walls - even with your sitting position. Now, here's the trick, since your receiver has A & B channel rears, set the ADP's up as you B rears. Now when you want to listen to movies, play em' all together in 7.1 with all matching drivers (yeah it's worth it). But here's the kicker - when you want to listen to concert DVD's or 5.1 music at it's best from 5 identical direct radiating speakers (see all the Dolby & THX research) you can bypass the B channel rears (your ADP's), slide your rear 20's to the rear corners, and voila', no music/movie sonic compromises - ideal 5.1 surround. And yes, even though the 20's are relatively flat to 100hz you'll need a sub, so account for that.