Which Paradigm Speakers for HT?

[grd4spd]

im building a moderate priced HT and living space sound system. im not going with the dedicated listening/viewing room on this one.....it is a large open space (~1300sqft) "loft like".....in ceiling speakers, custom built sub in the crawl space, plasma/lcd (not sure which im at 6000ft+) mounted above carved limstone mantle, hidden behind motorized painting/wall...ect.....below are some pix of the listening room....as you can see the center of the room will have a sitting area facing the fireplace. a horizonally motorized panel above/built into the "over-mantle" will hide the monitor.....the coffee table will house all the AV hardware, which will be plummed up from underneath......gotta keep the design troops happy.

there are various "General Listening" (GL) speakers throughout the space.....all in ceiling mounted.....the front and rear surrounds will play in concert with the GL speakers when listening to (or ambient) music is being played. i would like the front "surrounds" to also act as "mains" when GL is employed.....at this point im thinking a custom built subfloor, sub-woffer.....

.....at this point i need to know which paradigm HT and general listening speakers to install.....i will need the usual compliment of dedicated surround (front l/r, center, rear l/r) speakers and six other general (in ceiling) listening speakers.....will also need info on good subdrivers to build custom infloor boxes with.....for the HT receiver im looking at the Yamaha 2500....but im not totally sold so any suggestions there would be welcome too...

any/all suggestions and recommendations would be most appreciated!


thanks in advance,

terry

 

[suburbanjoe]

Terry,

I just outfitted my theatre room with a pair of Paradigm Monitor 9's for the towers, a CC-370 for the center and a pair of ADP-170's for the rear surrounds and I'm thrilled with them. My space is about 13' x 16' and the speakers fill the space nicely. I also have in-ceiling speakers for the side surrounds (not Paradigms) and the Paradigms play nicely with them. I had been thinking of the Monitor 7's, but the 9's sounded a little fuller and were only $150 more for the pair. With a sub (Paradigm PS-1200) I paid about $2500 for the whole setup, so without the in-ceiling speakers and the sub, it was more like $1700. I used SpeakerCraft 6 inch in-ceiling speakers. They were a breeze to install, and the tweeter can be adjusted to point towards the listening space if you can't get them installed exactly where you want them to go.

Hope this helps.

-Brandon

 

[grd4spd]

thanks for the reply brandon,

we are about to blow-in the insulation, then sheetrock next week.....the wiring is stubbed out so im in no rush to slap speakers up there without proper thought......what is of concern is that i will not have traditional "mains" as seen in traditional floorstanding speakers, each side of the monitor....however it appears that Paradigm offers some decent sized "mains"(??) for ceiling/wall mount seen in model # AMS 350

i think this may be a fine compromise between mains and surround speakers....thoughts?


for the rear surround and 6 other various ambiet listening speakers im looking to stay in the AMS series speakers....thoughts?

regards,
terry

 

[HookedOnSound]

Terry,

I just outfitted my theatre room with a pair of Paradigm Monitor 9's for the towers, a CC-370 for the center and a pair of ADP-170's for the rear surrounds and I'm thrilled with them.
-Brandon

Out of curiosity suburbanjoe, what kind of receiver/amp/proc are you using?

I want to buy some Paradigm speakers (Fronts/Ctr) but I want to by my receiver first since I can't do both at the same time ($$$). I was aiming for the Monitor 7's instead so if your gear is running 9's it should also work for me if I would go with something similar.

Thanks,

 

[suburbanjoe]

I have the Denon AVR-3805. Me and every other person on this forum. I love it. It has tons of features, has plenty of inputs and wasn't too hard on the wallet, compared to the 5805.

-Brandon

 

[grd4spd]

below are some pix of the listening room....as you can see the center of the room will have a sitting area facing the fireplace. a horizonally motorized panel above/built into the "over-mantle" will hide the monitor.....the coffee table will house all the AV hardware, which will be plummed up from underneath......gotta keep the design troops happy.

there are various "General Listening" (GL) speakers throughout the space.....all in ceiling mounted.....the front and rear surrounds will play in concert with the GL speakers when listening to (or ambient) music is being played. i would like the front "surrounds" to also act as "mains" when GL is employed.....at this point im thinking a custom built subfloor, sub-woffer.....

.......what are yalls thoughts? feedback? suggestions? criticisms?



regards,
terry

 

[Dumar]

.......what are yalls thoughts? feedback? suggestions? criticisms?

The only thing I would say is that I definitely would not use the toilet as a dining table!

Sorry ... I couldn't resist. Nice place you got there.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Nice room. Lots of light. Must have cost you a fortune. So you are thinking of an in floor subwoofer? Interesting. As far as your wall mount speakers go, don't expect too much bass from them. A lot of guys like to canter their front mains in a bit toward the listener. If you could incorporate that into your in wall speakers, that would be neat. Sort of a pivoting in wall speaker? Same with the center channel. If it's in wall, could it be cantered up and down? I know you said the tweeters could be aimed in the ceiling. You can't believe the different it makes to be able to direct sound by small movements in your speakers. For you, placement and room acoustics play a more important role than actual speaker since they will be hidden and out of sight. You could/should experiment with some smaller bookshelves to see how far apart the fronts should be for imaging. I have no idea what to tell you about the subwoofer. You'll need it in a corner, and need a good amount of volume in the box, as well as a port or two. Not sure how it will sound if it's buried in a floor though.

 

[grd4spd]

Nice room. Lots of light. Must have cost you a fortune.

thanks buckeye!

yeah, we get lots of light here in Sun Valley.....hence the name

cost? yeah....you should have seen it before......ok you can....

 

[grd4spd]

....when you buy considerably below value, in an awesome neighborhood in a market that is going up 30-50% a year.....im cool with the $$$.

So you are thinking of an in floor subwoofer? Interesting.

yes.....i have tons of room under the house (2-3') so i can easily build one into the subfloor area.....BOOM!


[qoute]As far as your wall mount speakers go, don't expect too much bass from them. A lot of guys like to canter their front mains in a bit toward the listener. [/qoute]

i looked at the placement of the front mains/effect speakers and im very satisfied with the placement....they are firing directly at the listening/viewing area....so i will most likely not have to aim them....we will see.....

If you could incorporate that into your in wall speakers, that would be neat.

do you mean my ceiling speakers?....as im not using "wall" speakers....im mounting all in the ceiling.....

Sort of a pivoting in wall speaker?[/qoute]

those speakers will be pretty high up there....will not be messing with them like floorstanders....

Same with the center channel. If it's in wall, could it be cantered up and down?

yes, i suppose i could mount them anyway i like.....

I know you said the tweeters could be aimed in the ceiling.

im reading that "pivoting" drivers are not cool....

You can't believe the different it makes to be able to direct sound by small movements in your speakers.

yeah, i was playing around all weekend with my old floorstanding 3se Paradigms.... fun!!

For you, placement and room acoustics play a more important role than actual speaker since they will be hidden and out of sight.

sounds good.....however im sort of set on the placement as the 12g wires are now hanging out of the drywall....

You could/should experiment with some smaller bookshelves to see how far apart the fronts should be for imaging.

well im kinda set now on location as the sheetrock is on....

I have no idea what to tell you about the subwoofer. You'll need it in a corner, and need a good amount of volume in the box, as well as a port or two. Not sure how it will sound if it's buried in a floor though.

ive always thought that an infloor sub would be mindblowing HT bass/effect.....rattle the whole house.....as it would be a part of the house....

regards,
terry

 

[Paulvader]

here's a shot of my "quick setup" - just got my stuff slapped together for now!!

I am running monitor 90P's, cc370 centre, mini monitors for rears, and the RX V2500...I love it all...although I realize you are planning to recess your speakers. My room is 13' wide, by 28' long.

 

[grd4spd]

here's a shot of my "quick setup" - just got my stuff slapped together for now!!

I am running monitor 90P's, cc370 centre, mini monitors for rears, and the RX V2500...I love it all...although I realize you are planning to recess your speakers. My room is 13' wide, by 28' long.

can you make that pic any smaller....it takes too long to load....

i would like to run monitors and 370s...ect....but i require all the gear to be "stowed" away.....how do you like the 2500? ive read some good things/reports about it....

regards,
terry

 

[Paulvader]

You mean you can't see THAT??? lol

 

[Paulvader]

i would like to run monitors and 370s...ect....but i require all the gear to be "stowed" away.....how do you like the 2500? ive read some good things/reports about it....

regards,
terry

I just started using my system recently. I have read some really good things about the 2500 and pretty much all people I've talked to about it don't have anything negative to say about it. I love the onscreen programming, and the microphone works well for my setup. I did however have a problem hooking up my rear mini monitors as "rears" - I couldn't get any sound that way. I plugged them into the "surround rears" and they seem to be working, albeit they are possibly a little quiet - even for "effect" speakers. As for "stowing away" the gear...lottsa luck!. I will just be changing the carpet that's there and try to do some good hide & seek work. I always worry about "easy access" to the equipment for any reason that may come up. Oh yah...I USED to know my share to get the wiring right. Ummmm....not anymore! I think I'll be getting my local shop to send over a wiring expert!...

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[grd4spd]

I just started using my system recently. I have read some really good things about the 2500 and pretty much all people I've talked to about it don't have anything negative to say about it. I love the onscreen programming, and the microphone works well for my setup. I did however have a problem hooking up my rear mini monitors as "rears" - I couldn't get any sound that way. I plugged them into the "surround rears" and they seem to be working, albeit they are possibly a little quiet - even for "effect" speakers.

hell....itsnt that part of the fun....figuring out all the bits?

As for "stowing away" the gear...lottsa luck!. I will just be changing the carpet that's there and try to do some good hide & seek work. I always worry about "easy access" to the equipment for any reason that may come up.

actually all my cord goes under the subfloor (crawl space), and will popup in the (large) coffee table that is surrounded on three sides by seating/couches.....i have my eye on a coffee table ($3K+) that will house the hardware and cords. i plan to modify the coffee table with automated hardware so that the center of the coffee table will lift up, revealing the HT hardware....

http://www.auton.com/

http://www.inca-tvlifts.com/

Oh yah...I USED to know my share to get the wiring right. Ummmm....not anymore!

i hear you on that paul!! different word these days!

I think I'll be getting my local shop to send over a wiring expert!...

i will/have brought in some local high end installers.....they gave me "moral support" approved the setup and ran some cord.......will need assistance when it comes time to install the hardware too....

regards,
terry

 

[grd4spd]

morning audiomates!

well....ive been really looking into the in-ceiling/wall Paradigm speakers....currently im leaning towards the Reference SA-35 for the front/mains and the Reference SA-15R for the rears.....then the rest of the "ambient" or general listening area speakers (dining, entry....ect) would be the Reference SA-10R or the SA-15R....not sure which.....this fella enjoyed them....


http://www.avrev.com/equip/paradigmsa35/


what are your thoughts?

regards,
terry

 

[grd4spd]

evening gents...

here are the Paradigm Reference series speakers i will be running (all ceiling mount)....

1 pr - SA35 (mains/front effect)

1 pr - SA15R (rear effect)

1 ea - CC470.v3, (center)

2 ea - VC150 (exterior, manual volume control)

2 pr - SA30's (ambient music locations)

2 pr - Stylus 350, (outdoor/patio)

considering these as well....

1 pr - SM60R (2 domes offset 60degree for rear effect, in place of SA15R)

1 ea - Servo 15 (sub)

or...


1 ea - Reference Seismic 12 (sub)

or i can run the 15R (instead of the pricier SA30) in all the ambient music locations and the SM60R in the rear effect speakers.....all thoughts welcome....

regards,
terry