Punching
above your weight in the $1,000-per speaker
realm is impressive, but it's largely irrelevant because it's just too expensive for most people, period. Don't feel bad, though, Paradigm's forthcoming SE series sits between the brand's Studio and Monitor lines, below the kilobuck mark, and promises to sound fabulous. The company will be showing of its forthcoming $300 (per speaker) SE 1 bookshelf model at CEDIA this week, which in its final testing has been racking up subjective listening wins over competition in the $1,000 range. In controlled tests against a much more expensive and a cheaper set of speakers, the SE 1 has posted an impressive record of 492 wins, with only six losses to the more expensive speaker. Critics may cry foul at the home-test results, and we wouldn't say that there's any one "best" speaker; but this is really about Paradigm testing its SE 1 against market competition and at the very least this performance warrants a place on your audition list. Hit the link for the full details; you've got time to make a decision -- the SE 1, SE 3 ($700, floorstanding), SE Center ($500) and SE Sub ($700) won't ship until sometime after CEDIA.
posted September 8th 2009 7:59AM
Anyone have any insight as it which speakers were used in the blind test to compare against the Paradigms?
Bose?
I really enjoy Paradigm's speakers, I have been thinking about upgrading my Studio line to v5.
The other speakers sets were Klipsch & B&W according to the comments in the article linked below.
http://www.cepro.com/article/paradigms_new_299_se_1_speaker_beats_1000_model_in_blind_listening_tests/D2/
Beating out Klipsch isn't much of a feat. They've never sounded right to me. If nothing else, I find them inconsistent from one model to another.
Consistently beating B&W is another thing. That makes me question the testing procedures (selection, setup, etc). I like Paradigm and I like B&W. I prefer B&W, but can understand why some would prefer Paradigm. I have a very hard time accepting a blowout like the one described in the article. Well, that is unless Paradigm set conducted the test. Oh yea, they did. :)
Well, it worked for me ten years ago. I did a test vs B&W and I went with Paradigm. The difference in sound was pretty noticeable for me at the time. So I guess that makes it 1001?
man those things are so pretty. a kid can dream
Interesting how they are touting their blind listening tests, when Harman invented and refined this technology.
Note that they were not compared to any infinity or jbl speakers. I guess its not bad being the best of the rest.
Good mention of Harman, but did they really invent blind-testing? I know a lot of the Canadian companies picked up on the concept from Canada's NRC back in the day.
Anyways, for anyone interested in the great work being done at Harman, check out:
http://seanolive.blogspot.com/
Definitely pushing audio science forward.
I'd take Paradigm over Infinity or JBL any day.
Floyd Toole of Infinity (Harmon Intl) helped develop Canada's NRC.
Zack, are you seriously comparing Paradigm to Infinity and JBL? Thats like saying a Ferrari that beats out a Lamborghini and Aston Martin is not as good as a Honda Accord because it wasnt tested against it...
Infinity & JBL are more along the lines of Polk Audio in my book... You wont find Paradigms at big box stores, at least in the US.
No doubt, JBL is a tough comparison, and Infinity doesn't really excite audiophiles like it used to. I keep hoping for a return of Infinity -- some of its speakers have sounded pretty good in the (in-store) demos I've had. But, Harman does have Revel. Way expensive, but absolutely top-notch performance.
I would just like to point out that JBL makes some very expensive speaker sets. Here is a link:http://www.jblsynthesis.com/
If your talking about speakers at best buy then yes.
I'm excited to hear these puppies...yet I have a hard time believing they sound better than B&W. I have owned the Studio 100 version 3 and many B&W speakers, the Paradigms are great but too forward.
It's about time Paradigm realized that they are getting overpriced for the level of their sound. I'd be interested in listening to the SE line but for me they are too little too late. I built my 7.2 HT using Axioms and an SVS sub probably for about what the SEs would cost (maybe even less) and couldn't be happier. I'll bet this SE line was created in response to the Axiom, AV123, Outlaw, SVS, NHTs out there offering great sound for less by cutting out the high-margin middle man "authorized dealers".
Why do all the good speakers have to be so hard to find? I wanted to get a Paradigm sub 6 months ago but nobody told them locally and they're impossible to get online it seems. I had some Paradigm speakers 10 years ago (The Titans) but that when someone could actually stay in business selling Home audio in a city with a Best Buy and Circuit City.
I purchased some $1000+ speakers before and can honestly say it will never happen again due to them even being worse then my JBL floor standing Northridge speakers. My Infinity P362s are the best i've found yet and they only cost $200 each. It seems that all the speakers from small companies that gets dozens and dozens of rave reviews online are really the worst to my ears. Maybe I just have bad luck. I've always had better luck from the JBL's, Infinity and Polks. No idea why this is. To this day i've never had any bad experiences with JBL. Even their crappy $15 computer speakers sound decent for the price!
Aperion all the way. Internet only, free shipping both ways, and 30-day free trial is better than buying anything at a big box and have to go through the headache of returning them for "I don't like the sound". No big box markup either. If Paradigm went net only, yes I would give them a audition. Nothing to lose.
ZU Audio just went back to net only. Their speakers ( Essence ) went from $5000 in the show room to $3495 net only. The middle man is a b-i-t-c-h.
If you think you're getting a good deal through an internet only company, think again! Have you actually looked at how bad the Aperion, SVS etc stuff is put together and how cheap the components are? How can you compare it to anything else? What's with all the people who think the SE price level is to high - does everyone on these forums work at Wal Mart and type these posts from their mom's basement? It's a well known fact that internet only companies spend a lot of time on forums like this boosting their inferior product. Oh well: "a fool and his money are soon parted". Have fun buying Chinese junk with no R@D behind it on the internet.
Well one thing that makes Paradigm amazing is that they actually manufacture their own components here in Canada! Every internet speaker company gets their stuff manufactured in China.
That's fine...if the only thing you care about is getting the absolute lowest price possible. But what makes Paradigm amazing is that they can come even close to being price competitive while avoiding Chinese-made parts. Furthermore, Paradigm dealers are always willing to negotiate on price, so you aren't going to pay the full MSRP that you see printed as the price.
It's been quite a number of years since I've purchased decent speakers, but that will be a consideration on my next purchase.
It used to be that they all made their own stuff, but that seems to have shifted. Great, now I have to research how the speakers are manufactured too. :(
It also seems there's been a lot of consolidation between brands. Grumph!
I used to think that Chinese made components=lower quality but that isn't always the case. Yes, it is the case the majority of the time, but if solid quality controls are used in combination with one of the better manufacturers, components made in China or Taiwan can be just as good as North American made components but at a lower price point.
The Mac you're using - made in China. Same for the iPhone, iPod, etc. Most Windows PCs and PC components are made in China or Taiwan. Same goes for your Blackberry. Even more so for any of the batteries or parts in North American made products.
Almost anything you use these days will have a significant portion of components made in China or Taiwan and it doesn't automatically make them inferior. The impression of this is a legitimate one because there is a large portion of manufacturers which don't really care about quality at all selling products.
Some (not all - the minority actually) of the speaker companies using Chinese made components still spec and impose stringent quality requirements on their partners, and on top of that do the QA and final assembly in North America to maintain a level of quality.
Outsourcing components is a tool that can be cost beneficial without any sacrifice in overall quality to a business if it is used carefully and under tight controls.
I not sure whether the cost is worth it, for the look definite below most speaker in that price range, i am happy with my bic pl 89 speakers.