paradigm mini monitors v2:

I wouldn't. The reason being the Monitor series underwent a very large change between v2 and v3; the previous Studio tweeter was brought down to the Monitor line. I think the midbass drives are much the same.

I own a pair of Monitor 5's, version 3, so I got to firsthand experience this difference. I auditioned Minis before I went with the 5's, and also compared them to the Focus which - at that time - was the the equivalent speaker in the Performace line (Performance no longer exists).

There was no contest - within seconds I discarded the Focus as a competitor. The Monitor series v3 tweeter was that much better in clarity, detail, etc... this was immediately apparent and embarrassingly obvious. IMO this is why Paradigm recently removed the Performance line. The tweeter was the reason I moved up to the Monitor series, to the dismay of my wallet... the v3 tweeter was good enough that I can't recommend you go to anything less for a close-to-equivalent price.

Paradigm changed almost nothing between v3 and v4; no transducer hardware, just some crossover stuff. I couldn't hear a difference.

The new v5 series uses essentially the same tweeter introduced with the Monitor v3's, but has a different waveguide giving it better sensitivity at the expense of widefield frequency response. The new v5's have a completely new woofer construction, however. By all accounts they are quite good, but I haven't rigorously auditioned them yet.

So to end my digression through the various Monitor versions, I would recommend anything v3 and up. Because the v5 is so different than the previous constructions, v3's should be dropping in price down to near/at that level. Hopefully that helps...

I haven't heard the v3s, so I can't speak to SilverTrumpet's comments, but I owned the v2s for a few years. I liked them a lot: good punchy rock speaker with airier highs than whichever version of the Atom it was they had at the time. Lower mids were a bit overripe, IMO, a fact that was exacerbated by placement too close to the walls in my "really too small for a good home theater" room.

$200cdn is a pretty good price...I sold mine for $200US, in favor of the AV123 x-ls, which are excellent. I recommend them if you can stretch your budget a bit, they're $219US + shipping and whatever import fees you have to pay to get things up in Canada.

http://www.av123.com/products_produc...s&product=82.1

I own 2 pair of Monitor 5 v.3's, modded CC-370 v.3, and a pair Monitor 11 v.4's. I auditioned the v.2's and didn't like them either.

I've found a pair of mini monitor v5 on craigslist for $300 is that a good deal? Thank you.