I tried leaving my Eosone for Paradigm, but had to go back... What can I upgrade to?

[Fox3a]

Hey guys
 
I've been enjoying my Eosone RSF400 speakers for a while... but because of the price, I thought I could easily upgrade them to something better. I paid $200 for mine off craigslist about 2 years ago, and I see they've gone even cheaper on ebay in the past. Amazing.
 
I really enjoy them.... I saw someone say before they "create a wall of sound" and that's entirely true. I think it's an 8" woofer for the lows, and it punches super quick and hard, adds a whole new world of sound for the lows (I run 2.0 only). The speakers punch hard and are loud.
 
But today I bought some Paradigm Monitor 9 v7 speakers. I realize they aren't high end, but come on, shouldn't they still be great? I know age doesn't mean everything, but these Eosone are like 15 years old, come on!
 
http://www.paradigm.com/products-current/type=tower/model=monitor-9/page=overview
 
Could I be doing something wrong? I unplugged one of my Eosones and tried each of the Paradigms, muting the other channel, and it was day and night difference between them. I tried for a LONG time... would plug the other Eosone back in, and go back to loving the sound. You can tell the Paradigm is precise in the sounds it makes, but it was an overall terrible experience. It was MUCH less noticable if I was watching a low audio bitrate movie... in fact it kind of did well for things like small footsteps and scratches... kind of like how headphones do.... but once u get out of the really quiet stuff, u can tell how bad they are again. There's 3 woofers, and I couldn't get any bass. I kept trying to turn them up, eventually I saw the woofers firing a LONG way out (too much, I pulled it back).. and it still didn't make bass... so I know I'm driving them hard enough (they're not blown or anything and I'm careful). I tried every type of music and it was all disappointing. I had a friend come over who knows nothing and I randomly plugged just one in and he said day and night, Eosone. I know I am being honest about even the highs and mids sounding better on the Eosone, but I will admit that the biggest difference was the lows. I was expecting 3x Paradigm woofers to create some kind of wall of sound, but they just didn't.... actually, I'd say being flat was the biggest problem. They had 0 lows, but everything else didn't sound great either, but at least it was there. I don't think I did anything wrong.
 
I have some older Denon 150w RMS per channel AVR... forget the model.
 
 
So now I'm SCARED! I thought it would be a slam dunk upgrade going with Paradigm... and $1.2K isn't chump change either.... and if that was such a fail, I'm afraid to ever buy anything else!
 
1.) Does this sound right to you that these speakers wouldn't hold up to the Eosones?
 
2.) What speakers should I be looking at that will CLEARLY beat out these Eosones? Is it as easy as models higher than xxxxx within Infinity or Polk or whatever?
 
I really don't want to sound like a noob coming in here and dissing a good brand when I'm just being an idiot, but I really don't think I'm doing that. I think the Eosones are better than I was giving them credit for... and I probably have to go up to REALLY good stuff to beat them out, right? I thought I was at $200 speakers and was going up to $1.2K speakers... but if I have to go up to $3K speakers or whatever that's cool too, I just need help knowing what to jump up to.
 
I appreciate anyone who makes it through reading the whole thing. 

 

[yage]

The first thing I would look at is whether you accidentally wired one speaker out of phase with the other (should be red to red / black to black from speaker to amp).  If that checks out, then play around with speaker placement. Did you set up the Paradigms according to the manual? One thing to note, the closer to the back wall and the corners of the room, the more bass output you get. Also if the mids / highs sound a little aggressive to your ears, you might want to try different angles of speaker toe-in (also covered in the manual).
 
It also is possible that you simply like the tonal balance of the Eosones better than the Paradigm. That's ok and maybe what works best is to just keep the Eosones and forget about 'upgrading'. If you decide you want to try some other speakers, I suggest starting with PSB. I think the 'house sound' of the PSB is warmer than the Paradigm, so it might be right up your alley. Personally, I've listened to Paradigm's Signature S8 and was somewhat underwhelmed at its bass output (quantity, not quality). Perhaps the PSB Imagine X2T might fare better in listening room.
 
Here's a review:
 
http://www.soundstagehifi.com/index.php/equipment-reviews/821-psb-imagine-x2t-loudspeakers

 

[Fox3a]

Thank u for the reply.
 
I didn't mess up the wires, and I deliberately tried reversing it to confirm it was correct in the first place. I placed the Paradigm right next to the Eosone. I didn't have to worry about placement... No matter where I was in relation to the Paradigm it was disappointing. I would do different tests with me located in different positions and it was all the same, bad. But once I plug the Eosone in, the room was filled with sound.
 
I want to make one thing clear... This wasn't about knit picking. Adjusting the distance from the wall... adjusting speaker toe in... None of them even mattered at this point. I could have aimed them at the wall and still noticed one clearly producing more sound than the other (along with the rest of the whole package of what u look for in speakers).
 
I appreciate you sharing ur experience with the Paradigm S8s. It's really sad to hear that a modern set of speakers that are being sold for $4.5K/each have UNDERWHELMING bass with FOUR woofers. It seems to me like they could figure that out.  I will look into PSB and if I can find a deal on some, I'll pick them up and give them a shot.
 
I'm thinking that I will make a new rule for myself. These Eosone have a 4" mid and an 8" low... I think I'll try finding speakers that have 8" woofers on them. I think I have to admit that I like hard quick hitting bass that a subwoofer is too much and a 5" woofer is too little. I would say that's where Eosone really shines, in making that super quick and tight bass, like a jet hitting the sound barrier, or a balloon popping... and it MOVES the walls. If the walls aren't shaking, then the speaker isn't doing its job, IMHO. I'm not using the speakers to help me fall asleep. If I wanted quiet and precise sounds I would put on the headphones.
 
I want to FEEL the sound waves, not have to listen to hear them.

 

[yage]

  I appreciate you sharing ur experience with the Paradigm S8s. It's really sad to hear that a modern set of speakers that are being sold for $4.5K/each have UNDERWHELMING bass with FOUR woofers. It seems to me like they could figure that out.  I will look into PSB and if I can find a deal on some, I'll pick them up and give them a shot.

 
Well I wouldn't be too quick to judge - just remember that some people prefer that sort of sound, otherwise Paradigm wouldn't be in business.
 
 

 
I'm thinking that I will make a new rule for myself. These Eosone have a 4" mid and an 8" low... I think I'll try finding speakers that have 8" woofers on them. I think I have to admit that I like hard quick hitting bass that a subwoofer is too much and a 5" woofer is too little. I would say that's where Eosone really shines, in making that super quick and tight bass, like a jet hitting the sound barrier, or a balloon popping... and it MOVES the walls. If the walls aren't shaking, then the speaker isn't doing its job, IMHO. I'm not using the speakers to help me fall asleep. If I wanted quiet and precise sounds I would put on the headphones.
 
I want to FEEL the sound waves, not have to listen to hear them.

 
If you go to a dealer, make sure you tell them about this aspect of performance you're looking for. They'll be able to steer you to something you might like. Don't get too hung up on the number / size of the drivers. It's the end result that counts.

 

[Lenni]

if you like big booming shaking bass, you might just need to add a sub.