[martymilton]

I am new to this forum, but I have been a happy owner of Paradigm speakers for over 10 years. If you have enough in the budget take a look at the Paradigm Mini Monitors. Remember that we can all give you advise on our personal favorites, but ultimately, the best speaker is the one that sounds best to you. Be sure to audition every speaker you are considering to purchase and bring in your own CDs to listen to when auditioning.

Good luck and happy shopping.

 

[SilverTrumpet999]

I'll second Martymilton's comment above. I own a pair of Monitor 5 v.3 (little brother of the Studio 40; this configuration no longer exists in the v.5 lineup) and a pair of Cinema 70 v.3 (little brother of the new Atom Monitor).

I'd highly recommend anything in Paradigm's Monitor lineup, including the new Atom Monitor, with a sweet spot at the Mini. Your budget and space requirements should be the driving forces, as the sound will be quite similar throughout the lineup (detailed high / mid presentation, and additional bass extension as you go up). My Monitor 5's are now hooked up to equipment worth more than 6 times what I paid for the speakers at retail (found almost all of it used, didn't plan it that way ) and their performance is still scaling with each upgrade.

Audio Jester: if you are talking about the new Atom Monitors, I would worry more about the amp's specs than its power rating. Buy Harman Kardon, NAD, Onkyo, Denon, etc. and you get the watts you pay for; stay away from Best Buy and any amp that rates its power with one channel driven at 1 kHz.

The new Atom Monitors are more sensitive than previous Paradigm offerings, and really any amp will drive them fine. I have my Monitor 5's hooked up to 400 biamped RMS watts and they sound fantastic, so more can be better, but I have to be careful about where I set that volume knob and the improvement is rather slight... On the flip side, my Marantz 2230 (with only 30 watts per channel) drives them at close to the same level. With sensitive speakers, you can go quality rather than pure arc-welding power.

 

[tboneDX]

Thanks for the feedback!

I'm leaning more and more towards the Paradigm Mini's. Is $400 a reasonable price for a pair of these? or should I try to get the shop to go lower (I'm not much of a bargainer).

 

[manhattanproj]

hmmm...how about rbh sound bookshelves? they have pretty good reviews.

 

[GreatDane]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tboneDX /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the feedback! I'm leaning more and more towards the Paradigm Mini's. Is $400 a reasonable price for a pair of these? or should I try to get the shop to go lower (I'm not much of a bargainer).

I don't know what the MSRP is but with a few smooth words you should be able to get a 10% discount. This has been my experience.

 

[jonnyrockets]

I have Atoms and Titans from Paradigm.
THe atoms are really surprising for their size - very very nice sound, get lower than you'd expect them to.

They would be great for games - especially if you paired them with a paradigm 8" sub - or any other cheap powered sub.

As a bonus - they'd be awesome for music as well - Especially through the ps3

 

[Audio Jester]

Just a little rant about Australian audio stores.

Got my quote back for my Atoms.... $550

I am SOOOOO tempted to get them from the states, but it's probably not a good idea. Drat and bother!

 

[SilverTrumpet999]

Usually you can get between 10 - 20% off MSRP at high end audio shops, particularly if you are a returning customer (being on a first-name basis with the manager helps too...). I think $400 is the MSRP, so you ought to be able to get them for a bit less.

 

[jonnyrockets]

Ebay is also a great option for speakers. The paradigms are very good build quality, and I've never had a problem. One of my pairs of titans has been abused very badly - and still sound perfect.