Speaker Asylum: REVIEW: Paradigm Studio/100 Speakers by Jim P

Model:	Studio/100
Category:	Speakers
Suggested Retail Price:	$2,200/pr.
Description:	Double 8
Manufacturer URL:	Paradigm
Model Picture:	View

Review by Jim P on May 28, 2008 at 16:36:56
IP Address: 69.1.112.218 Add Your Review
for the Studio/100

greets inmates,

Let me start by saying that my kids did this to me. The teens in question(3 of them), blew my last pair of main speakers. Also sorry about the legnth of review. I haven't been in a shop in 6 years. The price of paradigms' products seem to have gone up quite a lot, but this is due in part to exchange rates I believe, my european made viola strings almost doubled in last few years and euro violins are even worse. I have owned a number of cheaper line Paradigms and knew(at least a few years ago), that they were a good value and gave a good sample of high end sound. The shop was very attentive and "patient" with me. I listened to the Studio 20's V.? and a pair of Studio 60's V.? and liked them almost immediatly, very clean mids and highs. I took the Studio 60's but returned them after a week and bought the 100'S V.4. instead.

This version has 3 7" bass drivers, a 7" midrange and 1" tweeter. I also purchased a matching studio CC690 center and RB1080 amp to power the 100's. The speakers were very well packed and then wrapped in a large heavy platic bag. They are also VERY heavy, 162 pounds a pair. I set them up in my living room that is 25' by 20' and carpeted. They came with rubber mounted feet and came with spikes. Note to self, leave the spikes off until you get them finally tweaked to your preference dumba**!

They are wired with Audioquest Rocket 44 single biwire for all 3 front speakers. The binding posts are well made and setup for bi-wiring but come with gold colored metal jumpers. The speakers look great without the covers!!! I did put them back on though and will leave them that way. Mine are Rosenut in color and the finish is nice. The top of the speaker is a kind of rubber to isolate the tweeter I suppose but is a little weird looking and they are pretty tall and deep but narrow to look at.
At first listen the were kinda lean and the tweeters weren't too remarkable, I thought perhaps my Yamaha or Rotel amp was the culprit, and to a point they probably are, but I've heard that the 100's take a long time to breakin. Breakin was considerable,perhaps a month playing almost nonstop. I can now say these speakers don't need a subwoofer. I'm glad I didn't try to post a review too quickly because these require a really long break-in and didn't sound spectacular out of the box. I let them run in almost 1 month. They opened up a LOT. They sound fast and very dynamics IF cranked up. Really big difference than when new. They seem to need power to sound their best(amp issue or speaker?) They could sound better at low volumes but really sound great turned up a bit/lot. For Rock music these thing just crank cleanly and without strain. They will play much louder than I care too listen,really loud. On David Gilmores' "On An Island", there is significant bass output on Track 2 but it has good pitch. The mids and tweeters really sound lithe airy and pretty detailed. Cymbals brush strokes souded very lifelike but do get kida lost in the mix after a while when the music thikens. When playing something from the normal suspects like Sarah McLachlan,Diana K, or Patricia Barber they sound amazing to me, they throw up a nice holographic image and were relatively easy to set up. Voices really sounded very lifelike. The sweet spot doesn't care if you stand up or sit, the image stays focused,at least on good recordings. They will reveal cra**y recordings.

On a recent concert we performed a Rachmoninov piano concerto. The soloist was performing it on a new handmade Yamaha Grand piano. What get's me now is how well the 100's reproduce that piano with weight, authority and especially the realy high notes just sound right and the decay is really cool sounding. The speakers reveal the middle voices like violas, the alto line can disappear in recordings pretty easilly.
I needed a good compromise in speakers. My familly wanted a HT system, and I wanted superior sound. I get both. I won't say too much about them for HT but say try listening to Transformers near the end when the robot fly's upsidown by firing his cannons is HUGE bass!!! They aren't perfect and there's way better but for the price still they are good value, at least to me.
Thanks,

Jim P

Product Weakness:	Kinda large-ish, lucky me my wife really like them,YMMV. At this price point I think they are very very competative within their range. Need lots of power. heavy for I person to unpack and setup. I had to pull off the front cover to use the front port as a hand hold.
Product Strengths:	Dynamics are huge, easy to find and fiddle for sweet spot. I really like the tweeters and mids. Bass is powerfull and pitch correct.

Associated Equipment for this Review:

Amplifier: Rotell RB 1080
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated): Yamaha RXV2095
Sources (CDP/Turntable): Sony SCD 775 SACD player Dual turntable
Speakers: Paradigm Studio 100's V.4
Cables/Interconnects: Audioquest Rocket 44 single bi-wire.
Music Used (Genre/Selections): Classical, Jazz, 70's to current rock, pretty much everything
Room Size (LxWxH): 20 x 25 x
Room Comments/Treatments: none really
Time Period/Length of Audition: 2 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.): Monster HT800 line gand and noise filter
Type of Audition/Review: Home Audition

Amplifier:	Rotell RB 1080
Preamplifier (or None if Integrated):	Yamaha RXV2095
Sources (CDP/Turntable):	Sony SCD 775 SACD player Dual turntable
Speakers:	Paradigm Studio 100's V.4
Cables/Interconnects:	Audioquest Rocket 44 single bi-wire.
Music Used (Genre/Selections):	Classical, Jazz, 70's to current rock, pretty much everything
Room Size (LxWxH):	20 x 25 x
Room Comments/Treatments:	none really
Time Period/Length of Audition:	2 months
Other (Power Conditioner etc.):	Monster HT800 line gand and noise filter
Type of Audition/Review:	Home Audition