Home Speaker Asylum

General speaker questions for audio and home theater.

RE: Bookshelf speaker recommendations? (upgrade fr: Sonus Faber Grand Piano Home)

The Dynaudio Contour 1.3 has very good bass response and is a very nice speaker. Another excellent monitor speaker with very good bass response is the PSB Synchrony One B. The measurements indicate both these speakers have useful bass down to the low 30s. I wish I had taken time to listen to the One B more, but at the time, I wanted most to hear the big Synchrony One, which is as good as everyone says it is.

We have the first version of the Paradigm Signature S2. It has useful bass down to around 40 Hz, as do a number of other monitor speakers. We have a big subwoofer for them. I auditioned them at some length before buying them and found them to be a first class speaker and an excellent value. They are very neutral, slightly laid back, have very even off axis dispersion and don't call attention to themselves.

As for reputation, the Signature S2 achieved a Stereophile rating of Class A, Limited Low Frequency Extension (it's a monitor speaker, after all!). It has useful bass to below 40 Hz, which is pretty good for a small speaker. Soundstage's Doug Schneider liked the S2 very much and Andrew Marshall of Audio Ideas Guide liked the Signature S4, which is the one he happened to review.

I haven't heard the second iterations of the Signature Series. The even smaller S1 has received excellent reviews and measures very well, but the measurements indicate it only has useful bass to perhaps a bit below 60 Hz. Soundstage uses the National Research Council to measure speakers.

http://www.soundstagenetwork.com/measurements/speakers/paradigm_signature_s1_v2/

The other models in the Signature line probably measure as well for frequency response and dispersion but with deeper bass. I think the Signature S2, v. 2, lists around $2300, more with exotic finishes.

I can't tell you what speakers to like. The Dynaudio, Paradigm and PSB monitors discussed above are all very fine speakers. They don't get much better than that. They don't sound exactly the same, mostly slight differences in balance. With good speakers, you should be able to just relax and listen to the music.

You mention the Paradigm Studio Series. I haven't heard the latest versions of the Paradigm Studio Series. I liked some of the earlier versions as I recall, but I didn't keep notes on which ones. I didn't like the version 3 as well but have never heard versions 4 and 5.

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"A fool and his money are soon parted." --- Thomas Tusser


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