Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2

Posted by RGA (R) on March 23, 2007 at 04:21:46

In Reply to: Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 posted by gnugear on March 22, 2007 at 09:37:56:

The issue is that the audio industry is kind of like restaurants. Fine restaurants are not on every corner but does that mean you should just choose between McDonalds and Burger King?

The analogy is not to say that the speakers are as bad as the food equivelants but perhaps fairer to say Ford and GM. Just because Ferrari is not in your town does not mean you should just be stuck with what is there.

I am certainly not suggesting that you buy without hearing but I would suggest being patient and hearing a lot of different gear and decide for yourself. If that means holding off for 6 months until you can make an extended trip to a dealer who does carry a lot of stuff then that could be the best wait you ever made.

The Paradigm and B&W's of the world were at one time at the very top of my list because most dealers really didn't carry anything better or enough stuff for a fair competition. One very high end B&W dealer in downtown Vancouver has to hard sell them all the time because they carry virtually no other lines. Most dealers simply will not carry more than one $2500.00 - $3000 standmount. Sure the N805 sounds better than the competing B&W 602 or and Energy C series speaker the dealer has as their budget gear, but this is hardly an even match-up.

Someone mentioned PMC and I would take the TB1 or the TB2 over either the B&W or the Paradigm -- however the PMC must be listened to in a nearfield environment for them to sound good. And even then PMC would not be my first choice due to their power demands and aggressive sound.

Firstly, I would not be concerned with name brands -- some of the best stuff that I ever heard came from companies that I had to say -- "who the hell are they." The first time was Sugden when it sounded better but I bought the "name" that reviewers recommended because it was the "safe" choice -- luckily the second time I figured it out.

Off hand speaker companies that I would look at over either Paradigm and B&W for standmounts would be:

Audio Note
Tannoy
PMC
ProAc
Reference 3a
Sonus Faber
Dynaudio
Gershman Acoustics

There are a few others that have been recommended to me by ears I would trust over money taking magazines but I can not directly recommend them:

JM Reynaud
Spendor
Harbeth

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Follow Ups Full Thread

Topic - B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - gnugear 12:41:10 03/21/07 (16)

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - gnugear 13:34:16 03/27/07 (0)

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - gnugear 09:37:56 03/22/07 (1)

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - RGA 04:21:46 03/23/07 (0)

The Paradigm is the no-brainer here IMO... - RGA 03:56:11 03/22/07 (4)

Incorrect Pricing... - Supernaught 16:58:37 03/22/07 (3)

Re: Incorrect Pricing... - RGA 03:48:04 03/23/07 (2)

Oops - RGA 04:25:05 03/23/07 (1)

RGA- you might go hear the new ones - KeithR 21:58:14 03/26/07 (0)

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - gregeas 18:56:35 03/21/07 (0)

Both very nice, but... - Jimmy C. 16:30:36 03/21/07 (3)

He's talking about 805s not Signature 805 - Supernaught 17:01:28 03/22/07 (2)

I see... the "S" means plural... - Jimmy C. 14:56:42 03/23/07 (1)

Nope - Supernaught 16:03:39 03/23/07 (0)

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - Pat D 15:53:08 03/21/07 (0)

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - Visitor 13:10:09 03/21/07 (0)

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - gnugear 12:54:49 03/21/07 (0)

Follow Ups

Re: B&W 805s or Paradigm Signature 2 - RGA 04:21:46 03/23/07 (0)

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