Floor Standing under $1000 Polk vs Paradigm

Rnilson,

I don't know that they'd sound like crap, just not to their full potential is all I was saying.

I ran my LSi-15s with an 80 watt integrated for a while. Never felt anything was missing with 80 watts. If your amp doesn't mind the 4 ohm load, it would probably work fine.

Merganser,
So how much power am I gonna need? Can I use my current amp with decent results until I can afford to replace it. It might be while until I can do that. If it is gonna sound like crap with my current system and the Polks I don't think I can go for that.

I used to own the Polk Lsi 15s and they are great for the money and easily best the Paradigms,but up to 5k thats some pretty strong words,infact the Salksound Veracity Ht-3s will obliterate the Lsi 15s or anything anywhere near that pricerange and signicantly above.

IMO, the Polk LSi's are definitely the better of the two in question. However, you're not going to get all of what they are capable of with your current power source. Feed them well and they will reward you.

I was really surprised how good the Polks were---a friend bought the $700/pair floorstanders and i thought totally outclassed the Paradigms---very coherant top to bottom which is unusual in a speaker of that budget

I have owned both the Studio 60V2 and the LSi-15. Up front the Polks are much better speakers IMO. Bass is the only area where the Paradigms beat the Polks. In every other category, the LSi-15s excel. The tweeter Polk uses is phenomenal for the money, especially at used price, while the Paradigm tweeter is somewhat fatiguing. For reference, I've also owned Vandersteen 2CE Signatures, Meadowlark Audio Shearwater Hot Rods, Eminent Technology LFT-8As, as well as a few well respected monitors, and the Polks are the best sounding speakers I've owned.
I'm sure there are many suggestions but if it's between the two mentioned, go for the Polks.

How about something different? A Soliloquy 5.3 or 6.3 would be happy with 60 wpc. Much more efficient over the two listed above. The 6.3 retailed for over $3000. The company is out of business now..so there are some great deals to be had.

The Polk Audio's really are out of Paradigms league. I have listened to both alot. The Polk's really don't have much competition untill you reach the $4k mark and even then its more about preference. I'd be willing to put down some serious money that If there was a listening session with many of the users on this forum and the name Polk Audio was ripped off the speaker and they were disguised most people would consider them a god sent under $5000.

Haven't compared the two, but I love paradigm. Great value.

paradigm.....congratulations, Dad