Paradigm S4 Signature Series Speaker owners....


...tell me what you like about the S4....

How's the bass? (does it really register down to 36 Hz)?

What is an ideal amp (wattage) to get the most from these?

Any cons (with imaging, aural coloration, etc).

Thanks!
clay49
I have auditioned them in my home and heard them several times in the showroom and currently own the S8's. They do play very low. Most mfgr's do't try to go that low on one 7"(really 6")woofer. Paradigm did(I think unwisely)and it does sound very good at low/med volumes, say less than 82 db or so, but after that the woofer can't keep up. You could unload them with a small rel sub, I would think that would work well. The signature woofers are so fast, I think Para thought they could get away with it. And maybe they have to your taste, it's just not as tight as the s8's. The s8's IMO are 20K speakers hiding in the Para "value" equation. If you like the full range sound, get that second job and do the s8's. Be warned though, both of these speakers are very revealing and bad feeds with sound harsh. Good luck.
Thanks for your response...this is actually a continuation of an earlier thread where I was requesting speakers suggestions for my listening area in my office...the room is basically 20'x11' with painted concrete block walls, 14'ceilings, berber carpet - but my listening area is one half of the room (11x10) with the speakers in front of my desk about 7 feet away and about 6 feet apart (on either side of a bookhelf and basically up against the wall). My desk is standard height (29" tall), so the bottom 1/4 of the speaker (tower) would be shielded by the desk(but that probably is not too consequential). Just thought a monitor speaker on stands would work best.
I've owned the S4 as well as the S2. IMO it didn't better the S2 in any way. I was quite surprised by my findings as I had also owned the Studio 40 & 20. In the Studio's I felt the 40 walked all over the 20. To me, the real gem in the Sigs is the S2 with a sub. Pretty darn hard to beat IMO.

Using the Dynaudio S1.4 at the moment with the Dyaudio Sub 500.......Oh, my! I love this combo.
I recently bought a pair of S4s, somewhat an impulse buy, because I am looking to replace my ageing Monitor Audio Studio 20SE speakers.
Compared to the MA 20SE, which are 2 way floorstanding column units with an even smaller 5.5" bass driver, I find the S4 bass dryer & it goes less deep than the 20SEs. Imaging & sound-staging wise, the S4s are again bettered by the MAs.
However, unsurprisingly, the S4's resolution is much much better than the 20SE, not surprising I guess given that the 20SEs are a 15 year old design.
I did not find any real issues with the S4 coloration wise. It is a bit more forward sounding than the MAs & other larger & better speakers; and this also limits its image depth a bit.
Trust this helps.