Paradigm studio 20 vs 60? Help please

B_limo. It just so happens that I auditioned both Studio 20s and 60s about a year ago when I bought my first pair of hi-fi speakers. I remember enough to say that I didn't feel like one speaker was significantly better than the other: each had its own tradeoffs compared to the other. Couldn't you just go in and listen to each? That would surely answer the question for you. And, if you plan to use the $650 for speaker stands (among other things), perhaps you should just put the $650 toward the Studio 60, anyway. It partly depends on what else you have or don't have in your system, I suppose.

B_limo. If you have Focal (816V) or Dynaudio in your area, it's worth auditioning those, too. Both offer substantial improvements over both Paradigm Studio 60s and 100s, but without skyrocketing in price. When I was first searching for speakers, I auditioned the 20s, 60s, and 100s side by side, then the Focal 816V (same day, on two different occasions). First impressions got me hooked on the Focals, and I came in determined I was going to walk out with the Studio 60s. I later heard some $2800 Dynaudio floorstanders. No doubt they bettered the Focals, but in my mind it wasn't worth another $800 plus tax. I think the 816V by Focal (JM Lab) offered the best performance/value ratio at that price point. In Canada, you might get them new for $1900, and obviously less if you can find a used pair. Something to consider, I suppose, if you want a quite substantial upgrade, but without paying much more than originally planned.

On the other hand, maybe you'll just be happy with the Studio 60s. It's not like they're bad speakers, and you sound like you'd be quite excited to get your hands on a pair.

All the best with your decisions. :)

Hi, B_limo.
$500 for 806v's is pretty nice, but I'm not sure I'd bite. I'm prefer to arrive at a great solution in as few steps and little money spent as possible. I wouldn't want to make an impulse buy of bookshelf speakers, especially when I know in the back of my mind I'd rather the floorstanders. That will only result in nagging discontentment later on. I'd always end up imagining how much better things would be if I had just waited a little bit to secure the floorstanding speakers. Waiting sucks, but in this case, (either with the Focals or some comparable Dynaudios), the payoff seems worth it.

Before I bought the 816v's, I seriously considered pairing the 806v's with my Paradigm Studio Sub 12. I decided against the 806v's for several reasons (here's what I can remember):

1. Didn't want any variation in character from using both bookshelf speakers and a sub (which has its own separate and different amplifier). The sub 12 and the 806v's were never designed to work together to transition or play simultaneously together in a seamless and unnoticeable fashion.
2. Knew I wouldn't have a dedicated stereo amp for a while and would be using my AV Receiver for both movies and 2-channel music. I believed the sound to be superior in PURE DIRECT mode for 2-channel source music (CDs), which means using no sub; hence, the requirement of speakers with better bass performance (the 816v's).
3. On their own, the 816v's bass performance is unquestionably superior than 806v's.
4. Once I factored in the price for basic stands, it was only a few hundred more for 816v's.
5. By going with floorstanding speakers, stands would never be an upgrade issue. I knew in the future, I'd be thinking about how to get better sound from the bookshelf speakers by upgrading to superior stands. That means more money for speaker stands. Going with floorstanders meant that future upgrade money could be used for something else.

A 6th reason I discovered later:
6. Given my current room, optimal speaker placement means I can't place my sub in the optimal position. If I had gotten bookshelf speakers, I'd either have to compromise their perfect location, or the sub's, and a balance of compromises is not what I'm interested in—not if it can be avoided. And in this case, it was avoided by buying the 816v's. Have you yet played around with speaker placement to discover optimal placement (as apposed to aesthetically optimal placement)? The result may influence whether you want to use a bookshelf / sub setup for your music listening.

For what it's worth, transparency was the biggest thing the Focals had that pried me from any of the Paradigms I mentioned. When I went back and forth between the two brands, each time it sounded to me as if, when switching to the Focals, a lot of "stuff" was removed from between me and the music. They sounded much cleaner, but without losing neutrality or becoming overly analytic.

Hopefully at least some of this is helpful. Whatever you choose, I hope you get chance to listen to it first.

Cheers,

Aaron

B_limo: You're welcome. It sounds like you found a solution you're really pleased with, without having to jump up your budget. That's great (and impressive).

Happy listening!

Aaron