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I expected more from my speakers (not high end)

20+ years ago, I bought a system for music but probably more for blasting home theater. It sounded great for Saving Private Ryan. Well, Ive grown up and would like to get back to listening to music, preferably with reasonable sound quality. I dismissed the old Denon receiver, picked up an NAD c368 with an old bluray player for cds (I since bought a better player). My speakers which I always thought would be adequate are Paradigm Monitor 7 v1 and a 15' Velodyne sub. Im not impressed. Everything sounds kindof compressed although I think the sub blends in nicely. I know its all subjective but would a modest upgrade in speakers (say less that 2K) have the potential for significant improvement? I guess I could try to sell the Paradigms (although I am a little emotionally attached) - I have original packaging after all these years. The only part of the system that Im confident is adequate (other than the new amp) are the massive Tara Labs biwires. Ok starting to ramble. Id appreciate any thoughts. Thanks
johngaltwho
fuzztone's avatar
fuzztone
5,497 posts
 
Maybe so but for the first time in my memory ok' kenjit had a valid point.

Bravo
wolfie62
349 posts
 
Kenjit is correct. You can’t expect a speaker to perform well if the polar response is not specified. At mid-latitudes, a northern polar response won’t sound good.  Like wise, a southern polar response sounds flat in northern latitudes.

Speakers “voiced” for HT rarely sound good for music. Our ears and brain know what music is supposed to sound like. HT isn’t that way; who knows what tank tracks sound like, or explosions in your home, or the roar of a tornado or bullets whizzing past and hitting a wall?
jrw1971
62 posts
 
Respectfully disagree.  Kenjit’s post was hostile, but also dumb.  OP is at the front end of a trip we’ve all been on.  System sounds uninspired, unengaging, dull, and compressed.  We’ve all heard that before, and we all know that a better amp with more vavoom, speakers more likely to get up and boogie, and sources that are cleaner, less compressed, more open, more natural, and most of all ... engaging, is totally possible without spending a fortune. That’s what OP needs to hear and it’s OK to use adjectives that are less precise and not part of the official audiophile lexicon.  OP, I recommend you download Robert Harley’s book The Complete Guide to High End Audio.  (And anyone who knows Harley’s reviews knows that he can be as intellectual and incisive as they come in his stellar descriptions of sound, but his writing also indulges more emotion-based adjectives, like “vavoom” or “boogie.”  Because he’s not a complete poser.)
rajugsw
193 posts
 
My friend @ johngaltwho, I’ve been in the same boat as you. I was all about 2 channel and then in 1999, I got a DVD Player and bought extra Speakers. For the next 18 years I focused on 5.1 Video & Audio with 2 channel + Dolby Pro Logic II. Now I’m back and it’s quite the Rabbit Hole and more expensive than "set it and forget it" 5.1 Home Theater.

Enjoy the Ride.

Para Dig Em were were good and cheap back in the day but their newer models have lost their "budget mindedness".
audiokinesis
2,713 posts
 
Johngaltwho, I just checked the classifieds to see what was available in the two grand ballpark and one of my speakers was there, a custom version of the (discontinued) Planetarium Alpha.  This is a high efficiency system with a built-in down-firing subwoofer.   So there's one option which is unlikely to have compression issues.  

Duke


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