paradigm studio 60's

Was looking at a set today. I didn't have time to give them a thorough demo but was initially impressed. For $800 I'm trying to find other speakers in their category to compare them to.

I've had a pair for almost a year. When I started looking for loudspeakers my budget was around $1200. In that range I auditioned both mini-monitors and full-range speakers from B&W, Vandersteen, Sound Dynamics, and Paradigm. As an all-around speaker I thought the Paradigm Studio 60s were the best of the bunch. And since I bought a pair used for $600 they were even better! The Vandersteen 1C was better at chamber music and jazz. For imaging the Sound Dynamics RTS-9 blew them all away. But, the sound was too edgy and I couldn't listen to them for more them a song or two before listener fatigue set in. As for the rest, I thought the Paradigm Studio 60s were better in every way; though I'm sure B&W owners would disagree. They got even better when I bi-wired them. Complaints? Well, I don't think they have the best imaging when it comes to classical. And the highs can be a little brittle sometimes. All-in-all I haven't felt a need to replace them.

I currently have Titans and I recently did a back to back comparison with the Titans and the Studio 60's. What I did is I got to the dealer I use to setup the receiver I have (Marantz SR-7000) and Marantz DVD player and some speakers cables with banana plugs. I then sat down and repeatedly played two tracks from a favourite CD on the Titans and then switched to the Studio 60's and did the same. The main control factor I focused on in this test was to be very carefully about keeping the same volume setting with both sets of speakers. What I noticed is that the differences between these two speakers were relatively subtle. Or what I should try and communicate is that the differences were not extremely obvious. As you can see I'm having trouble articulating my observations. What I am struggling with now is the decision on whether the differences span the $1000 price difference between these two speakers. As I progress further through my hobby of music listening I've found that I can't truly assess a speaker until I live with it for a while. In the end, I would give a very positive rating for the studio 60's but I am also becoming more familiar with the very subjective nature of assessing speakers.

I started out 3 years ago with the Paradigm Titans.Where I bought them for around $250 new, had a 1 year 100% trade up policy.I went from the Titans to the Phantoms.Much better bass,fuller sounding and played louder.I went from the Phantoms to the 9SE mk2 full range.These speakers BLEW away the Phantoms.From there I went to the Studio Reference 20's.It was at that point I knew I was hearing music for the first time.The 20's were so clean,focused,and simply vanished.The titans and Phantoms did not sound like they were from the same family as the 20's at all,in fact they sucked compared to the 20.s.Next in line were the Studio 80's which I still have and plan on keeping.They have the mid range magic as the 20's but much bigger sound,much fuller and kick ass bass.If anyone thinks the Titans sound anywhere near the Studio 60's they 1) are fabricating their findings 2) can't hear 3) are dreaming