Paradigm vs B&W
default -- Fri, 02/20/2009 - 21:41
I am hoping to get some recomendations on speakers. I am evaluating the Paradigm Studio 20 V4's and the B&W 685's. Both I can purchase in the $650 range. No one in my area has a pair of Paradigms that I can listen to. I have however listened to the B&W's. I will be feeding these speakers with an Onkyo TX-SR806 receiver through the zone 2 line out to a Rotel 2 channel amp. Can anyone give me advice on which model may suit my all around need? This set up is in a small room. I may also eventually move them over to the home theater side of the amp and purchase additional speakers of the same make to match up to the chosen brand. These may be used for both music and home theater. Which brand will be better if expanded beyond 2 channel?
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Any help is appreciated.
I just made this same comparison this weekend as I am looking for some zone 2 speakers to use with my Onkyo TX-SR606 upstairs from my HT setup. My wife and I both agreed that the Paradigms have more bass extension but the B&W were more detailed. Some of this might have to do with the listening environment as the B&Ws were set out a way from the wall in a large room and the Paradigms were in a small room and only about 18" or so from the back wall. She prefered the 685s and I prefered the Paradigm 20s which would go with the review that stated that the Paradigms were more "masculine". I will say that we both prefer the looks of the B&Ws over the Paradigms but this really isn't that important. With the grills on they are pretty similar. I live in Iowa and have limited listening choices near me so these and maybe some PSB if I chose to drive an hour to listen will be what I choose. We also listened to the Monitor Audio RS1s. Pretty much ruled out the MAs as I felt they were over-priced compared to what you get sonically.
P.S. We are still torn.. wife thinks the B&W are a better value and I agree. I just really loved the bass of the Paradigms... decisions decisions. :) These speakers will also probably end up on a built in bookshelf at least initially so I may want to go with the B&W as someone commented that they sounded very good placed this way.
Either choice is suitable. You are wise to stick to an established brand if you are thinking about expanding to using the speakers for your home theater. That way you are more likely to be able to purchase additional speakers of the same type. That sort of system matching is as important than almost any other parameter in a home theatre system. Using wildly different speakers for front, rear or center will make it difficult to put together a balanced system, even using various DSP solutions.
As for strictly 2 channel use, I typically prefer a sealed system and I believe both of your choices are ported, so I'm not much help. I expect either would not be atrocious given their pedigree.
IMO i would save up & buy the near top of the line speakers if starting w/ a wo channel system. if you add speakers down the road you will be happy you saved for higher end b&w or par. otherwise you might find yourself up-grading the whole sytem.
b&w owns rotel so that would be my choice as the amps are sound mated to the b&w speakers.
i own the 800 series B&w (d) & aim very satisfied1 you can spend a lot more on speakers than the b&w & get a lot less IMO.
kodg
The B&W speakers and the Rotel gear match up very well.