Paradigm Reference Active/20

[kininigin]

Just bagged myself a pair of these http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%09+PARADiGM+active+reference&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stereophile.com%2Fstandloudsp eakers%2F597&ei=glkwT4WKH8yk8gOB36yWDw&usg=AFQjCNFpvhfYt9I47Xf8CbyYI7-5e_ryrA&cad=rja

I've been keeping my eye out for Active/40's for awhile,but have never seen any for sale,so when doing some late night 'browsing' and seeing these,i got a little exicited.

I love it when sellers misspell what they're advertising,(paradgm) ;)

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Well they read well don't they! Speakers that cut out when you play the music too loud ... I know that story ... Well, i did before Connie was born! The Battles 'atlas' is a quick route to the orange LED of silence!

[kininigin]

Im more near-field listening atm,so huge volume levels not really needed.

Having said that,wanting to test the loudness and bass handling capabilities of my tapcos,i played DJ Fresh's heavyweight track,straight into constant red light territory :lol:

They didn't shut down though!

I really should go to bed,just worked 14hrs,up in 5hrs to work at least 12hrs :mental:

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Mine definitely cut out, usually at about 3 o'clock on the volume on the pre, I've not measured spls but it's pretty loud by then!
The problem is you don't always notice, I don't listen to music loud anyway but on the odd occasion it has cut out ita been through a gradual increase in volume over a longer session! (or showing off to mates ;))
Them cutting out is a good reality check, if it's that loud ita probably too loud for a semi detached house!
Thankfully when they do cut out they come back on in a few seconds ... I used to had a NAD hc amp that would cut out if I was listening to loud and it wouldn't come back for hours! The last time it ds it it didn't come back on for a few days, smelt a bit funny, and didn't sound the same ... ...

[realysm42]

Signal was always good for a sound check :D

[kininigin]

Mine definitely cut out, usually at about 3 o'clock on the volume on the pre, I've not measured spls but it's pretty loud by then!
The problem is you don't always notice, I don't listen to music loud anyway but on the odd occasion it has cut out ita been through a gradual increase in volume over a longer session! (or showing off to mates ;))
Them cutting out is a good reality check, if it's that loud ita probably too loud for a semi detached house!
Thankfully when they do cut out they come back on in a few seconds ... I used to had a NAD hc amp that would cut out if I was listening to loud and it wouldn't come back for hours! The last time it ds it it didn't come back on for a few days, smelt a bit funny, and didn't sound the same ... ...

Im not sure if the paradigms have protection built into them,but my tapco's have a over-excursion filter,just before the woofer,which stops it from being damaged.They also have thermal switches,which i guess are kinda standard?

I nearly allways get a shock when playing music and the phone goes ect,and i stop the music for awhile.The moment it goes back on,i think to myself,it didn't sound that loud an hour ago :lol:

I had an arcam amp that i used in my mixing days,it was allways getting too hot and shutting down,usually on a double drop :eyebrows:


Signal was always good for a sound check :D

Haven't heard that track in ages,WATCH THIS SPACE.....followed by carnage on the dance floor :eyebrows:

[kininigin]

Speakers turned up today,early impressions....i've been missing out :eyebrows:

[kininigin]

Here are some shots of the new speakers.

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m639/kininigin/P1010031.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m639/kininigin/P1010032.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m639/kininigin/P1010033.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m639/kininigin/P1010034.jpg

http://i1135.photobucket.com/albums/m639/kininigin/P1010035.jpg

So i have had these,for a few days now and what do i think? In a word,fantastic.

The highs are well detailed and super smooth,but not to the point where it robs music of it's impact.There is a greater impression of space and air,compared to the tapcos i was using.I have never owned speakers with a metal tweeter before and have heard comments that they can sound somewhat 'aggressive',there's no agression here though.

Midrange is truly great imo,big wide sounstage,very natural sounding,has punch and drive but can be delicate and subtle,something the tapcos lose out on again compared to the paradigms.I was a little worried that they would sound a bit 'small' but they sound alot bigger than thier dimensions suggest.

Bass,very important to me for this to be tight and deep and that's exactly what i get.Listening to bass guitars,i can now here the strings being plucked,instead of hinting that they have been plucked. They have far greater definition,tone timbre..Music now has a great bouncy,faster factor to it.True im not getting deep sub-base at cavernous levels,but in my room at the volumes i mostly listen at.it's perfectly acceptable.

All in all,im very happy with them and can now stop the nagging feeling in my head that the tapco's,while good for the price imo,ulitmately was holding my system back.

:cool:

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Speakers turned up today,early impressions....i've been missing out :eyebrows:

So's the rest of these folk with there faffy passive hifis ;)

Sounds good!
You sound pleased! Good news! :)

[Reid Malenfant]

So's the rest of these folk with there faffy passive hifis ;)

Sounds good!
You sound pleased! Good news! :)
Dude, dude, you know I love active systems :) I also like Paradigm equipment & I can only imagine how those speakers sound :eyebrows:

My whole system is going active, I'll have 20 channels of amplification... :rfl:

[kininigin]

So's the rest of these folk with there faffy passive hifis ;)

Sounds good!
You sound pleased! Good news! :)

Im still really supprised that more folk (did i just say folk? wtf :lol:) don't go this route.With a quality valve pre in the loop,you can get great results.I will be keeping these for along time,no wonder you never see them for sale :eyebrows:

Dude, dude, you know I love active systems :) I also like Paradigm equipment & I can only imagine how those speakers sound :eyebrows:

My whole system is going active, I'll have 20 channels of amplification... :rfl:

I would love to hear your system when you go active.If i had the time and money i would like to do something similiar to what you have done.

Im happy with where i'm at though,and that's playing loads of music!

20 channels of amplification...really? :eek:

[Reid Malenfant]

I would love to hear your system when you go active.If i had the time and money i would like to do something similiar to what you have done.

Im happy with where i'm at though,and that's playing loads of music!
That is by far the most important thing! (in bold)

My left & right, what you'd call "stereo" speakers already are & there are 8 channels of amps. I'm just going the whole hog & going 4 way active for the centre speaker & left & right surrounds in my stereo/AV system.

I just recently bought a dirty great big high quality 5 channel amp to power the centre speaker (pics in the gallery today as it happens) :)

Lets just say I'm happy to ;)

[kininigin]

you must have a crazy amount of cabling going on in your setup :lol:

Bet it sounds awesome though :eyebrows:

I see you have a paradigm sub.Do you use this for films,music or both?

[Reid Malenfant]

you must have a crazy amount of cabling going on in your setup :lol:

Bet it sounds awesome though :eyebrows:

I see you have a paradigm sub.Do you use this for films,music or both?
Both, the sub is set to 30Hz low pass which isn't a bad compromise as my main speakers would be rolling of at about -6Db at 28Hz.

It does help, though I do have a couple of antimode 8033 bass eq that really do sort things out & help produce clean bass to 16Hz. You can hear the difference between each & every note up to 100Hz.

They kind of eliminate the room below 150Hz... No room boom :)

[kininigin]

It does help, though I do have a couple of antimode 8033 bass eq that really do sort things out & help produce clean bass to 16Hz.


I just creamed my pants after reading that :lol:

I've been thinking about a sub but not for where im living at the moment,not sure the neighbours would be happy about that.

Im of to watch a film,laters yall.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Sounds awesome Mark!

I doubt I'll even go back to passive for my main system now, just doesn't make sense to me when so much can be had out of these pretty shinney boxes of mine ...
If I get rich and get a bigger house I'll just get bigger versions of the same and use these for rear speakers :)

[Reid Malenfant]

If I get rich and get a bigger house I'll just get bigger versions of the same and use these for rear speakers :)
Strangely the front speakers I'm now using were going to be used as rears :eyebrows:

It makes a whole lot of sense, but no-one appears to be catching on :scratch: If your front speakers all of a sudden get used are rear speakers the chances are they'll be closer to you, so can go to much higher volume levels before creating the same distortion...


This means that everything has an easier time & any speakers will actually produce less distortion simply because they aren't going to be fed so much power as you won't be able to listen to it... It'll be so loud!

It appears to me that everyone conveniently forgets about this distortion, & what's worse they forget about intermodulation distortion from two way speakers which are the the worst for this barring single drivers :eyebrows:


Well AoS will plough on it way & I'll plough on my way...

I know which is going to be the more accurate no matter what anyone says :D

[kininigin]

I love these speakers :D

[The Vinyl Adventure]

jolly good
I really cant understand why more folk dont get on the active speaker wagon...

[kininigin]

They'll learn,they'll the hard way :lol:

[flapland]

Welcome to the Active Club Kininigin, my Adam Audio Compact Classics Actives went down well at Scalford on the very same stands you have your Paradigm's on. I too use a valve pre as well.

[kininigin]

Hi paul,

I've actually been 'active' the last few years.I was using some Tapco S8's,but with these paradigms the quality has gone up a few notches imo.

I had thought about getting some adam's,as they seem higly regarded,would love the ones hamish has (i've still got my eye on them btw :lol:).

I decided to go a different route with my system,it was all a bit of an experiment at first,but glad i did.I think the Valve pre and all in one active system can work well,giving very good sppv.

The atacama are quite good imo,pick them up for £50 :eyebrows:

[flapland]

I would also like Hamish's as well but I suspect thats not about to happen. Mine were my first step into active and in part were a way to release some cash as I got them cheap of a Wammer at just over £1k with the stands. Don't regret it for a minute and certainly now a I have balanced Eastern Electric Avant pre with some nice NOS valves in it.

The only trouble with the sand filed stands are shipping them up and down stairs at Scalford and home. Mind you they did make good door stops when dealing with all the doors on the first floor.

I might try and do a mini Active bake off later in the year if your interested.

[kininigin]

The only trouble with the sand filed stands are shipping them up and down stairs at Scalford and home. Mind you they did make good door stops when dealing with all the doors on the first floor.


I know what you mean,try moving them with a case of sciatica,not recommended :( Do you have them fully filled,mine are,seem ok like that.



I might try and do a mini Active bake off later in the year if your interested.

I could be interested,let me know the details when you have them

[flapland]

I know what you mean,try moving them with a case of sciatica,not recommended :( Do you have them fully filled,mine are,seem ok like that.



I could be interested,let me know the details when you have them

Mine are fully filled yes, I could go with lead shot or atabites but I think they are heavy enough as is.

Will let you know if I do get my act together for a bake off.

[kininigin]

I was having a bit of a rearrangement of my system,and noticed that one of the rca inputs on one of the speakers was loose.I stupidly tried to tighten it up,not thinking about what it was connected to and have broke the connection :doh:

I took the back panel off to have a look at the problem,and it seemed easy enough to fix,just tighten up the rca input and resolder the connection.

I forgot to include my cack-handedness in the equation!! So whilst trying to resolder the joint,the iron has touch another cable and partially burnt the sleeve.Now it was just a quick touch and i cannot see any wire showing through,non the less,i didn't manage to fix it and in putting it back together,i have broke the led connection to boot :doh: :steam:

I have contacted paradigm to see what authorized service engineers are in the UK.

I'm not a happy bunny,i love these speakers,i just hope i haven't done any serious damage to them :(

[kininigin]

Paradigm have put me in contact with someone,i won't name them at the moment,to do the repair work.

I asked for a quote but they say it's impossible to give an accurate estimate.

Given the description of the issue with the speaker,should it not be a case of a few solder joints to do and a test of the speaker?

If so,what would be a reasonable charge for that? I have no idea,what is reasonable.

Also they say,if i send the speaker and then refuse to have the work carried out after the estimate has been given,then there will be a charge of £50 + VAT and return carraige.

I don't have money to waste at the moment as my washing machine has just packed in as well :steam:

[The Vinyl Adventure]

When you go to look at washing machines etc ask the staff if they know anyone locally who does minor electrical repairs ... I know of a chap in Worcester who would do these sort of fixes ... My guess is there would be someone local to you! They don't need to be a fully fledged hifi expert, just be not as shit as you (or me ;)) with a soldering iron...
Another possibly would be if you have a model shop near by ... I used to work in a shop that was in the same building as a model shop ... The chap was well into his remote control cars and as such daily handy with a soldering iron ... Just a thought ...

[The Vinyl Adventure]

Nice avatar by the way ... Is that what you see if you see if you puff that shit?

[kininigin]

Hi hamish,

I'll see what they say tomorrow and if it isn't a reasonable price,i will look locally for someone.
Like you say there will be someone who is more than capable of doing it,but i'm a little worried,as i don't want to risk anymore damage,as i'm not likely to find another pair of these anytime soon!!

I don't understand why they couldn't give a a rough estimate,on doing a bit of soldering though.I told them what had happened,what else is there to know?

I usually only see things,after a heavy dose of shrooms!! :D