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Upgrade for Paradigm Prestige 75F?

I've had a pair of Paradigm Prestige 75Fs for about 3 years now and I really like them.  Great detail, soundstage, bass and they look fantastic too.  However, I've always been irritated by the high midrange.  It seems a little harsh and nasal to me.  I listen to A LOT of jazz and I really notice it in saxophones.  There is a lack of body and warmth to the sound of the instrument no matter who is playing it.  It gets a little fatiguing especially at higher volumes

I'm wondering if folks have a recommendation of a speaker that retains the characteristics that I enjoy in the Paradigms but improve upon that upper midrange?  I wouldn't mind recommendations in a higher price-point as I don't mind buying pre-owned

My other equipment is a Peachtree Nova 300
Rega P3 with all groove tracer upgrades and an Apheta cart
Cambridge Audio CXC transport

thanks
adam8179
cbrents73's avatar
cbrents73
151 posts
 
I think you should consider looking at the Anthem STR Integrated Amp.  You can do a lot with the new Anthem Genesis Room Correction.  If you like all the aspects of the speaker but are having a problem in that one area, Genesis will let you tune that.  Bass also affects harmonics and you may have some things going on in your room that is accentuating that particular frequency range.  

200w x 2 into 8ohm, 400w x 2 into 4 ohm, and 550w x 2 into 2 ohm. Anthem Room Correction (can be turned on or off), Direct Analog Bypass, MM & MC Phono Stage with adjustable Rumble Filter/RIAA Curves 10Hz - 60Hz with Presets built in for Columbia, Capitol Records, and several others if you have a big pre-1975 album collection of a particular label - Can make "Virtual Inputs" and can assign the RIAA presets to an MM or MC virtual input created (up to 30 total). Do you want Room Correction engaged? Turn it on in an input. Don’t want it, turn it off in another input. Want subs to play with the system or not, assign them in the input. Tons of flexibility no other Integrated has and exceptional sound along with it. 

Built-in AKM - DAC’s with Asynchronous USB which processes 32 bit 384kHz and 32 bit 192kHz on all other digital and analog connections. 

Surround pass through and the ability to run two subs in stereo or mono where you can use Anthem Room Correction on those as well. 

People who comment on our Room Correction - MOST have not used our newest ARC Genesis that we launched in May 2019. Ton's of new options to control as well as PHASE with Subs. Please check it out at anthemav.com Our products require about 300 hours of break-in and that is per input - most people don't know or share any of this on these threads.

Thanks for your time!

adam8179 OP
72 posts
 
thanks gongli3, My friend has some harbeths that I like a lot.  Much more lush in timbre than my paradigms (can't remember the model but on the less expensive end of the line).  The Prestiges do better with soundstage and detail though.  I'll look into Spendor.  I was also interested in Revel.  Anyway, thanks for the suggestion
adam8179 OP
72 posts
 
thanks sbrents73, I thought maybe it was the peachtree that was the culprit of the harsh high mids but I tried it with some different speakers (at friends houses) and it didn't have that problem.  I think its the speakers that are responsible for the sonic signature.  I think I'd rather focus on the speaker part of the equation rather than getting a new amp (as cool as the Anthem might be)


cbrents73's avatar
cbrents73
151 posts
 
Thanks Adam. I wasn’t trying to infer that anything was wrong with your Peachtree, but you pointed out that there were a lot of aspects about the speakers you liked so I was trying to point out that you haven’t maximized them to their fullest potential. Anthem and Paradigm are built off of each other and speakers are an instrument. Just like if I handed the same guitar to Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton and had them play the same tune, the guitar would sound drastically different. That is also what ARC Genesis will allow you to do. If you want your speakers to sound as if they were running on tubes, ARC will let you roll off your mids and high frequencies.
Changing the speakers means you’re looking for a different tone - like if you had a Fender and now want a Taylor. Just trying to present some options...Thanks again!
donvito
400 posts
 
That Paradigm has an aluminum tweeter that many find to be bright sounding. If you want a floor stander there are some nice Spendors listed here . The A5r is a 2 1/2 way like your Paradigm. I doubt you would go wrong with them!
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