You should take the drive over to the Paradigm dealer and give the 80s and 100s a listen. They will play plenty loud; have excellent, deep, tight, bass; image quite well; and look very elegant if you opt for one of the real wood finishes.
I currently have a pair of 80s in the rosenut finish and I'm quite pleased with them - bought 'em off A'gon a couple years ago and don't intend to upgrade anytime in the near future. They are used in a mixed 2ch/5.0ch setup and I do not feel compelled to add a subwoofer, they have plenty of low register output.
Female voices and guitars are particularly pleasing, and I find the soundstage to be wide with very good, pinpoint imaging. In my room, 15'x18', they are placed on one of the long walls, approx. 15" from the wall and toed-in about 15 deg. I have placed them within 6" of the back wall with little degradation of imaging, and a small (un-needed in my case) increase in bass output. They are front ported and can sit close to the wall if needed.
I am usually seated about 12' away, centered. The "sweet spot" is 2 people wide, but you can still get decent imaging even when seated 3' to the left or right of the sweet spot.
They are reasonably efficient and play plenty loud with decent amplification - I've used an Adcom 6000, an Acurus 125X5, and currently an HK Signature 2.1 and AlphaCore biwires to drive them. Everyone leaves the house when I get to rockin'!
Look good, sound good, relatively inexpensive - what's not to like?
I currently have a pair of 80s in the rosenut finish and I'm quite pleased with them - bought 'em off A'gon a couple years ago and don't intend to upgrade anytime in the near future. They are used in a mixed 2ch/5.0ch setup and I do not feel compelled to add a subwoofer, they have plenty of low register output.
Female voices and guitars are particularly pleasing, and I find the soundstage to be wide with very good, pinpoint imaging. In my room, 15'x18', they are placed on one of the long walls, approx. 15" from the wall and toed-in about 15 deg. I have placed them within 6" of the back wall with little degradation of imaging, and a small (un-needed in my case) increase in bass output. They are front ported and can sit close to the wall if needed.
I am usually seated about 12' away, centered. The "sweet spot" is 2 people wide, but you can still get decent imaging even when seated 3' to the left or right of the sweet spot.
They are reasonably efficient and play plenty loud with decent amplification - I've used an Adcom 6000, an Acurus 125X5, and currently an HK Signature 2.1 and AlphaCore biwires to drive them. Everyone leaves the house when I get to rockin'!
Look good, sound good, relatively inexpensive - what's not to like?