Paradigm Signature S8 V2 review

Recently moved into a house with my own sound room 16x12x8. I am aware of the integer factor of its size. Plush carpet. Other than the couch and stereo, nothing else is in the room.

Physically, the S8's are awesome. I got the cherry finish (standard) and despite this it looks phenomenal. I would of prefered Rosewood but no luck. I found the black gloss TOO glossy and not to my liking. Easily streaked with fingers. Despite being tall they are not TOO tall. Make sure you use a chair that is high enough. They are fairly deep (21 inches) but from the front you would never know it. Only from the side do you get any idea. Just using the supplied feet they are stable and do not resonate or vibrate under louder music. Very impressive. With the grille on they are somewhat boring, but with the grille off they are stunning. I am trying both styles, grille on or off and cannot decide what sounds better. They are designed to be played with the grille on I know, but I cannot see (or hear) much difference myself. Just me and I prefer seeing the driver array. Frankly, I think it is a total shame to make such a good looking driver array only to hide it. I hope Paradigm, in the future, makes them such that the grille is optional.

Sonically, I am blown away. For almost 20 years I have used supertweeters (Realistic stand alone models) to add some sparkle on the high end. I have grown accustomed to this style of sound. I no longer need them. The Beryllium tweeter is simply a revelation. Highs are extended, sharp, refined, detailed without being grating on the ears. Inner detail is amazing. Cymbals, high hat and other sharp sounds are exactly that, but sweet as well. I am happy I am not using the supertweeters anymore but find I get the sound I like.

Midrange is equally impressive. Voices are detailed, natural and sweet. I am not going to comment the sound it either forward or recindent, as a simple tweak of an EQ could change this. But the mids seem equal to the highs. Neither seems detached or separate from each other. Just sound in harmony.

Low end is simply amazing. You might read reviews that question the need for a sub and I fully agree. I suppose you could argue that you HOPE you do not need a sub given the fact each speaker has 4 7" cones for bass alone, and despite this the bass is not heavy or slow. Impact is forceful but sharp and fast. Bass is extended (I can easily get low 30's in my room, and it only begins to fade out in the high 20's) so the spec of them only going to 42Hz is completely false. I suspect some movie buffs out there would use a sub anyway, and for films I would probably agree for the impact, but for strict music I would NOT need one. I have a sub. It is a custom made 1" MDF box with 2 10" Alpine R10 car subs in it, each in its own sealed subenclosure. Each sub gets 250 high current watts from a separate power amp (Parasound HCA 2200II) and is driven with an outboard crossover (Mirage LFX 2). So it is safe to say I can get low end. But I do not use it. I have the sub hooked up (running the mains full range) but do not feel the sub adds anything. The S8's give me everything I need.

Now.

I must stress this point. I am running the S8's with a Bryston 14B SST (less than 6 months old). The amp itself is sweet, extended and robust in the low end. All this helps get the best possible sound from the S8's. I cannot stress enough that the best results come from using robust amps with excellent current delivery. Hoping to maximize the S8 with an All-In-One receiver is a dream. I do not feel the wattage is as important as the current ability but it helps. I do not use more than 10 watts on average, and up to 25 watts the amp is class A, so read into that what you want. But the fact is: better amps yield better sound. I am sure the same could be said with Classe, McIntosh, Krell et al, but get a GOOD amp if you want to REALLY hear them sing. Of course, better preamps and source components help too, but the amp is critical to getting the cones to move with force yet control.

I am using UltraLink SW 1412 speaker wire run bare into the S8. I am NOT getting into the cable debate. These are just fine; you may not think so but that is up to you. The results I get are fantastic as is. Interconnects are Pythons.

Overall I am completely floored how good they sound and look. The pride of ownership feeling, so critical to true enjoyment, is present in every facet. I am glad I got the Beryllium version. I heard the G Pal version and MUCH prefer the Be version. I find it makes a big difference to the sound and image. Ditto for the new midrange (CoPal). The improvements made to the V2 over the previous version are all for the better. I admit the speaker/amp combo is not cheap, and I realize not everyone can afford this combo, but if you index the cost verses the lifespan of the speakers and amp (the speakers should easily last 20 years as my previous Paradigms were still kicking at 16 years old and the Bryston has a 20 year warranty) it actually is not bad in the long run. I specifically got the best I could afford knowing it was a long term purchase. And the fact both are what I wanted and love is even better. I originally did not consider the S8's but I am glad I did. I think it was better to get full range floorstanders than try to get S4's or S6's and try to integrate a sub (nothing against the S4 or S6 but using a sub with the amp I have is a total waste of the amp as I have found out). But cost aside, you definitely get your money's worth and considering the lifespan of the speakers, they are a steal, really. What's more, I got mine on sale (I made my deposit on the last day of the sale I did not even know about) and saved about $1500. Talk about fate. I was totally prepared for the retail price (talked down a bit) but to get them brand new, no blemishes or problems was even better. The B+W 803D's I was considering were more expensive, by a large margin, and the store would not dicker on the price. Enough said.

The only thing I am going to do is look into a 1/3 octave or parametric EQ to tame the room imposed EQ curve and to ensure the wall outlets are wired for 20 amp service to ensure no voltage drop. I am looking into a GOOD conditioner and maybe this will help, but we will see. As it stands, I am in heaven and have waited a long time for it.