Paradigm Studio 60 V5 Fingernails on Chalkboard

I've been where you are. I am particularly sensitive to high frequencies, and if you are like me, then you'll need a wholesale replacement of your system. But you may not be like me ...

I had a pair of the Paradigm Studio 20 speakers and the metal dome tweeter drove me crazy. I'm sure room acoustics played a role, and while my room is very much treated today, it wasn't back then. I would not keep the Paradigm speakers, but that's just me.

Amplifier choice may in fact drive fatigue, as does choice of source component (DAC, CD player, etc). My experience with AVRs is generally not good, to my ears, many of them sound brittle and harsh. I do not think the Denon AVR is not doing you any favors here.

There are many choices of course, many things you can try. You said you were interested in low cost components, so in your shoes, I'd consider giving the PeachTree Audio Decco 2 a try. There are a number of resellers with different return policies so you can try it at home and see how it works with your room and your speakers, and would let you see if the Paradigms are in fact the issue here.

There's no free lunch in this world, and my experience so far tells me that it's possible to get "detailed", "transparent" and "smooth and relaxed" all at the same time, but you pay more dearly for that.

Wilsnet,

I now kind of get your comment that 'it's possible to get "detailed", "transparent" and "smooth and relaxed" all at the same time, but you pay more dearly for that.'

So this new hobby just might flatten my wallet pretty good - I'm so glad I started with inexpensive speakers! :)

Cheers,

Bob

I have the Studio 40v4. I listened to them at a dealer and loved them. I got them home, ran them for a while with my Carver TFM 25 and it was painful. Went back to the dealer and saw they were driving them with Marantz and B&K. Ended up getting a B&K 200.2 amp and have been happy ever since.

The title of this thread is eye-catching.

Does your Denon AVR amp have tone controls? If it does, you can tilt the treble down and increase the bass to compensate for excessive brightness. I know, not an ideal way to fix things but if it sounds good why not.

Thanks Ryder - I'll check out better amplification as an option. As it may not be affordable for me, I'll also explore a bit more trying to sell these so I can find a combo affordable to me.

Meanwhile, I understand now that the room, the amplifier, and the wiring can all play critically into how a speaker sounds. I had read that the speaker is pretty much 90% of the sound and considered anything beyond that as prissiness, but am seeing with my own ears that things are a lot more complicated than that!

I came to the right forum and appreciate everyone's advice!