Paradigm 100 v.3 – B&W 804 dilemma… please help

Good choice Dboy. For what you listen to I'm sure you'll like the B&W's a lot more than the Paradigms. They are to my ears, a lot more accurate, especially in the mid-bass whereas the 100's tended so smear. I auditioned using a Dave Weckl track with a walking bass and the difference was astonishing.

As for your timbre matching question, the panning from front to rear isn't nearly as noticeable on most movies as it is from left to right. That said, if you want to be absolutely sure, get some CDM 1NT's as they use the same Nautilus tweeter as the N804's. I'm running a 7NT/CNT/1NT set-up and absolutely love the sound.

Have fun and buy what moves you!

I'd go with the Green Mountain Eauropa's. Listened to them last summer in Mpls vs the studio 100 Paradigm. No comparison. Europa's were better in everyway that is musical. Less money too. Under $900.00/pair retail. Do a search here for Europa and see what others are saying about these amazing speakers
Good listening, Dale

My goodness, there's a new "Mr Angry" on audiogon ! Could we have an expletive filter please, moderators ?

jgaudon:
Or should I call you Mr. recording/producing artist? You may very well know how musical equipment "sounds from the get go", but your point was smothered by your unintelligible rant, poor grammar, and very poor choice of some words. If you wish to weigh in on a subject, please do so without insulting people and name calling.

That behavior might work at AA, but please don't bring it to these forums.

More information on the new Paradigm 100v.3's...... I just purchased the new Studio 100s v.3 a week ago and per the dealer, it was the first pair sold here in the DFW area. I have previously owned the Studio 60 v.1, and Studio 100 v.2., and there was not too much of a difference between the v.1 series and v.2 series sonically, but there is now a huge improvement with the new v.3s. The new v.3 100s are phenominal, the cabinet is totally redesigned and all the drivers have changed, most notably the mid-range. The 100 v.3s are physically a little smaller than the 100 v.2's and are much narrower (the look a lot like the Monitor 11s). As far as the sound, they image much better, so good in fact they completely disappear - the boxes are simply non-locatable. I was always somewhat aware of the 100 v.2's location, but not now. The new S-PAL tweeter sounds just as good, if not better, than the Nautilus tweeter. The midrange is where the v.3 is most improved, it is almost electrostatic in speed. The v.2s were a little laid back in the mid-range, but the new Studios have world-class mid-range, I wouldn't say there's more mid-range, but the quality is exponentially better & faster - more detailed and defined - vocals and drum rimshots are startling. The quality of bass seems to be slightly better as the new 100's have three 7" woofers per cabinet vs. the older two 8". Bottom line, the new Paradigms have slightly better bass (which was already outstanding), *much* better (again near electrostatic quality) mids and the top end has more air and is slightly sweeter, but not harsh. It does seem that they do now take slightly more power (or just can handle more power) than the v.2 as my Rotel 100W X 5 AMP now runs out of steam as it never did previously. To conclude, IMO, the new v.3's have the combined the sonic attributes of both the Natilus and 100 V.2 stengths. Previously rated as a class-B speaker, I think that it could now be near class-A rating. Good luck all.