I have a set of Paradigm Studio 40 v4's and kind of have an itch to try tubes. I looked through the member systems and saw very few Paradigms with tubes. Is there a reason for this, or did I just not look hard enough?
I had Paradigm Monitor 11 V3 which I drove with a Prima Luna Prologue 2 with very good results except there was a lack of bass. When I switched to Cary 300B mono-blocks & SLP98P everything got even better including the bass. I also drove them with an ASL 2A3 integrated which was very sweet sounding although not the most dynamic or authoritative in the bass region. In other words don't be afraid to try them with different tube amps. Paradigm makes a lot better speaker than they're given credit for, I keep hearing folks say they're only for home theater.
Heard Cary 300B with ProAcs and it was a wonderful sound...I can't quite afford such a setup now but just upgraded my amp from Parasound to Sonic Frontiers Power 1 driving my old Paradigm Studio 20.
My impression is that Paradigms are great speakers (esp considering the price). If I won't find a good deal on ProaAcs here soon - I am surely upgrading to Paradigm Reference Series. What I surely hear now is that they match well with tube amp but don't sound as deep (bass is somehow weaker and not as tight) as when driven by more powerful solid state amp.
Thanks for the replies. I keep constantly changing my mind on what to do. I'll probably keep my rig as-is for a while and try to finish my basement before I do any upgrading. There's a guy here locally who sells Conrad Johnson and Rogue, I know I'll be able to audition those as well as McIntosh. As far as bass goes, I do have a sub to supplement that low end. Again, thanks for the responses.
I ran Paradigm Studio 100s v3 with a Rouge Tempest for a while and in my opinion, they worked well together. I assume the 40's are similar, but the 100's have a pretty rough impedance curve (that is, some bigger dips) that makes them less friendly to tube amps.
So long as you aim for 40 or more tube watts (or so), I think you'll be fine. Good luck.
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