I'm considering the Studio 100s for the main front speakers of a home theater/living room and have read several posts here where people say Paradigms, particularly the 100s require a lot of power to sound their best. Can any explain this a bit more? And what constitutes a lot of power. As I understand it, in most situations, speakers are only demanding a few watts of power unless you really like to crank up your sound. I would say that I prefer moderate sound levels. The receivers I'm looking at are in the 100-110 watts per channel range (of course this drops when all channels are driven).
The room size is 16x14x8 with hardwood flooring (I plan on using a large area rug, possibly a couple to help with the acoustics). Would anyone say the speakers might be too much for the room? I've seen other posts where folks say large speakers can overpower a room. I'm doubting this as the dealers auditioning rooms have been no larger than this and I think the speakers sound great. For what it's worth, having listened to a number of bookshelf/satellite and tower speakers and I definitely prefer towers.
I do think the 100's are a bit much for the size of your room. My room is 14x14 with a 10 foot ceiling and oak floors and I think a good bookshelf speaker on stands works better than a floorstander. For your room and in the Paradigm line I would choose the Studio 40 for mains and the Studio 20 for surrounds and the cc470 for the center. I would probably go with a Yamaha 2500 for a receiver. It has enough power and goes very well with the Paradigm's. In fact I have pondered several times what I would buy if I didn't have my current Elite/MA system and for what's available in my area, the room, and budget the above system would be it. If you decide on the 100's I would recommend you check out the Rotel receivers. Great sounding, tons of power and a perfecr match with Paradigm.
RMS
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Thanks, I'll give the studio 40s a listen to see how they sound compared to the 100s. I've been considering Rotel, but I'll have to drive a little distance to check them out since I can't stand the nearest rotel dealer.