Went to a paradigm studio and auditioned paradigm studio 60 paired with parasound seperates (240wx2 channels). While the sound is crisp and clean, it is a little bit toward the cold side which I do not like very much. I told the dealer (He does not have NAD) I will pair the 60s with the NAD T753 and he asked how much power the HAD has. When I told him it is 80w he said that is not enough to drive the 60s. He said 120w is the minimum. Is that True? What is your opinion?
Benjamin: I don't know why he would say that. I have the Paradigm Reference Eclipse/BPs which are rated the same sensitivity as the Studio 60s and 100s. The Studio 60/100 specifications show suitable power requirements of 15-150W. My Eclipse/BPs show suitable power requirements of 15-300W.
If I were to go by the math which your dealer is using... I'd need 180W minimum to run my Paradigms... guess what... I don't. I have a 70W x 7 Harman Kardon AVR-525. I'm probably not using 35W of that for 90dB of audio.
Interesting you found the Parasound amp to be cold. I had heard my Eclipses with Parasound and thought it was to die for. I'll have to listen again after now having them hooked up to an H/K.
I think your dealer may have been just trying NOT to lose the sale and misinformed you on the power requirements. He could also be adding a fudge factor for those receiver (amp) manufacturers who are not fully truthful about their power ratings.
What's the size of your listening area? How far will you be seated back? (Just a couple of questions... just in case you have this massive chamber that you're trying to fill with sound... then you may need more power. )
Geekboy, Thanks! The dealer's main point is that you need more power to hear all the nuisances at the lower volume setting. I cannot audition NAD paired with Paradigm. But I had chance to listen to NAD+PSB 5T. The sound to me is warmer compared with Parasound+Paradigm 60s. Well, that could be also caused by the surrounding acoustics and the fact that paradigm 60s only have about 50 hours of music playing time. In addition, when I auditioned NAD+PSB, the dealer set the NAD to EAR, which may also play a role. I am a little bit befuddled that popular music (Sarah Mclanchlan's Mirrorball and alanis morissette's music) does not sound as good as classical music (e.g. From the New World by Dvorak) in the NAD+PSB pair (noisy and unclean/clear, less sweet and musical). But I just feel the opposite in Parasound+Paradigm. Anyone has the similar felling? I am going to audition more this weekend. The room I am having is a midsize (8x16x9). But I am planning to move in to a new house within a couple of months
Benjamin: I have no idea what your dealer was trying to say by telling you "that you need more power to hear all the nuisances at the lower volume setting". He may have been referring to High Current capability which is different from watts per channel. The NAD has no problem in this area... that is to be able to deliver power (at rated power and higher) in quick bursts to gracefully handle any dynamics in the audio -- some amps can't handle that, they'll clip which will compress the audio signal and mask the detail which is there, but it can't deliver! If he meant that I'll only half way let him off the hook. He should have been more clear.
Sorry to hear that you're having troubles auditioning the right combination in the same room at the same time. I hope your weekend goes better.
(Your room isn't overly large so I'm not worried about the SPL and power needed to fill it to 100dB even.)
Anonymous
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I have an NAD T753 and Paradigm Studio 60s v2. I picked up the speakers a couple of months back and the amp last week. The sound is wonderful. I have not had any problem with insufficient power. I am hearing detail that I have not heard in my prior setup. That said, depending on how loud you want to hear things, you might find something different. NAD is conservative in their ratings. I find the combination clean and warm; my listening time has gone up quite a bit.
Your dealer is judging NAD's power by the standard of typical Japanese mass market receiver power (anyone who listens to a typical low to mid-range Onkyo or Denon knows what I mean). Not a correct standard. Judge the NAD by its dynamic headroom rating of 150 wpc instead of its continuous power rating. Believe me, I have heard this speaker driven by an NAD 753 and it has plenty of power. My local Paradigm dealer sells a lot of NADs to go with Paradigm Studios--funny how the opinions change when the dealer carries the product. Bottom line is that the dealer does not sell NAD and he wants to sell you an amp to go with your speakers. That's all.
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