Music Director's stuff

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MusicDirector

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Current Vintage system: Sansui 8080db, Pioneer PL-510 TT w/ AT95E, NEC CD-620, JVC TDV-531 Tape deck, DCM TF-600 speakers
Main system: Onkyo TX-SR705, Denon DP-47f TT, Magnavox H2160MW9 DVR, Yamaha S-1800 DVD player, Marantz CD5004, Nakamichi RX202 tape deck, Samsung L530 47-inch TV, Panamax 5300EX, Paradigm Studio 100s v5, Polk CS-1 Center, Cheapo KLH delays, HSU VTF-2 sub (not in service)
Misc gear: Logitech Squeezebox Touch (love that thing), TCC TC750LC Phono preamp/stage, Tascam CDRW900SL, VPI 16.5
In closet: Pioneer PL-530 TT, Yamaha CR2020, Marantz 2238b, Marantz 2250, Pioneer DVR (don't remember model), Denon DVD (don't remember model), Polk Monitor 7s,
PC: KRK Rokit RP6 NF monitors hooked up to tower PC.

I don't know if any of this stuff is High-End. What I do know is that I will never again get speakers like the Paradigms. Not because they are bad (very much quite the opposite), but because of what it took to get them over a period of 2 years. It was very unhealthy on all fronts.

~Eric
 
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I'm familiar with Canadian Paradigm speakers; including the Studio Reference 100 v1, v2, v3, v4, v5.
I'm also familiar with Onkyo A/V receivers; including the TX-SR705 (with Audyssey MultEQ XT).

Those Studio 100s require a lot of power (current) to truly sing properly.
The Onkyo TX-SR705 is not up to it for them; much better to go with separates, like the Emotiva XPA-2 for example (extremely good value at $699 when I bought mine on sale a long time ago). * It is $719 right now.

I'm also familiar with DCM Time Frame speakers.
HSU, Polk, Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, ...
Your stuff Eric, I would say, is High Fidelity sound quality. ...Just a notch below Hi-End, and two notches below Ultra High-End.

The Paradigm Studio Reference 100 are actually quite good (Class B - Full Range | Stereophile), and comparable with other speakers in the $5,000 range.
Your sub is a good one. ...Your new Marantz CD player is also a good one (thx to Joe). ...Class C | Stereophile.

Your Onkyo 705 is also a good receiver; it was the most inexpensive one back in 2007-08 with the great Audyssey MultEQ XT. ...And it has other great stuff inside it (parts).
And its real power was quite amazing too. ...But not up to your Studio 100s. ...A good match here is the key.
*** If you save your money and eventually get the Emotiva XPA-2 (2-channel power amp), when on sale, I guarantee you that you're going to love your Studio 100s. Just connect the XPA-2 to the front Left & Right preouts of your Onkyo 705.
 
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Bob, great stuff, "it's not about the dog in the fight, it's about the fight in the dog"

Eric, this isn't about how big your's is, it's about how big the movement is, everything is comparable! Don't roll over, just listen! Even with our mortgages on our systems, we think we have the awesome better than thy neighbour....... sometimes yesterday comes back to bite us in the arse,.... why,... just scratch the odd vinyl thread..:D ;)
p.s. if that doesn't work then have a gander at my avatar.........:D
 
Very nice collection of gear Eric. It should keep you busy and out of trouble.
 
Nice collection of gear you got there, Eric! I still have and love my Polks and Paradigm speakers!:audiophile:
 
NorthStar said:
I'm familiar with Canadian Paradigm speakers; including the Studio Reference 100 v1, v2, v3, v4, v5.
I'm also familiar with Onkyo A/V receivers; including the TX-SR705 (with Audyssey MultEQ XT).

Those Studio 100s required a lot of power (current) to truly sing properly.
The Onkyo TX-SR705 is not up to it for them; much better to go with separates, like the Emotiva XPA-2 for example (extremely good value at $699 when I bought mine on sale a long time ago). * It is $719 right now.

I'm also familiar with DCM Time Frame speakers.
HSU, Polk, Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, ...
Your stuff Eric, I would say, is High Fidelity sound quality. ...Just a notch below Hi-End, and two notches below Ultra High-End.

The Paradigm Studio Reference 100 are actually quite good (Class B - Full Range | Stereophile), and comparable with other speakers in the $5,000 range.
Your sub is a good one. ...Your new Marantz CD player is also a good one (thx to Joe). ...Class C | Stereophile.

Your Onkyo 705 is also a good receiver; it was the most inexpensive one back in 2007-08 with the great Audyssey MultEQ XT. ...And it has other great stuff inside it (parts).
And its real power was quite amazing too. ...But not up to your Studio 100s. ...A good match here is the key.
*** If you save your money and eventually get the Emotiva XPA-2 (2-channel power amp), when on sale, I guarantee you that you're going to love your Studio 100s. Just connect the XPA-2 to the front Left & Right preouts of your Onkyo 705.
Click to expand...

Yes, I knew I was underpowered when I bought the Paradigms. Funny thing is they still sound spectacular now, but yes, they would really open up and operate at peak efficiency if I gave them more juice. They do tell me they are hungry from time to time.:D
Yes, I have been thinking about adding an amp down the road. In fact, the one I have in mind is the Emotiva. Probelm is though that I may not have the room for it. I'll look into that later. Question: If I added a 2-channel amp would that render the sound modes (surround etc) nonfunctional on the Onkyo?

About the Paradigms: I'd go a little further on your description. I'd say that they could be considered high-end at least according to what some have said, they would be the only high-end thing I have and yes, to this day I'm still nervous around them. Also, I experienced a shock recently. Now of course speakers are almost purely subjective in my opinion, but when I was at The SHOW, I heard speakers from $2k to about $30K and I was surprised that they did not sound as efficient and revealing as my Paradigms. To my ears my Paradigms handily outperformed all the speakers except one. There was one set of speakers where I felt they were closer to par then able to outperform and those were the $30K ones.

Yes, the sub is very musical and what I like about it is that you can finite adjust it and are able to switch it from Music to HT with a flip of a switch and port plug.

~Eric
 
bzr said:
Bob, great stuff, "it's not about the dog in the fight, it's about the fight in the dog"

Eric, this isn't about how big your's is, it's about how big the movement is, everything is comparable! Don't roll over, just listen! Even with our mortgages on our systems, we think we have the awesome better than thy neighbour....... sometimes yesterday comes back to bite us in the arse,.... why,... just scratch the odd vinyl thread..:D ;)
p.s. if that doesn't work then have a gander at my avatar.........:D
Click to expand...

Oh, I agree indeed!:) If it where about keeping up with or outdoing the Jones, I'd be so far behind that I'd be invisible. What's worse is that the diminishing returns would be overwhelming and for me diminishing returns are one of my biggest fears.
What you say is very true about this welcoming, encouraging and supportive place!

~Eric
 
joeinid said:
Very nice collection of gear Eric. It should keep you busy and out of trouble.
Click to expand...

:lol: Busy, yes. Keeping out of trouble? All those in this hobby please raise your hands if your staying out of trouble......cricket, cricket, cricket...that's what I thought.:lol: It's good trouble though because it's contained mostly in our minds.
 
Eric, I'm glad that you appreciate your Paradigm Reference Studio 100s v5, because they can use all the love you give them. :heart:

If you add an external amp to your Onkyo receiver, you lose nothing! ...All your surround modes, Audyssey, and all that jazz remain, everything is still operational! :) ...You simply boost power to your two front flankers, and they are going to love you big time and long time for it (your Studio 100s). :exciting:
Adding an amp like the Emotiva XPA-2 would be in my opinion one of the greatest upgrades you can make to your overall sound quality and to your personal/musical pleasure and comfort zone.

Be good, aim right, aim straight, add power to your life. :perfect:
 
I once had the Paradigm Studio 80 speakers, they punch way above their weight & improved greatly when I bi-amped them.



 
NorthStar said:
Eric, I'm glad that you appreciate your Paradigm Reference Studio 100s v5, because they can use all the love you give them. :heart:

If you add an external amp to your Onkyo receiver, you lose nothing! ...All your surround modes, Audyssey, and all that jazz remain, everything is still operational! :) ...You simply boost power to your two front flankers, and they are going to love you big time and long time for it (your Studio 100s). :exciting:
Adding an amp like the Emotiva XPA-2 would be in my opinion one of the greatest upgrades you can make to your overall sound quality and to your personal/musical pleasure and comfort zone.

Be good, aim right, aim straight, add power to your life. :perfect:
Click to expand...

There are a number of speakers out there that can crush my Paradigms as well, but I do like them a lot, even the down sides which are: Power requirement and the fact that they are all too revealing on everything! I have tossed a number of CDs even back when I was playing them on my Onkyo CD player because the Paradigms revealed how poorly produced they were. I was running 26 year old Kenwood 3-ways which I purchased new on a blow out sale for $85/pr. Listening through those I had no clue what most of my music sounded like beyond what I strained to hear, but I did for 26 years. How in the world I got to be a soundman and then a Music Director and such for a time is beyond me. The one amazing thing about those Kenwoods is that they never fell apart and never quit, I sold them in the same shape I bought them in! The Paradigms also show me what shape my electronics are in and the quality of my sources. They are not shy about telling me about any of that stuff either. Oh, cool! Yes, the amp is on my list of what to save up for AFTER I get the Denon TT going and do whatever room treatments I can. (Badly needed). I do want to show the Paradigms more love by getting them some food, but I also have to see if I have the space for an amp. Checking the dims and weight will be easy, but I also have to check on the heat and that will be the hard part. Often I've run into the manufacture grossly understating the heat. My Onkyo AVR is a good example of that. I had to make a cooling exhaust fan system for it because in spite of good airflow around it, you could cook on it if you needed to. However, all that is down the road a ways for me. I figure by current calculations I may be able to get into an amp in about 6 months. UPDATE: Make that less than 6 months! I just realized a maneuver to get an amp sooner! If the Emotiva amp is a fit, all I have to do is wait for a sale. They are having one right now, but it's not good on the amps. Good deal on that DAC though! Wish I could play with that thing, but I don't think I even need an outboard DAC at this point. Perhaps I'll talk to the good folks at Emotiva and ask when their best sale on amps will be. You know, they were one of the most popular rooms at The SHOW.:)
 
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bzr said:
I once had the Paradigm Studio 80 speakers, they punch way above their weight & improved greatly when I bi-amped them.
Click to expand...

Indeed! My Studio 100s reach so low that sometimes I think a shovel comes out of the bottom and starts digging!:wacko:
 
MusicDirector said:
Current Vintage system: Sansui 8080db, Pioneer PL-510 TT w/ AT95E, NEC CD-620, JVC TDV-531 Tape deck, DCM TF-600 speakers
Main system: Onkyo TX-SR705, Denon DP-47f TT, Magnavox H2160MW9 DVR, Yamaha S-1800 DVD player, Marantz CD5004, Nakamichi RX202 tape deck, Samsung L530 47-inch TV, Panamax 5300EX, Paradigm Studio 100s v5, Polk CS-1 Center, Cheapo KLH delays, HSU VTF-2 sub (not in service)
Misc gear: Logitech Squeezebox Touch (love that thing), TCC TC750LC Phono preamp/stage, Tascam CDRW900SL, VPI 16.5
In closet: Pioneer PL-530 TT, Yamaha CR2020, Marantz 2238b, Marantz 2250, Pioneer DVR (don't remember model), Denon DVD (don't remember model), Polk Monitor 7s,
PC: KRK Rokit RP6 NF monitors hooked up to tower PC.

I don't know if any of this stuff is High-End. What I do know is that I will never again get speakers like the Paradigms. Not because they are bad (very much quite the opposite), but because of what it took to get them over a period of 2 years. It was very unhealthy on all fronts.

~Eric
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The last receiver that i owned in 1978 , then i went for high end gear that's when my wallet got thinner and thinner.:)

Marantz 2385 receiver.jpeg
 
MrAcoustat said:
The last receiver that i owned in 1978 , then i went for high end gear that's when my wallet got thinner and thinner.:)

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Wow! Beautiful!! Those are somewhat rare now. I hope you kept it. I tend to like vintage gear more than high end gear (and modern gear in some respects). To me, my Sansui 8080db sounds better than any of my other receivers, including my Onkyo 705. My personal hierarchy of my gear goes something like (in descending order): Speakers: Paradigm Studio 100s, DCM TF-600, Polk Monitor 7s. Receivers: Sansui 8080db, Marantz 2250, Onkyo 705, Marantz 2238b, Yamaha CR2020
 
Eric... Nice collection of gear!!! I don't know if I could keep those Marantz's in the closet. They are just so sharp looking!!!
 
MrAcoustat said:
The last receiver that i owned in 1978 , then i went for high end gear that's when my wallet got thinner and thinner.:)

View attachment 1865
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Wow, she was a real beauty Andre!

_____________

@ Eric; I had Onkyo receivers in the past (805, 876, 906), and they were all running warmer than my Emotiva XPA-2.
* $719 right now is a very good price. ...Or go to the next Emofest. :) ...September 1st (end of August) I believe.
 
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jwhite613 said:
Eric... Nice collection of gear!!! I don't know if I could keep those Marantz's in the closet. They are just so sharp looking!!!
Click to expand...

Thank you. Well, I have no place else to keep them when not in use. Very true, the old Marantz units are very pretty, but that can also be said about the Sansui and many others. I love the look of vintage gear and the performance of some of it too. For instance, when that Sansui paired with those DCMs gets to singing, she can melt the chrome off a bumper. Makes me weak in the knees, I can tell ya. That said though, I am fixing to swap out my beloved Sansui 8080db for my Marantz 2250 or maybe the 2238b, perhaps this weekend because I'm done digitizing my vinyl records for the moment and I will be taking the Sansui in for a complete overhaul/recap eventually. (What a project that was). I will also need to test my DCM TF-600s and my Polks with the Marantz to see which sounds best with it.....again! (This time I'm writing it down). ~Eric
 
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