Paradigm Prestige 15B Review (bookshelf speaker)

[Beave]

I can imagine them boring a large hole in the side so they can insert their borescope and inspect the internals.

That's what the port is for!

 

[Doodski]

That's what the port is for!

I watch the Border Patrol show on TV with real Canadian border agents operating and they cut up stuff and bore holes into all sorts of things to save time and sometimes it is obvious they just want to use their borescope.

 

[trivium]

Im looking at picking up these 15B's, how well do they image? I currently have the Q150's and im looking for more treble extension aswell as more 3D out of speaker sound. I've also considered the LS50's however im worried about how difficult they are to drive. The Q150's image particularly well, i wuold prefer not to sacrifice that by moving to the 15B;s. The 15b's price is particularly attractive though since im in canada its actually much better value than revel for example where i would have to pay shipping and exchange from the US.

The 200B's look nice but they seem better suited to vocals and movies based on the graph and scooped out lower treble. System is 2.1 channel only for 99% instrumental music.

 

[Taqueria]

I've owned the 15b for about a year and to my ears, they're fantastic. I compared them to the $2k KEFs and B&Ws and they had the most forceful sound, which I guess is just another way of saying they're great with rock and classical. Prior, I had much larger Usher Audio floor standers which were wonderful speakers but didn't sound great in my mid size listening room. The much pricier B&W 705s bookshelves were totally kick ass speakers but were beyond my budget.

I tried a bunch of bookshelf and smaller floor standers before picking the 15b.

What I've been reminded of is that measurements can't tell you how a speaker sounds in your room, or in any room, really. Go listen. I didn't think I was going to like the paradigm because I thought of them as people's first speaker.

 

[Davelemi]

I've owned the 15b for about a year and to my ears, they're fantastic. I compared them to the $2k KEFs and B&Ws and they had the most forceful sound, which I guess is just another way of saying they're great with rock and classical. Prior, I had much larger Usher Audio floor standers which were wonderful speakers but didn't sound great in my mid size listening room. The much pricier B&W 705s bookshelves were totally kick ass speakers but were beyond my budget.

I tried a bunch of bookshelf and smaller floor standers before picking the 15b.

What I've been reminded of is that measurements can't tell you how a speaker sounds in your room, or in any room, really. Go listen. I didn't think I was going to like the paradigm because I thought of them as people's first speaker.

I'm of the same opinion, but full disclosure, I'm running a MiniDSP SHD to clean things up a bit.

 

[amirm]

What I've been reminded of is that measurements can't tell you how a speaker sounds in your room, or in any room, really. Go listen.

I get to test that hypothesis with every speaker review. I measure and listen. Vast majority of the time measurements predict the listening test results. Of course, tones of controlled tests in research have shown the same. So I suggest not betting against it as a rule. Exception, sure.

 

[MediumRare]

I get to test that hypothesis with every speaker review. I measure and listen. Vast majority of the time measurements predict the listening test results. Of course, tones of controlled tests in research have shown the same. So I suggest not betting against it as a rule. Exception, sure.

Since there have been a handful of notable exceptions, it seems the hypothesized Independant variables are incomplete. Have you detected any commonalities (positive and negative) among the speakers with anomalous listening results that could lead to a new component in our scoring system?

 

[richard12511]

I get to test that hypothesis with every speaker review. I measure and listen. Vast majority of the time measurements predict the listening test results. Of course, tones of controlled tests in research have shown the same. So I suggest not betting against it as a rule. Exception, sure.

Also, these speakers have excellent directivity. Surprisingly, looks just about as good as comparable Revel speakers. The tonality is tilted up, but not terrible, and is easily fixed with EQ. To me these measurements show a speaker that should sound good pre-EQ, and great post-EQ. I would say that @Taqueria 's impressions aren't necessarily at odds with the measurements.

 

[tjkadar]

I have the Prestige 15B and the KEF R3s. The KEFs are in my listening room and the Paradigms were moved into the bedroom. The Paradigms look great and are good enough for background music while reading a book before going to sleep. When they were my main speakers in my listening room, a miniDSP DDRC-24 helped smooth out the speaker's 'rough' edges. I've always wanted a pair of Paradigms and now I have them. Sadly, it was after they moved from science to marketing as the main focus of their products and before Amir measured them.

Still, for the $700 I paid for them I'm satisfied.

 

[audio2design]

Right away we see that the tweeter level is not the same as the woofer and rises in energy. I am pretty confident this is the classic "showroom tweak" to make the speaker sound more detailed by Paradigm and not some mistake.

@amirm , while I don't doubt this is a showroom tweak, there is one reason why it may not be. I have a friend who has this speaker and he has always found it a bit bright as did I, at least in his room. After reading your review a few weeks back, and noticing a more even response off axis, I made a suggestion to him. Eliminate most of the toe-in and put some absorption on your side walls. He wanted to try it out, so I brought over a couple of my panels, the laptop and measurement microphone.

Sure enough, in his room, with little treatment and out of necessity close to the side walls, the in room response was "bright" and that was probably being kind. I expect younger ears may have considered them intolerable.

We reduced the toe in to about 5 degrees and temporarily rigged the panels. The in room response was much better at the listening position and the brightness appeared to be gone. The width of the usable listening position of course improved as well.

Not making excuses for Paradigm, but perhaps they made some really poor assumptions about usage? I have found similar problems in the past with high end B&W.

 

[Doodski]

@amirm , while I don't doubt this is a showroom tweak, there is one reason why it may not be. I have a friend who has this speaker and he has always found it a bit bright as did I, at least in his room. After reading your review a few weeks back, and noticing a more even response off axis, I made a suggestion to him. Eliminate most of the toe-in and put some absorption on your side walls. He wanted to try it out, so I brought over a couple of my panels, the laptop and measurement microphone.

Sure enough, in his room, with little treatment and out of necessity close to the side walls, the in room response was "bright" and that was probably being kind. I expect younger ears may have considered them intolerable.

We reduced the toe in to about 5 degrees and temporarily rigged the panels. The in room response was much better at the listening position and the brightness appeared to be gone. The width of the usable listening position of course improved as well.

Not making excuses for Paradigm, but perhaps they made some really poor assumptions about usage? I have found similar problems in the past with high end B&W.

Where you able to try the panels behind the listening position?

 

[Chromatischism]

@amirm , while I don't doubt this is a showroom tweak, there is one reason why it may not be. I have a friend who has this speaker and he has always found it a bit bright as did I, at least in his room. After reading your review a few weeks back, and noticing a more even response off axis, I made a suggestion to him. Eliminate most of the toe-in and put some absorption on your side walls. He wanted to try it out, so I brought over a couple of my panels, the laptop and measurement microphone.

Sure enough, in his room, with little treatment and out of necessity close to the side walls, the in room response was "bright" and that was probably being kind. I expect younger ears may have considered them intolerable.

We reduced the toe in to about 5 degrees and temporarily rigged the panels. The in room response was much better at the listening position and the brightness appeared to be gone. The width of the usable listening position of course improved as well.

Not making excuses for Paradigm, but perhaps they made some really poor assumptions about usage? I have found similar problems in the past with high end B&W.

Many speakers are not at their best on-axis (0°), I have noticed. The Klippel spins often show that, which tells me that the subjective listening should also try different angles.

It's still not ideal that there is such a difference between on-and-off axis, but you work with what you've got.

 

[audio2design]

Where you able to try the panels behind the listening position?

It's a long skinny room so that was not as big of a concern, and I only had 2 panels, ..... and people waiting to watch a movie.

 

[audio2design]

Many speakers are not at their best on-axis (0°), I have noticed. The Klippel spins often show that, which tells me that the subjective listening should also try different angles.

It's still not ideal that there is such a difference between on-and-off axis, but you work with what you've got.

I always play with toe-in. You want to balance on-axis response between you and the speaker with room response at your position. In my main room I have all the acoustics I need to accomplish whatever I want, but that is not true for most people. It is better to reach for the speakers and make minor adjustments to toe-in before reaching for the equalizer which can fix one issue but create a new one.

 

[infinitesymphony]

We reduced the toe in to about 5 degrees and temporarily rigged the panels. The in room response was much better at the listening position and the brightness appeared to be gone. The width of the usable listening position of course improved as well.

Not making excuses for Paradigm, but perhaps they made some really poor assumptions about usage? I have found similar problems in the past with high end B&W.

Seems like Paradigm's audience historically has been home theater focused, and many of that crowd's setups have little to no toe-in along with bright-sounding speakers.

 

[tonydeluce]

Seems like Paradigm's audience historically has been home theater focused, and many of that crowd's setups have little to no toe-in along with bright-sounding speakers.

I believe the exception in regard to bright sounding (for small to medium size rooms) may be the Paradigm Premier series which are very neutral.

 

[A Surfer]

I always play with toe-in. You want to balance on-axis response between you and the speaker with room response at your position. In my main room I have all the acoustics I need to accomplish whatever I want, but that is not true for most people. It is better to reach for the speakers and make minor adjustments to toe-in before reaching for the equalizer which can fix one issue but create a new one.

How is it that your room has such good acoustics, was it purpose built or treated after the fact? Have you ever posted pictures?

 

[Paradigm5h1f7]

The sound power DI for the Paradigm looks very good off-axis with a slight excess energy around 1.3kHz-2.4kHz. It starts to get bright at 18kHz before falling off to 20kHz. IMO, Paradigm was aiming for a spacious sounding speaker if you are sitting off-axis < 30 degrees.

This is exactly what I have found. I bought a set of Paradigm Mini Monitors in the day, and I didn't just audition in a seat, on axis. I wanted to hear the speaker around the room because these were used while entertaining, and the Paradigms did a better job of that then most others. Even still, they aren't nearly as bright and forward as the Klipsh, not by a long shot, and are a tonne more detailed with better soundstage. I remember setting the AVR running them (Yamaha 2092), to just a small tweak down (and I mean maybe I moved the treble knob ~0.25mm), and they were very nice, not hard to listen to even directly on axis.