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Paradigm Studio 20 v3 upgrade to Studio 60 v5?

BrianZ

Active Member
old S&V member and just found you guys. (thanks for the directions, DIYer!)

i'm moving from an apartment to a house with larger room volumes. my beloved Studio 20 v3's have met all my 2 ch needs up to now but i'm guessing they are gonna fall a little short in the larger space so i'm looking into the v5 Studio 60's. the balance of the 20 v3's suit my ear perfectly and i don't want to lose that. has anyone here compared the two? i specifically wonder what effect the smaller mid driver of the 60 (relative to the 20) has on the the balance. i know there will be more low end on the 60's, but will there be less mid presence or an overall mid scoop effect relative to what my ears are used to? and i'm assuming the high end is about the same.

fwiw i have a fully stocked v5 showroom about 15 miles from me (Evolution Audio Video, near DC) and i do at some point plan to go and give a listen to the whole line. but i'm also curious about people's real room experiences.

edit:
you know i'm actually having trouble finding a street price on these. local dealer is telling me $2500 new but online reviews seem to be saying $2000. just want to get an idea in case i happen to find a used pair somewhere. thanks.
 
BrianZ, do you have a sub ? I love my 20's v2 in my boom-boom room but it is kinda small. The gang might want to know how big that room is.
 
Welcome aboard, BrianZ! Glad you made the trip here.

Are you planning to retain the two channel configuration, or because of room size considering 5.1?

In either configuration you should seriously consider a good subwoofer.

Rope
 
Nice choice for your main speakers.
Like Rope mentioned, add a good subwoofer and you'll be even happier.

Good to see you found AA . . . :text-welcomeconfetti:
A really nice Forum . . . . You'll enjoy it like you'll enjoy those new loudspeakers.
 
I get lost and confused by all the v.'s in that line but here is what I do know...

I have a pair of Studio 20 v.2 in my family room HT (thanks again to PaulyT for selling them to me!) and think they are great. (Prior to placing them there I also had them in my main HT (completely different environment) and they sounded great there as well.)

A few years ago I helped a buddy of mine install and set-up a brand new pair of Studio 100 (v.?) in his HT. They sounded greater, although mostly in the bass region. I was not A/B-ing them so this is really subjective.

From this I concluded (perhaps incorrectly) that the whole line, at the time, went from great to greater, as one got bigger.

From this I would also conclude that today's generation (v.?) would follow along the same lines.

Regardless, I'd still be inclined to either go from 20s to 100s, and skip everything in between, or stick with the 20s and add a capable sub - as others have suggested - unless some other factor (like no place to put the sub) came into play.
 
Welcome, BrianZ! Glad you're here. There are a few folks here who have or have had v4/v5 20's, I think Bob R has a set, maybe he'll chime in if he's around. There's always the used market, too, as not everyone seems to be convinced that each successive version increment is really an improvement. I can't really say because all I've spent any real time with is the v2 (that Jeff mentioned). There were some 60's at Bats' GTGs that were quite nice, not sure which version they were... (saldog?)
 
i'm heading back to measure all the rooms during the inspection this Friday, but i the room in question is in the range of 15x13. this alone might not pose a problem, but the issue is that this living room has two other equal size rooms on either side of it (dining room and sun room) with no walls between them. so the total open space is pretty big. i expect the seating will be about 7-8 feet in front of the tv/stereo equipment.

i am sticking with 2 channel and honestly haven't minded the lack of sub, so i plan to continue this way. the extra 10Hz or whatever from the 60's i'd consider a nice bonus.

and any broad advice on the new price - is $2500 really correct?

anyway, thanks for the welcomes and all the responses so far. you guys led me to Paradigm to begin with years ago and i couldn't be happier.
 
Nice find Rope!

I was thinking.. $2,500 sounds like a whole lot of money for Studio 60's.

I had Studio 80's (v.2) a while back and absolutely loved them.
Saldogs Studio 60's are a really nice ballanced speaker. You are going to be happy with the upgrade for sure!

I would bring my 20's to the audition to compare!!!!
 
Hi Brianz...........

I have had Studio 60 V.1 since 1999. They have traveled with us to various homes in the US. Up until 2008 we were 2.0 then added a subwoofer and became....2.1. In 2010 we became 5.1 by the addition of a pair of Studio 20's V.1 for surround. I fell in love with them so much that I purchased another pair of 20's V.2 for an office system.

Some will beg to differ here, however a great Amp will really help the performance of both 20's and 60's.

I think that Saldog brought his 60's V.3 to the GTG in July and they sounded great.

In my opinion, if budget is a concern, try the 20's that you have in your new place and if not satisfied, I would not hesitate to try to find a used pair of 60's. After adding a great sub.......Power Sound Audio is a new company that people are fond of here, doe to an owner being a past owner of SVS.

Razz, I believe liked the 80's much more than the 100's. My 60's are Kick-Ass!

Best of luck!

Keith
 
Rope said:

ooooh, i wish you hadn't posted that. i was already aware of it and was trying to keep it a secret ;). looks like someone else snatched 'em up. no matter - i wouldn't have been able to move on them until next month sometime and i'm sure they wouldn't have lasted that long anyway.
 
BrianZ said:
Rope said:

ooooh, i wish you hadn't posted that. i was already aware of it and was trying to keep it a secret ;). looks like someone else snatched 'em up. no matter - i wouldn't have been able to move on them until next month sometime and i'm sure they wouldn't have lasted that long anyway.

The listing expired, you'll probably see them listed again.

Rope
 
Rope said:
The listing expired, you'll probably see them listed again.

Rope

nah, it was a brand new listing. they're gone. but like i said, i didn't really stand a chance since i can't get them right now anyway. plus i want to go give the v5 line a listen first. so we'll see what next month brings.
 
ok so we moved in into the new place. i have the 20's in place and i gotta say they are doing better than i thought they would in this larger space. a bit echo-y since there's not much on the floors or walls yet and they are sitting on a set of wooden stools - so not ideal conditions to say the least. but now i'm starting to wonder if all i need it a sub to fill things out. it would certainly be cheaper than a set of v5 60's. looks like i need to make a trip to the local Paradigm dealer to compare the 20's & 60's.

any of you 20's users just add a sub for your 2 channel rig? ever compared this to a set of full range towers?
 
Best of Luck in your new place.

I would invest in good sub at this point. Power Sound Audio is a new company that a few here have already tried and liked.

Depending on your budget, stick with the 20's and a good sub.........also, many here will support you looking at acoustical treatments for your room.
 
heeman said:
Best of Luck in your new place.

I would invest in good sub at this point. Power Sound Audio is a new company that a few here have already tried and liked.

Depending on your budget, stick with the 20's and a good sub.........also, many here will support you looking at acoustical treatments for your room.

Great - thanks! That's the direction I'm leaning. I know asking about subs is a whole can o worms so thanks also for the sub recommendation as I know nothing about them yet. Any thoughts on the different Power Sound models? All of them are doable for me budget-wise but of course I'd like to spend as little as I can get away with (and it'd be nice to keep the physical size to a minimum too). The room is 13x19 with a 9.5ft ceiling, and it is open to slightly smaller rooms on either side. Seating is about 8 feet in front of the media equipment.
 
I am not an expert when it comes to sub's however I would think that the XS-15 OR XV-15, would perform extremely well.

There are others here that can offer more detailed advice. You can contact Power Sound Audio Directly. Tom V (owner) is on this forum, you may want to ask for him directly?

:music-rockout: :music-rockout:
 
I agree with the advice to keep the Studio 20 monitors and get a good subwoofer. In my experience, the Studio 20 sounds better than the Studio 60 in the critical midrange. Also, there is a huge advantage to placing the stereo speakers in the best location for stereo listening (away from any walls) while placing the subwoofer in the best place for bass in the room (most often in a corner, but at least near walls). When properly calibrated and tuned, a 2.1 system almost always sounds better than even the best 2.0 system - except in acoustically perfect rooms.
 
Cool. Yeah I'd hate to compromise on sound of the 20's, which I find to be a near perfect voicing. I'll look into the Power Sound subs. Thanks, guys!
 
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