Paradigm Reference Studio 100v3

A Canadian paper tiger

By Michael Wong

August 2004

Paradigm Reference Studio 100v3. $4999

Paradigm Studio 100v3 Like many Canadian speaker companies, Paradigm started out making speakers based on the Canadian National Research Council’s findings on listener preferences. The first Paradigm products were affordable two-way bookshelf monitor type speakers. Two decades later Paradigm has grown into a large company manufacturing not only several ranges of loudspeakers but also the Anthem range of electronics and AV equipment supports under the Premier brand.

From the second-from-top Reference range we have the large three-way floorstanding Studio 100v3, the third iteration of a long standing design. This is a hefty speaker in the modern idiom – a tall, narrow front baffle, deep cabinet, multiple driver arrangement.

Packed within the faux sycamore vinyl clad enclosure is a 25mm aluminium dome tweeter, a 178mm polymer midrange and three 178mm mineral filled polypropylene bass drivers. These are mounted within black plastic surrounds, finishing with a flared port at the base. Gratefully we are spared the shiny metallic look that afflicts other speakers. The grille is a substantial plastic lattice affair.

The cabinet is topped with a rubberised finish and sits on four outrigger type feet screwed into the base of the speaker. These feet can be fitted with either hard rubber studs or traditional metal spikes. Bi-wire capable binding posts complete the picture.

Au naturel

Initially the Studio 100s were auditioned as they came out of the box, sans grilles. Applying the knuckle test to the cabinets revealed more resonance than normal for a modern speaker. Used in my usual Well Tempered/Marantz/Krell system the Studio 100 has a very contrived “hi-fi” sound. The treble is peaky but suffocated. Midrange is thin and cold. The bass goes low but lacks articulation and impact and has a slightly plasticky flavour. It does go loud but is dynamically flat. The overall effect is a speaker that initially sounds impressive but quickly fatigues. Quite rightly, Paradigm recommends listening with grilles in place.

Put those clothes back on

With grilles firmly back in place the Studio 100 is a very different speaker. The peaky treble is brought back in line with the midrange and bass, clean and free of any annoying tizz. The midrange warms up slightly and is not quite as nasal sounding. Bass goes fairly low and covering the bass drivers up removes most of the plasticky coloration.

Spatial reproduction is pretty good. Where the recording allows, soundstages are large, with width extending beyond the speaker’s boundaries. Images are lifesized and located with the precision of a mini-monitor. Portrayal of depth is fair. Dynamically the Studios can track gross changes but fail to reproduce micro-dynamic shadings.

Missing is the detail, airiness, dimensionality and tonal colours of real music. Listening to the Paradigms, one is always aware that the sound is coming from the two wooden boxes in front of the listener, monochromatic and short on physical and emotive impact.

Turn down the lights, heat up some popcorn

Things improve immensely when you forget about music and put these speakers into a home theatre environment.

Taken out of the music room, they were placed on the end of my Sony 7700DVD/Sony TA-E9000ES pre-processor/Plinius system, replacing my usual Energy 22 References (another NRC protégé and one of still surprising performance).

With visuals in front of you to distract from the sonic shortcomings, the Studio’s become quite enjoyable. Add a good centre plus a quality subwoofer (or three) and you overcome most of the speaker’s limitations when used for music reproduction.

Not the greatest value

At $4499 there is plenty of competition for these speakers.

Last month’s Magnepan MG1.6’s are a true high end speaker, far more capable and simply extraordinary value. Local floorstanders like the Image series also offer a better cost/performance ratio. In a higher price bracket the various ProAc floorstanders start to appeal.

A disappointment

These Paradigms struck me as being clinically proficient rather than musical transducers. There’s lots of hardware here, but not much music. Classical and jazz, with their large dynamic swings and often subtle tonal shadings just doesn’t sound very good here.Vocals sound nasal. Best stick with less demanding music or use them in home theatre applications.

Though these are impressive looking speakers, they fail to live up to the “High Definition Speaker System” tag given by their manufacturer.

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