Lesson learned, bigger is not always better

[nsafreak]

Well as you folks may or may not know I've been auditioning for a new set of front speakers for the past couple of weeks. I've heard a pretty large variety of speakers thanks to the fact that there's a pretty good amount of specialty audio stores in my area. I finally settled on & purchased a new set of front speakers today and they were some of the smallest I had looked at and for the price they are outstanding. I ended up purchasing a pair of Paradigm Atom Monitor v.5 speakers.

These speakers are simply astounding in the soundstage that they are able to produce for their small size not to mention the range that they have. These speakers have such a range between low and high frequencies that you could actually get away without using a subwoofer in most enviroments and still hear plenty of bass. I will be using a Paradigm PDR-10 subwoofer with my set however. And what is almost as amazing is the amount that I paid for these speakers, $300 for the pair. And frankly I haven't seen any speakers in that price range that come close to the sound quality of these speakers. For that matter I've heard speakers that ran $100-$200 more and still didn't sound as good.

If you are looking for a small set of speakers, or heck just are on a limited budget then I would definitely recommend giving these a listen. The guy at the audio shop I bought them from commented that when they were initially released they had problems keeping them in stock as often as they would sell out. And frankly after giving them a thorough listen I can understand why.

By now I'm pretty sure you're wondering why I don't have a black guy avatar, , Well I just wanted to gush about these speakers a little bit before I asked my question. And my question simply is what is the best way to break a pair of new front speakers in? And how long would you folks recommend that I break these speakers in?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I would have suggested a road trip to Longmont to check out these guys
http://av123.com/index.php

Paradigm has some serious bang for the buck options
Did you try anything else my Paradigm?

 

[nsafreak]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I would have suggested a road trip to Longmont to check out these guys
http://av123.com/index.php

Paradigm has some serious bang for the buck options
Did you try anything else my Paradigm?

I did try some of the larger Studios (the 20s & 40s) and while I liked them a lot they were out of my price range unfortunately. I've heard of the av123s speakers a good bit and perhaps I should have done a roadtrip. When the time comes for me to get a new center speaker I'll definitely go take a look at their selection.

So, have any break in recommendations?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: nsafreak

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
I would have suggested a road trip to Longmont to check out these guys
http://av123.com/index.php

Paradigm has some serious bang for the buck options
Did you try anything else my Paradigm?

I did try some of the larger Studios (the 20s & 40s) and while I liked them a lot they were out of my price range unfortunately. I've heard of the av123s speakers a good bit and perhaps I should have done a roadtrip. When the time comes for me to get a new center speaker I'll definitely go take a look at their selection.

So, have any break in recommendations?

I'm half way through installing the crossover on my AV123 center

I don't have any specific break in recommendations... I don't have a routine or anything I do when I get new speakers. Have you played around with their placement at all, or are you really limited for where they can go?

 

[nsafreak]

I'm really very limited on my placement. But I listened to them in a room that's pretty darn close to the size of the room I'm putting them in. Plus the distance between them in the room & where I'm going to have them is pretty close so I should be good for placement.

 

[Rio Rebel]

I love Paradigm. I have a full set of Paradigm Monitor series (before they merged the two lines).
I strongly suggest you look at some other options for the sub. For the same money, you can do considerably better, or you can save money and get similar (if not better) performance.

Look in Yoyo's thread in this forum for advice on subs. He's on the money.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: nsafreak
I'm really very limited on my placement. But I listened to them in a room that's pretty darn close to the size of the room I'm putting them in. Plus the distance between them in the room & where I'm going to have them is pretty close so I should be good for placement.

I would just start enjoying them rather than looking for something specific to break them in. You may or may not experience any difference after playing them for a while and that difference may be the speakers changing or you changing. Either way, I say start playing what you want and don't worry about it

 

[nsafreak]

Originally posted by: Rio Rebel
I love Paradigm. I have a full set of Paradigm Monitor series (before they merged the two lines).
I strongly suggest you look at some other options for the sub. For the same money, you can do considerably better, or you can save money and get similar (if not better) performance.

Look in Yoyo's thread in this forum for advice on subs. He's on the money.

Well the thing is I already have the subwoofer, have had it for a while now as I've been doing piecemeal upgrades here and there. I may upgrade the subwoofer sometime in the far future but for right now it does the job just fine.

 

[Tiamat]

Enjoy, the new atoms are nice. The old atoms were good, but were much less expensive. You don't have to do anything special to break them in as they are already broken in mechanically. Your ears may not be broken in to them though, so that will take probably a couple days to a week. Play with the placement etc. If you want any other specifics let me know! The key to maximizing your speakers for no cost is placement, listening position w/ respect to the room, height of the speakers, toe-in of speakers.

Optimal pointers:

1. Listening position is between 33-40 percent of the length dimension of your room from either rear or front wall. 38%/62% is optimal in the std shoebox dimensional room.

2. Tweeter at ear height

3. Do not place speakers at 1/4 intervals of any of the room dimensions

4. Many people like to toe-in speakers so that if they were lasers, they would meet a couple feet behind your head.

5. Keeping the speakers 2+' from any room boundary will help their imaging/reduce bloom in male voices.

Of course, these are subject to be adjusted by you. These are simply guidelines, depending on room interactions, you may find that deviations from this guide will work better for your specific needs.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

I have the Titan's v5 and the C190 center so far, and using a ML Dynamo for my sub and I am happy with them. The ADP's will follow later for my rear surrounds. Another good little speaker in the Atom range is the PSB Alpha B25.

 

[Pacfanweb]

Bigger is always better. But usually more expensive.

The speakers you got are very nice, congrats.

 

[ncage]

Actually i just got rid of my Paradigm Studios for ascend acoustics. I admit about paradigm being good bang for the buck but i'm 100% happy with the change .

 

[Rio Rebel]

Originally posted by: Pacfanweb
Bigger is always better. But usually more expensive.

The speakers you got are very nice, congrats.

I've got an old pair of Jensen floor speakers that are three times the size of the Paradigm Atoms...and I can tell you most assuredly that they aren't better.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: ncage
Actually i just got rid of my Paradigm Studios for ascend acoustics. I admit about paradigm being good bang for the buck but i'm 100% happy with the change .

Ah, that explains it.

In the "pictures of you setup" thread, you said you had Paradigm Signature Series and a number of us were thinking "wtf" as to why you replaced them with speakers costing 10%-20% of what they cost.

Studio series to Ascend makes a lot more sense

 

[PurdueRy]

While some people may claim that speaker break in is a huge deal, I disagree.

In speaker design, the T/S parameters are critical. The box depends on these, the crossover depends on these. To some extent, even the amplifier depends on these.

However, even though these parameters can change fairly substantially when ran for a long while you will quickly discover two things:

1. The changes in parameters are often offsetting. That is, the parameters change but the end design stays the same.

2. The speaker "reverts" back to its original parameters somewhat.

The second is rather interesting because we find that the parameters change depending on a number of factors including driving current, voice coil heating and mechanical compliance of the driver. So, lets say one was to run a driver a bit below its resonant frequency at 10W of power for a day or two. If you IMMEDIATELY took the speaker off and measured the parameters you may find that the resonant frequency had dropped by 10-15%. However, let it sit there for a few minutes and measure again and you will see the driver has risen nearly back up to its resonant frequency before "burn in".

My experiments and research have led me to conclude that burn-in, in most cases, is pointless. There simply is not much change over time of the parameters that will make a large difference in sound. Others are welcome to disagree.

 

[Tiamat]

Also, since burn-in is always reported to be a positive effect, this really seems to point to the ears (brain) actually adjusting to the sound rather than the speaker actually changing. After all, if there was a change in the speaker, there is no reason why it should always be beneficial to the listener.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Also, since burn-in is always reported to be a positive effect, this really seems to point to the ears actually adjusting to the sound rather than the speaker actually changing. After all, if there was a change in the speaker, there is no reason why it should always be beneficial to the listener.

You mean just like how the more expensive cables always seem to have a positive reported change....even with no scientific reason why there should be?

Edit: This is one of my favorite review threads. Read the topic being reviewed and what they claim it did to their sound...

 

[LS21]

lets replace "burn-in" with "broken-in", as if a pair of shoes. if you wear them enough, its going to be broken-in, anyway. it doesnt need to be a conscious choice, and its not as if you HAVE a choice anyway

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello

Originally posted by: ncage
Actually i just got rid of my Paradigm Studios for ascend acoustics. I admit about paradigm being good bang for the buck but i'm 100% happy with the change .

Ah, that explains it.

In the "pictures of you setup" thread, you said you had Paradigm Signature Series and a number of us were thinking "wtf" as to why you replaced them with speakers costing 10%-20% of what they cost.

Studio series to Ascend makes a lot more sense

I had such hope too. ncage, which Studios did you have, and what areas are the acoustics an improvement?

 

[Oyeve]

I use a pair af Paradigm Atom V.3 at work and they are ok, a bit flat, but with my old Denon DRA 845R they sound pretty good for use at work.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Here's some break-in numbers examples if anyone wants to look at them
http://av123.com/index.php?opt...view&id=165&Itemid=165

 

[SonicIce]

What the heck happened to the $200 X-LS?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: SonicIce
What the heck happened to the $200 X-LS?

There were some final $165 X-LS originals here before...
http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?t=29504

The crossovers, tweeters, and grilles on the X-Series were upgraded to change over to the "encore" version and the price has gone up from $219 for basic black up to $299.