I had some free time yesterday, so I went out to a few of the local audio shops in my area. Among the speakers I demoed were B&W 704, Paradigm Studio 20, Paradigm Studio 100, Paradigm Signature 8, Paradigm Monitor 5, Paradigm Atom, and a few others I can not recall.
The store carrying the B&W 704s was closing shortly after I arrived, so I did not have very much time to listen to them. I liked the accuracy of the speakers, but the high end seemed a bit piercing.
The second shop carried all the other speakers I mentioned above. Of these, I found that the Studio 20s were much more refined and accurate. I have been curious about these speakers for a long time, so when the sales rep said I could try them out in my home for a week, I took him up on his offer.
Right now I have the Studio 20s setup to the sides of my desk about 4 feet away from me on 28" stands. My first impressions was that the soundstage produced by the studio 20s were better than my m80s at such close distances. I found the vocals of live music more to my liking on the studio 20s as well. Furthermore, they blended well with my subwoofer, so I didn't really notice they were merely bookshelves.
Unfortunately, I am finding myself getting a headache after listening to them for any extended period of time, which I never experienced with the m80's. There is no way I could ever keep these!
I think my next step is to go back and listen to the B&W 704's a bit more, perhaps 703s. Ugh, I need to go plug my m80's back in!
