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Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
#179368 10/18/07 12:29 AM
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A sleep-deprived jakewash (Jason) and I made our way down to Calgary's General Audio earlier today for a showdown between the M80s and Paradigm Monitor 11s. I chose the 11s because they are closely priced to the 80s at a $99 adder to the 80s' $1300 cost. We're very grateful to Brian and Rod from GA for agreeing to the use of their facilities and equipment.

We listened through a Cambridge Audio Azur 640C CD player, a Cambridge Audio 640A integrated amp, Aralex Acoustics 14 gauge, CL3R-FT4 speaker cables and Eichmann Express 6 interconnects. Unfortunately this set-up did not have an A/B switch so we resorted to cable-swapping making the banana terminations a necessity rather than a luxury. To eliminate gain bias, I calibrated the volume control with each speaker to give us 81dBC using in phase pink noise recorded at -10dB. Then I measured the relative sensitivities and found that the Paradigm was 2dB better than the Axiom.

First up was Ventana Al Sol from Echoes of Incas. As I've mentioned before, this track has sounds from all bands of the audible frequency spectrum including water falls, drums, flutes as well as chirping birds that appear in various places along the front, above, to the sides and well away from the speaker boundaries. We found that both speakers sounded very similar with the centre image edge going to the Axioms. The Paradigms were ever so slightly more laid back than the Axioms and with a tad less shimmer and air on the highs. I personally am very familiar with this particular track and was listening intently for the location of all the birds. The birds out front appeared identically on both while the one that imaged above my head with the Axioms decided to move about a foot forward with the Paradigms. The most extraordinary difference was the bird that normally appears at my side-wall between the left M80 and left QS8. It appeared again in the same relative location with the Axioms but decided to move to just outside the Paradigm's boundary. Is this difference due to the 80's extra tweeter or perhaps the fact that the Paradigm was on the 80's interior? Whatever the reason, the two foes sounded very close on this track.

Second up was Diana Krall's Love Scenes. I listened very intently to the popping cork in track 2: Peel me a Grape. The popping sounded identical on both speakers. I was particularly curious about this specific effect because a week earlier I listened to the same track on Paradigm Studio 100s ($2200) and found that I not only heard the pop as the main event but also a prelude, interlude and postlude. One hears the slight struggle of the cork followed by the pop resonating with exuberance as it frees itself from the bottle and then the relief of the contents as they escape the pressure. This is not a subtle effect on the Studio 100s and the most inexperienced listener will readily hear it. Alas, no such wonder was heard with the 80s or the 11s. Next up was track 11: My Love Is. Jason and I found that the bass was slightly more involving with the 80s as we heard not only the string vibrations that were prominent in the 11s but also harmonics and air around them. With the 11s, I heard a slightly shorter Diana and Jason heard her a bit further back. Again, these two speakers could be mistaken for twins.

Track 6: Ride Across the River and Track 2: Money for Nothing from Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms were next. In my home, track 6 has spatial cues that appear slightly behind me. A lack of nearby walls completely killed these cues in today's venue. Money on the Axioms had slightly more "pop" in the bass than the Paradigms. And we couldn't help but notice the extra shimmer, air and slight forwardness of the 80s compared to the 11s.

So there you have it. Two Canadian speakers, originating from the same Canadian region and sounding very similar with the exception of some nuances like a tad more involved bass, a touch more forwardness and a smidgeon of shimmering & airy highs on the part of the Axioms. The Paradigms do however require 30% less power to produce the same sound pressure level. It's not surprising that these acoustic transducers sound similar. Both companies believe that accurate speakers have a flat on axis response with an even but constantly declining polar response. This principle is advocated by Canada's National Research Council and it wouldn't surprise me to find out that Paradigm's principals were, like Ian from Axiom, at one time or another involved in acoustic research at the NRC.

Jason had to leave for work but I could have stayed 'till close if it wasn't for the fact that it was my turn to cook. I had enough music to keep me going for hours. I see many on these boards asking about Paradigms and I feel thankful that my curiousity has now been satisfied thanks to Brian and Rod from General Audio. I continue to be very satisfied with my M80 purchase and I hope this review helps others with their speaker selection. I've included pictures below to let readers judge the aesthetics for themselves.

PS: Although this isn't a review on the Paradigm Studio 100V3s, relative to the 80s, the Studio 100s could have used a touch more twinkle in their tweets and a tad more image coherence. Apart from these quibbles, these $2200 speakers were absolutely terrific.






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Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
Mojo #179372 10/18/07 12:38 AM
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You say the Paradigm use 30% less power than the M80s. That means you could go without an amp if you had the Paradigms. I mean what 30% less than a 1/4 watt .


Rick


"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." Sigmund Freud

Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
Wid #179382 10/18/07 12:51 AM
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It's 0.175. I could use the noise from my lights to power them \:D .


House of the Rising Sone
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Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated
Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
Mojo #179384 10/18/07 12:56 AM
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It was a nice write up. What did the owners of the shop think about the M80s ?


Rick


"A fear of weapons is a sign of retarded sexual and emotional maturity." Sigmund Freud

Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
Wid #179390 10/18/07 01:08 AM
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Thanks. They had nothing to say. They were busy with paperwork and helping paying customers. I plan on going back there when I'm in the market for a CD player. They carry Sherwood-Newcastle and they look pretty nice. BTW, Denon is made by SN apparently.


House of the Rising Sone
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Dedicated mid-woofers are over-rated
Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
Mojo #179393 10/18/07 01:20 AM
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Nice write up Mojo and thanks for the invitation to tag along. I will just add my 2 cents, I felt the M80's had a tad more open, spacial feel to them and were ever so slightly more forward. Some of the softer points in the recordings I found to be easier to hear on the Axioms as well. The differences were hard to pick out with out A/B switching. (Ian where is that consumer A/B switcher?)

You forgot to mention our non critical listening of the $15,000 Focals that we felt sounded smoother, more even in the bass (8"passive woofer)and had the M80s upper and mid sound, but for the money the artist should be coming to your house to play!

Also the interesting conversation about wires, interconnects, fiberoptics and such, but I won't go there. I really should have brought some home to play with. I can believe the interconnect issue, even the optical cable to a minor extent, but the speaker wire was a little hard to bite on.

It was a fun couple of hours and I too could have stayed longer, as I had my M22s with me for some comparisons, but as was eluded to, I had to run off to pick up my son from preschool, then off to work, where I am now.


Jason
M80 v2
VP160 v3
QS8 v2
PB13 Ultra
Denon 3808
Samsung 85" Q70
Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
jakewash #179397 10/18/07 01:35 AM
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Thanks to you two! It was interesting read.


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Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
EFalardeau #179399 10/18/07 01:46 AM
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Nice writeup, I think it would have been intersting to see how the 80's compared with a bit more of a gutsy amplifier. And directly against the Studio 100's since thats the speaker in particular they sometimes get compared to.

Its always funny to see how small the M80's look next to floorstanders in their same pricerange. The studio 100's look like beasts compared to the 80's.

Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
Haoleb #179405 10/18/07 02:02 AM
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I think our review says more about what Paradigm has done to bring up their entry level stuff, than it says about how good the Axiom is. I know when I was originally looking 4 years ago the entry level Paradigms couldn't hold a candle to the Axioms, once I finally had some to compare them to. Now they are pretty close, the edge going to Axiom.


Jason
M80 v2
VP160 v3
QS8 v2
PB13 Ultra
Denon 3808
Samsung 85" Q70
Re: Axiom M80 V2 vs. Paradigm Monitor 11 V3
Mojo #179415 10/18/07 02:36 AM
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Interesting indeed.


"Those who preach the myths of audio are ignorant of truth."
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