I have been listening to more and more music and am starting to quest after that "Perfect Sound". I decided on a Rotel RSX 1056 to replace my Denon 2803 which works great and I have no complaints but want something that sounds even better.
I arrived at the store and the guy I talked to on the phone was hooking up the Rotel to a set of Paradigm Monitor 7's with Paradigm Center, Sub and Surrounds although I didn't ask what models those were. He was working with another customer so I introduced myself and told him to take his time.
The other customer was waiting to purchase the Sub that was hooked up and wanted to hear what it sounded like. I wasn't in a hurry and wanted to hear the Paradigm's anyways so I took a seat on the couch. I was told the Rotel would be driving everything.
In went Master and Commander to Chapter 4 (One of the Battles). It didn't have very good low end, it was kinda boring to listen too. I picked up the remote and we noticed all the speakers were set to small and the sub was set to 100hz. He moved everything to Large and moved the sub down to 60hz. It sounded alot better and in fact the mains sounded like they were able to handle bass better than the sub. I wasn't impressed with the sub at all. I think it was $330 bucks or so?
So we watched for awhile, turned the volume up way louder than I would ever listen. It was very clear and sounded pretty good but I was thinking that my Axioms sound better even with my Denon 2803 hooked up to them but didn't say anything. Don't get me wrong, they sounded great and I would tell you to go listen if your in the market for speakers.
So the guy buys the Sub and leaves and I ask if there are any CD's. He hooks up a Rotel CD player and puts in a Jazz type CD and we change the settings to 2 channel. It sounds pretty good and when turned up you can really tell how much power this reciever has and that its not struggling at all. It sounded pretty good.
He asked if I was interested in the market for speakers and I told him that I am happy with what I have. He of course asks what I have and I ask if he has heard of Axiom? He said something about a Mail Order Speaker and that someone brought a pair in and he wasn't impressed. He said the Paradigm's were a better speaker and cheaper as well.
I told him that I didnt want to say it before but I thought my Axioms with my Denon 2803 and cheap Samsung DVD player sounded better than the Paradigm's with the Rotel Gear driving it. I asked what model he listened too and he didn't know. He told me to bring them in and put them up next to the Paradigm Monitor 7's.
I told him it would be a pain in the ass and I really don't have any reason too. I told him I was looking for a Denon 2910 DVD player and if he could hook me up with a good price on it and get me a deal on some cables I would bring my Axioms down to show him that he has the wrong opinion on the Axioms.
In any case, I am sitting at home with the Rotel on the table, My Girlfriend is watching the Redsox in HD so I can't break it all down and try it out. I can't wait to see how the speakers like this thing.
I have M60s, V150, QS4s and an HSU VTF2 BTW.
