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Posted By: TTA89 Bought a Rotel, Listened to Paradigms as well - 10/27/04 02:36 AM
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.
You have to bring in the axioms and put them head to head with the Paradigms. I love the monitor 7's sound, nice, clean and good sepration. I would love to hear what someone who has listened to them both would have to say. I am leaning towards the axioms, site unseen/unheard off of what most of you say.

Please, put the whole debate to rest, pretty please!
the waiting sucks,but with boston doing what they are doing it would just be wrong to unplug the tv now
I've heard the Monitor 7s, 9s, M22s, and M50s, and I will say that the M22s and M50s are head and shoulders above the Paradigms (mind you, I've only compared 7s and 9s back to back and 22s and 50s back to back, but it's pretty damn obvious.)

The proper Paradigms to compare to the Axioms are the Signature series (and possibly the Monitor 11s, but I have my doubts).

Pmbuko had Monitor 9s and traded up to M22s. The 9s cost $700, the 22s cost $360. You do the math!
OK, that's a system in need of an HD Tivo! BTW, I'm surprised that your stretch mode looks "normal" in the Tivo screen. My SD D*Tivo took some time to get used to on my plasma, even in just mode. But now I don't have to worry!


I wish they made an HDTivo for Cable but so far as I can tell its only for Sat users

The Stretch modes on this TV are AWESOME! You can't tell its stretched when watching normal SD TV. I am so glad I did my homework on TVs before buying as it has really paid off.

I didn't get a chance to hook it up last night, I was too tired. I thought about it and then remembered that not only will I have to label everything as it comes out so I don't have to totally redo the rack but I need to switch out a couple Toslinks for Coax Audio and then I need to reprogram the remote so the GF can still watch TV tomorrow when I'm not around... Then I realized its late and I can't turn it up anyways... Went to bed. Can't wait to get out of work... I think I'm getting sick and will need to go home at Noon. :-)
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