Paradigm Prestige 15B Speaker System Review Page 2

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug had cavorted with my Seismic 110 sub before, and so the roaring, thundering emergences of Smaug and Sauron came as no surprise. I actually dialed the sub back from the initial settings used for most of the music demos (below). The 45C delivered precisely enunciated voices that had no chestiness or honking coloration, with especially impressive low-level resolution in the sotto voce conference between Gandalf and Thorin at Bree. When setting up the speakers with test tones, I noticed that the center had a slightly brighter tonal balance than that of the monitors, and I worried that the less-than-perfect timbral match would affect lateral panning. In practice, however, it wasn’t a problem. The 15B summoned a roomy sound for the orchestral score and rolled Smaug’s liquid rumble like a melodious tidal wave from front to back. (Smaug sounded most like its voice actor, Benedict Cumberbatch, in moments of stress.) Most impressive of all, I was able to watch the entire movie with a single volume setting and no dynamic range control—a first for the Hobbit movies. When the soundtrack stepped up its various all-channel assaults, listening comfort remained high, and I was able to lose myself in the movie.

515paradigm.spk200.jpgGet On Up is the James Brown biopic coproduced by Mick Jagger. The sub was delightfully forceful in the scene where Brown’s plane is caught by anti-aircraft fire in Vietnam. But of course, the musical segments are the meat of the movie. The monitors were dispassionate enough to reveal the artifice in the raucous gospel scene; the reverb seemed faked. But the subsequent gigs were stunningly believable, with the funky beat punching through thick club and theater ambience and Brown’s vocals defiantly riding, emoting, and punctuating over the top. It was as if the satellites and sub were having a torrid love affair.

A Most Wanted Man (DTS-HD Master Audio) brings to life the Hamburg of John le Carré’s novel. The gritty surround ambience generated by four 15B monitors was so real, it competed with both the narrative and the acting prowess of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Willem Dafoe—and that’s saying a lot. I felt as if I were on the streets with the characters. And although I’ve sat through loads of nightclub scenes in movies, the one summoned by the Prestiges was unusually claustrophobic; my fight-or-flight instinct was in high gear. The center and sub were a perfect marriage for voices of both genders, never localizing in the sub. In fact, the 80-Hz sub crossover worked beautifully for everything.

I hadn’t intended to use season 3 of House of Cards as demo material, but having heard the ominous, airy opening theme dozens of times, I couldn’t help feeling that this was the best iteration yet. My binge-viewing buddy said: “This sounds amazing.”

Reference Orchestral
The Blu-ray Pure Audio release of Mahler’s Symphonies Nos. 3 and 5, with Zubin Mehta leading the Bavarian State Orchestra in the Vienna Musikverein, got a treatment from the Paradigms that was nothing short of mesmerizing. With these speakers, the 96/24 DTS-HD Master Audio 5.0-channel soundtrack set a new standard in my listening life: I’ve never heard an orchestra as vividly and realistically imaged as this outside a concert hall. It was a perfect storm of hi-res content, surround soundtrack, tweeter lenses, and rubber gaskets. The strings had more tone color than I’ve ever heard in recorded music—yet despite the almost obsessively focused imaging, there was no edge, just a fully fleshed-out account of dozens of people playing stringed instruments in one of the world’s greatest concert halls.

I auditioned Led Zeppelin’s Physical Graffiti (96/24 FLAC from HDtracks) with the two aforementioned USB DACs, the Meridian Director and the AudioQuest DragonFly v1.2. The Paradigms surprised me by preferring the less expensive DragonFly’s warmer midrange and more relaxed presentation. While the Seismic 110 sub pounded out John Bonham’s mighty kick drum, the speakers panned Jimmy Page’s guitars for gold and came up with grunge—but a cleverly recorded, multifaceted, and endlessly engaging grunge.

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Te Amo, Argentina (from Yarlung Records) has cellist Antonio Lysy performing solo and other works by Ginastera, Piazzolla, Bragato, Golijov, and Schifrin (yes, the same Lalo Schifrin who wrote the Mission: Impossible theme). It was recorded with vacuum tube equipment onto analog tape and delivered to my system via LP, and as heard through the 15B monitors, it provided a laid-back but solidly imaged account of the cello. If I hadn’t known better by that point, I’d have thought the golden mellowness was a property of the speakers, but the shape-shifting Prestiges were just adapting to the content, as great loudspeakers often do. Occasional accompaniment on this album includes a piano, and the system called attention to the gentle wooden-hammered attack.

The final and unanswered question: Will Paradigm add either a Dolby Atmos–enabled model or an Atmos module to the Prestige line? Rumors are flying, but for now, all I can say is: I hope so.

The Paradigm Prestige series combines state-of-the-art design, ingenious engineering, and superb build quality with voicing that I found cinematically and musically unerring. Speakers that allow me one-setting enjoyment of action movies, with no dynamic range control intervention, are rare. Speakers that beat my reference system on orchestral material are rarer. But speakers that do both are practically unheard of. I learned a lot—and had a lot of fun—with the Prestige in my listening room. And living with the Seismic 110 sub continues to be a joy.

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COMMENTS
twm1988's picture

Hi Mark, I’ve been waiting for Sound and Vision to post a review of the Prestige series for a while and was hoping you’d be the person to do it seeing as your reference’s have been Studio 20’s for a long time.

Seems like the Prestige outperform the Studio’s in most if not all sonic areas, but I’m also curious how the Prestige compare to the Dynaudio Excite X14’s and center you reviewed a while ago. You mentioned in that review that the only time you missed your Studio’s was during some orchestral music. Would the Dynaudio Excites be in the same league as the Prestige’s in terms of detail resolution, transparency/neutrality, imaging, and soundstage width/depth?

Thanks for any info you can give Mark, and thanks for another excellent review.

Mark Fleischmann's picture
Thanks for your vote of confidence! I reviewed the Paradigms and Dynaudios about a year apart, so when I got to the Paradigms, I didn't have a recent memory of the Dynaudios to work with. I have a pretty good idea of how my Paradigm Studio 20 reference speakers sound because I return to them on a regular basis. Others come and go, and I rely on the published text and measurements as much as you do. My general impression of both manufacturers, gathered over the years, is that Dynaudio prefers a warmer sound, while Paradigm goes for more detail, but that kind of crude generalization may hurt more than it helps.
twm1988's picture

Hey Mark, thanks for the info it does help. I had auditioned Dynaudio Focus 110’s a couple years ago and did also find them a bit too warm. I was just curious about the Excites as the Focus series are now being discontinued and I have never heard the Excites before.

I do favor a neutral speaker with more detail resolution, so long as it’s still refined and not on the bright/harsh side of things. I think I can probably turn my attention elsewhere than the Excites now. I will definitely have a listen to the Prestige’s, along with Revel’s Performa3 M105 which I have heard are a near perfectly neutral speaker as well, without being bright or fatiguing. The Prestige and Performa are probably more fair to compare against each other.

If the Prestige’s add in an Atmos capable version in the near future, would that be enough to push you to upgrade to them from your Studio 20’s?

Thanks for the help again Mark!

Mark Fleischmann's picture
I might go for something more neutral than the Prestige -- that's the chief strength of the Studio 20. I'd also like to get more bass extension so that the speaker can play full-range on occasion. Both the Prestige and the Studio 20 are fine down to my usual sub crossover of 80 Hz but after that they roll off considerably.
twm1988's picture

That's interesting the Prestige's are a bit colored, I would assume the Signature series from Paradigm are much more balanced, though well out of my budget.

Have you heard any of the Revel Performa's Mark? Any reviews I read praise them for their neutrality and balance.

Mark Fleischmann's picture
I've been meaning to do Revel but our other reviewers keep beating me to it. I hope to get a monitor in for review eventually. The only Revel I've reviewed in the past was one of the first-generation towers and that was for another publication.
twm1988's picture

Well I’d be very interested in a review of the Revel bookshelf’s. Luckily my local Paradigm dealer also carries Revel speakers as well, so I will try and get a demo of them sometime soon, maybe see if I can take them both home for a couple days to try with my setup & equipment.

I was also talking with my Dynaudio dealer and I mentioned that I may not be so interested in the Excites anymore, and he suggested I come in and have a listen to the ATC SCM 7 that they carry. Says it’s not as warm as the Dynaudio’s, and is more neutral and detailed but not fatiguing. So there’s another one I will check out too.

Anyway, thanks for your help Mark, and I hope they send a set of Performa’s for you to review sometime!

GG's picture

Hi Mark. Thanks for this review, especially the update on the little bulldog sub! I'm finally considering some money on subwooferage and would love to know what you think about the Seismic in a room that is ~2800 cu ft? Would it be too little sub for movies/music? Or is that room size fine for a powerful 10 incher like this one? There are cheaper subwoofer alternatives with larger drivers but I'm getting a very good deal on this + PBK kit so I'm leaning toward it. Thanks!

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