Paradigm or Energy?????

hey, not knowing yer equipment/taste in viva'la'musica
have you thought of going used?...some great speakers here in that price range.. vanders,proac etc...
good luck...

I've owned the Monitor 7 and thought it was a really good speaker. It did everything fairly well and was easy to drive. It was missing a little bit of detail and couldn't image as well as others I've heard. But that's not a fair complaint considering the price.

You may want to try Axiomaudio.com, I have heard their speakers (and own the M40ti) and they seem to represent a good value for the money. They are closing out some of their M80ti models rights now for about $800 in the axiomstore, and they have a 30 day trial period.

I auditioned the Paradigm Reference 100.2 and the Energy Veritas 2.3 at length and left with the Paradigms. The Energys did not have the ultimate smoothness the Paradigms have - they were a little "hard" sounding. Don't get me wrong, they were very nice and the cabinet was better quality but the paradigms have superb sound. I have not listened to the exact models you are looking at but I am sure the same sound philosophy applies.

Just an Idea, For $850 (or less) you can get into some used Paradigm Studio Reference series (20,40,60,80, possibly the 100's ver1). These speakers in my mind will sound much better than any described. I have owned the Mini-monitors, Phantoms, heard the full monitor series and I would just get into their "flasgship" line as it offered much better transparency and soundstaging. Not saying the other models dont, there are much improvments over the rest of the series.

Unless your going to buy a set of speakers new. I would find someone in your area that have a set of used speakers that have already been "broken in" and save any shipping costs.

If you have any questions please let me know.

BTW, I let me father try my 2nd set of speakers (Studio 80's Ver1) and hooked them up to a older pioneer receiver.

His jaw hit the floor. They made the music so transparent. His existing speakers (junk Technics) sounding so muffled compared.

Now I cant get him out of the living room.

Thanks!