# budget speakers: paradigm atom or psb alpha?



## Spare Tire

Initially, i had a budget of 100$ but i've upped that to 300 to cover these two. What i'm looking for is soundstaging, since it's the one thing that i'm missing with my otherwise great staxes (even the sigmas). Which of these two will be the best overall and more specifically better, more consistant, deeper soundstage? They're gonna be sitting on my desk, and i will be pretty much smack in front of them (about 70cm).


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## jay.money

Google them and read the reviews.

 Personally, I think I'd head straight for the Paradigms. I've had a pair of Titan's in the past and loved them.


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## Fungi

I have a pair of used Paradigm Atoms v.2 powered by a Sonic Impact T-Amp (first gen) on batteries, and so far they sound much better than any computer speakers, but they're a little bass heavy and the mids/highs don't "sing" to me, but the overall experience is very passable for low(?) end speakers.


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## spacemanspliff

Canadian? Paradigm or Totem.


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## Spare Tire

I also got an offer for monitor audio bronze R B1 for 300CADs. That's stretching the budget a bit but i wonder if the upgrade is worth it.


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## spacemanspliff

The Bronze have been going for less than $200 usd on audiogon I think.


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## SilverTrumpet999

With the new revision 5 of the Monitor series, the Atom Monitor is going to be VERY difficult to beat in its price range. The old Atom garnered great reviews, and used inferior drivers, crossovers, and cabinet construction to the new one. The new Atom is basically a Mini-Mini Monitor... which is a very good thing! 

 When I was speaker-shopping a year or two ago, I originally looked at the Atoms' line, but moved to the Monitor series because they were clearly and obviously superior. Back then the price of entry was $350 for the Minis, and it was well worth it. Now there have been two more revisions of the Monitor line, the lower line is gone, and the base price of the Monitor sound is $100 less than what it once was.

 I'd spring for a new pair of Atom Monitors and never look back.


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## Spare Tire

Alright! Spilled the beans on the atom v.5. That was 225CADs for the pair. For the next 3 months, i'll be eating with my ears. Never look back! If anything, i still got my headphones.


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## oicdn

How do the "Monitor Audio" speakers?

http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/produ...e=4&product=25

 I was in Sound Advice today just burning some time, and saw those, gave them a listen and they didn't sound half bad. Any idea how these compare?


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## Spare Tire

I don't know, the guy at the shop showed me the Bronze R B1, he said the metalized tweezers on those were better. Don't know about the radius serie. In fact, i didn't even listen to them, i didn't want to bother the guy to get it hooked up in the listening room for budget bookshelfs. And the price was already a bit too high for me.


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## Dept_of_Alchemy

Might want to get some bi-polar speakers if soundstage (or at least the impression of) is that important. I'd recommend the Eosone speakers from back in the day as a good value to start.


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## spacemanspliff

Meh. It is a pity you get charged so much for shipping but my TAD 805s are much better than the Bronze or Atoms. They are still good speakers mind you. Just not what I would call a screaming good deal. A bit overpriced imo.


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## lextek

Atoms. A lot of speaker for the money.


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## soloz2

Quote:


  Originally Posted by *spacemanspliff* /img/forum/go_quote.gif 
_Meh. It is a pity you get charged so much for shipping but my TAD 805s are much better than the Bronze or Atoms. They are still good speakers mind you. Just not what I would call a screaming good deal. A bit overpriced imo._

 

have you heard either?


 The Paradims are a lot better than the psbs from the limited listening I've done. Of course they were at two different shops on different days with different source material so not the greatest comparison.

 I've heard a lot of good things about av123's X-ls speakers. They're currently on sale for $165

 I'm about ready to pull the trigger on a pair of Onix Reference 1's, a Reference 100 center and a x-plosion sub.


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## JadeEast

A few years back I was looking for small book shelf speakers and I had a list of three, the two you mention and the now discontinued B&W 302. I'm pretty sure that the 2 models have been updated and the B&W is now not available new. At the time I ranked them DM302>atom>alpha.


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## spacemanspliff

I had monitor 9 Paradigms and I like my TAD 805s better. Paradigm is a great speaker maker though.


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## Spare Tire

Got my atoms for a couple of weeks now and wanted to come back and share my thoughts on these. I have one main gripe about these speakers: the bass. They just don't extend low enough. Maybe i've been spoiled by my staxes that just stretched and stretched and stretched into the lows and made them *audible*, now i know what people mean when they say headphones are 10x better for the same budget. I didn't expect the atoms to give of a lot of bass, i bought speakers to get soundstage. The problem was not in that the bass cut off early, it's that right before it cuts off the atoms have this big *resonating* mid-bass hump that covers up all their qualities in the smooth mids and highs. One of my favorite piece has become unlistenable on the atoms: Concerto No. 3 in G major BWV 1048: I Allegro in Bach's Brandenburg Concertos by the Academy of Ancient Music. The cello or whatever it was that used to make the deep creeping grumble on my staxes that gives you goosebumps were now a big resonating OOOOOOO like a microphone getting feedback from speakers. And then just a bit lower, the bass cuts off very abruptly. I don't consider myself a basshead in anyway, quite the contrary, but i really wish this bass to be more controlled, more linear and go deeper. A subwoofer will not fix this (god i hate those).

 I hear somebody mention Totem Acoustic a bit back. I'll give a shot to thier Dreamcatcher sometime in the future when i'll have the money. They're double the price of the atoms. Their sandwich woofer that promisses linear and deep bass with big soundstage has got me sold, but i'll ask for audition next time.

 Damnit, i shouldn't have set foot into the speaker world because things just got a lot more costly for a lot less gains. Again, hourray for the Staxes, they really give me my money's worth.


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## Wodgy

That's really the problem with any small speakers... the bass. I think you made the right decision with the Atoms though; there is some phenomenal engineering in the Paradigm Atom v.5 with the waveguide. You can tell by the measurements that they've added an upper bass hump to try to compensate for the lack of low bass, but ultimately there's only so much they can do in a small speaker.


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## Spare Tire

Well that's exactly the problem for me actually, the hump. It messes with my music. I wish they just left it flat, too bad if there isn't enough, it'd still be better than hearing this hump jump out a you and then back as instruments play in this range up and down. The hump is just too narrow and steep.
 But aside from that, i do like my atoms. It's just that some music just wont play nice on these. If the music doesn't go mess in the hump, the atoms can be very pogant.


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## Wodgy

You may wish to try stuffing the ports with rolled up socks. This usually makes the bass tighter but leaner (though depending on the tuning, it's possible but unlikely it will increase the hump). It also lowers the group delay which makes the bass subjectively faster for many listeners. I think you'll prefer them with the ports stuffed, especially coming from Stax. Certainly if you get a subwoofer, you'll probably want to stuff the ports otherwise the integration will be off.


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## jrosenth

If you're moving on to something else and want to stay in the same ball park budget-wise, you might want to think about the x series from av123.

 For other sounds, tekton audio has fostex full rangers (with bsc shaping) for your price range or even some wall mounted maggies for under $300 and add a sub later (just my 2 cents).


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## Spare Tire

I just tried stuffing the back ports. Looks like it's fixing a large part of the hump! Will try out more of the repertoire to see if it fits with everything, but seems promising!

 EDIT: Hum... well it hard to tell, and it seems to be fatiguing in another way, now the highs stand out a bit too much, a bit too agressive. I just tried to pull them farther away from the wall and that helped with the bass too, but it's not practical, i can't leave them like that cause they'll be in the way. Maybe i'll pull them out when i need a nice listen. Thanks for the suggestions.


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## Spare Tire

Follow-up:
 After two months of roading, the speakers have perceptibly leveled the mid bass hump. It's a lot more tolerable now.


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