I A/Bed the B&W 602 s3 and Paradigm Studio 40 s3

[mike c]

I paired the 40 s3 with the B&W because only the studio 20 s1 was around
source and integrated amp was denon.
please note that this is highly subjective and I am no audiophile.

I am so glad I don't have a golden ear ... (again, it was the wife who noticed a big difference but mentioned "nevermind for that price" - she did not know which of the two speakers were running)

sure there was a difference between the two, but if I would assign ratings to the difference it would be paradigm 98% b&w 97-96%. the difference was in the soundstage, the vocals were "higher" or simply "louder" than the b&w.

you have to consider though that the B&W has one 7" driver doing all the work, while the studio 40 has two 7" drivers (one for the mids, one for the lows).

I'm thinking the cheaper floorstanding 603 b&w with separate mid and low drivers will be enough to match the studio 40. (or the slightly more expensive 604 will be enough to beat it)

also, looks wise, with the grills off, the B&W beats the studio series hands down.

[Pez]

I have to admit the studio 40's are a fine speaker. I had them for a short time and was very impressed with the low end it had. Dont forget with the Paradigms you are going to spend an additional $350 (retail) for the matching stand.

[wgriel]

I directly compared the 603s with the studio 40s, mostly because they were very close to the same price.

I definitely preferred the 603s, but that's not to say that the 40s were a bad speaker at all. Both did some things very well, though I found the B&W sounded a bit more refined, especially the upper midrange & higher frequencies.

I also found that the paradigms sounded a bit brighter to me, which worked with some music, but overall I loved the way the 603s handled Jazz & Blues (which is what I listen to 90% of the time).

Bill