I had been hesitant to buy a floor standing speaker, mostly because of a determinedly curious three year old. But then, two things happened: The boy (my son) turned four (Which doesn't magically make him respect other people's property, but at least he doesn't crank the amp up before he turns it on), and I listened to the Snell E5.

What does the latter have to do with this speaker? Well, when you have a mortgage, a kid (now two), and other considerations, you don't have $1400 for a pair of speakers. The conversation went something like this:

Me: I want these $1400 speakers.
My wife: $1400? We could buy a new couch for that, plus a whole lot more.
Me: I'd be happy to sit on the floor....

But the Snells had put a tickle in my ear, so to speak.

Anyway, we took a weekend in North Conway NH, where I happened on a little stereo shop. I figured I'd take a listen to something, if for nothing but to not go to 100 outlet stores.

To cut to the chase, I listened to the Paradigm Phantoms, which I wasn't very impressed with. Boomy and kind of shrill at the same time, with no image, much less midrange. Mariah Carey sounded as if she was singing with someone's hand over her mouth. I wanted to try another brand, when the guy turned on the Monitor 7's. It was explained to me that the Phantoms were of the "value" line, and the M7 was more of an audiophile speaker.

What a difference. Though not as open as the Snells were, they presented a marvelous soundstage, at least for what a soundroom that was twice as wide as long can do. High end was good, with a fairly tight bass response.

I was still thinking.

One day, while at home listening to my Celestion 3's (A marvelous bookshelf. Very real with surprising bass for a 5¼" woofer in a small box), I put in "Night on Bald Mountain," a Telarc disc that I'd just picked up. The deep strings were lost. I needed bass, but not at the expense of what the Celestions did so well.

I went to my local dealer of Paradigm, only two towns over. they were more of a home theater dealer, not a "HiFi store," as I had worked in when I was around twenty. They didn't have the M7's but they did have the 9's. I listened in a way imperfect room (A small upstairs room, with a conference table and an intruding roof) and my baby girl in tow (So I couldn't turn it up too much), and listened to a Yamaha HT receiver and DVD/CD player through... telephone wire.... This was a bit tough. The 9's were boomy and I had a tough time picking up on instrument and voice placement. Midrange wasn't great, either. I trusted my instincts and ordered the 7's anyway.

Three business days later, they arrived, factory fresh. I brought them home and set them up on my HK PM640 (An oldie but a goodie) with the tone defeated, through AudioQuest wire, and my Kodak PhotoCD (Don't laugh. It's a Phillips chassis, which sounds way better than the Sonys) player with Comprehensive Gold interconnects. As I promised to myself, I played Creed's "One" first. Wow. Those 6" woofers can push some air. The bass is a little overdone on this track (Actually, the album), but it's still good listening. I tried Stryper's "More Than a Man." This even mix (All digital, on the best equipment available at the time) proved clean and tight. Robert Sweet's kick drum hits hard and doesn't go flabby on you, and brother Michael's vocals are crystal clear. Next I played Prince's "Peach." Woah! Bright! Time for a change of pace; I put in George Winston's December, track 9, "Variations on the Cannon...." Suddenly, there was a piano in my living room. A big, beautiful piano. Wow, what a little bottom end can do. I played "Peter and the Wolf," and "A Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra" (Same disc). The orchestra was very well imaged. The tympani sound especially good. Great attack and no hang on these bass drivers (It occurs to me, now reading this over, that I'm bass starved.... I think I found the cure!).

In all, I went through about a third of my collection in the first couple of weeks. In a nutshell, They are just the nth less capable in sheer midrange and high frequency realism than my little Celestions, but more than make up for it with a tight, clean bass that can be a little overpowering with a heavyhanded mix. This isn't a bad thing, but takes some getting used to. Vocals are reproduced with good accuracy, and the soundstage is well realized. As I said before, the solo piano is to die for, and a tenor sax isn't bad, either. There are very few speakers that can run my range of music with this much aplomb.

If you have a budget, and at least a decent amplifier, the Paradigm Monitor 7's are highly recommended. They are the Corvette of speakers. A bargain for the asking price, and you can do a whole lot worse for twice the money.

The rating system (Below, to me) is a bit unfair. The descriptions aren't very descriptive. I have scored the Monitor 7 compared to the dozens of speakers I have heard. Although sound is one of the worst of human memories, my impressions are memories. If I compare the M7' to all the $5-600.00 speakers I have heard, then these ratings should be raised at least one notch each.



Recommended: Yes