Superb sound quality for half price.
Written: Jul 04 '03 (Updated Jul 07 '03)
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Pros: Fantastic sound quality, small size vs sound ratio, great value for an audiophile speaker.
Cons: Availability: Paradigm's strict policy does not allow mail-order distribution.
The Bottom Line: If you love movies, and have a small center, you owe it to yourself to audition this speaker.
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| dr_theopolis's Full Review: Paradigm CC-370 Center Speaker |
For those of you not familiar with Paradigm, they are an audiophile brand from Canada, and are only distributed through authorized resellers. They have a very strict policy against discounting, publishing discounted prices, and mail-order distribution. Regardless of whether you think that this decision is motivated by greed to keep their prices high, or benevolence to keep their dealers in business, you really should drive to your local dealer to hear them. When I did so, I found that the quality out of the speaker was simply head and shoulders above other brands. The only other speaker I even considered was the http://www.definitivetech.com/loudspeakers/clr/clr.html At the time I purchased this speaker (about 3 years ago), the DefTech unit was about twice the price of the Paradigm. In addition to that the addition of the power unit on the DefTech makes it much larger and heavier than the Paradigm, making it difficult to put on top of any television. There is no doubt in my mind that with no other components the DefTech has more complete audio response, but the fact that most people have a dedicated sub makes it less of an issue, in my opinion.
Having said that let me explain why this speaker made such a huge difference. For me, it was my first center channel. I keep my stereo equipment around for a long time, and when I finally got a decent DVD player a few years ago, I was finding myself constantly turning the volume up and down during movies. In addition, not having a center channel speaker, it usually took me 10-15 minutes to get used to the sound coming from the sides of the monitor when watching a movie. I had heard several packages system setups, and while they were better than no center channel, I had never been pleased with the center channel performance, since they in general reminded me of the poor speakers that are usually placed in the TV set. So I went looking for a good set of speakers, and in particular a center channel. After hearing the DefTech and Paradigm systems, there was no question in my mind that these were fantastic speakers. I purchased the CC-370 and never looked back. The difference was absolutely amazing!
As it turns out, such a very large percentage of sound for movies comes through the center channel, that just adding or replacing your current speaker with this one makes a huge difference in the quality of sound reproduction. I would say after the Television/Monitor itself, the center channel should really be the next component that you look at to improve your home theater. Having said that, it would be a mistake to purchase a center channel speaker without considering the CC-370.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 300
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Epinions.com ID:
dr_theopolis
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Member: Michael Gile
Location: Albany, NY
Reviews written: 39
Trusted by: 2 members
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