paradigm studio 100v5 vs kef r700 vs goldenear triton 2

chirag1165

Member
Joined
Jan 6, 2013
Messages
32
Points
8
Location
mumbai india
hello people,

So I finally got the funds to buy a good stereo setup. Its all part of a bigger plan to build a 5.1 or maybe even a 7.1 system .so its very important i get the foundation right.I have a cool 2 lakhs budget for the speakers and maybe 70 grand more for the A/V receiver .i auditioned the PARADIGM STUDIO 100 v5, KEF R700 and the GOLDENEAR TRITON 2 as they are all approximately in the same price range .i could audition the goldenear triton 2's for only about ten minutes.so i have to go back for a complete audition at least for an hour the way i auditioned the other two speakers namely the studio 100 and the r700. I also auditioned the Kef q900 which is about rupess 90,000.

now I'm no expert and at best a wannabe audiophile have some clue as to the vocabulary people with trained ears use to describe sound yet I am fascinated with good quality sound and imaging and clarity etc. so in my limited knowledge let me describe what I thought of each one of them because quite frankly I am confused and would love for you guys who have heard these speakers or own these speakers to tell me your impressions of them so that I can make the right decision because quite frankly Im CCConfused!
Played some familiar tracks and some audiophile test tracks.

1)paradigm studio 100 v5-- These floor standers are freaking huge. They have enormous presence and look good with or without the front grill. Firstly they were not amplified by one of the more exotic or quality oriented expensive amplifiers. Instead they were hooked to a denon avr which was somewhere in their top of the line range I think pumping out 150w.The room was acoustically corrected too and by that I mean special material was used on the walls to improve/absorb sound.

SOUND QUALITY-good, good bass, engaging plays very loud without losing composure. Felt the female vocals a bit shrill at high volumes. Overall I liked what I heard .in my opinion the studio 100s are more home theater centric ....i told you guys I'm not good with explaining sound so please bear with me :)

2.)KEF R700--- these floor standing speakers look sexyyy . In comparison the studio 100s look like hmmmmm let say Schwarzenegger tough and strong.the KEF R700 too were connected to a denon avr. they too pumped about 150/165 watts.

SOUND QUALITY-AGAIN GOOD. Clarity was better and so were the vocals. They were smooth.....BUT at the cost of some bass...tracks that dint have a lot of bass in them were good. Put on psytrance hip-hop or any track with bass( I remember trying boom boom pow by the black eyed peas)and its missing the impact the STUDIO 100 had. yes I know that Im going to get a subwoofer later on as part of my plan to build a 7.1 home theater so maybe the lack of bass impact is not such a bad thing.The kef r700 are more music centric. So yea overall good sound.

3.)GOLDENEAR TRITON 2--None of the speakers on this list are as controversial as the goldear triton 2's.These speakers have got rave reviews all over the internet but have got mixed reviews by actual owners and people who have demo'd them. They were the last speakers I auditioned and I didnt get much time with them, say about 10 mins and I was pretty tired because the studio 100s were in andheri (W) in a shop called THE SHOP and the r700 were in worli atria mall. The triton 2s were in worli too. So Im definitely gonna go back to audition them properly.

4.)Kef Q900looked like any other floor stander. Nothing special. They retail for around rupees 90,000 only as opposed to the other speakers on this list that are double its price.
SOUND QUALITYgood sound quality .Did a lot of A/B ing with the r700 and the q900.now dare I say I could not hear much difference between them and the other speakers.yea the bass was again good. It was not boomy but controlled ad impactful at the cost of some clarity. It had the impact in bass centric songs that the R700 lacked. Im speaking relatively of course. Listen to the r700 on their own and you wont notice then heard the Q900 5.1 system. The guy guy played transformers dark side of the moon blu-ray. One word.AAAAwesome. The whole q900 5.1 setup retails for around the amount I would pay for the 2.0 setup of the other speakers. Confusedddd.
Now im aware that if maybe the studio 100s and the R700 were paired with a better more expesive amplifier they would really show me what they are capable of and I would be able to hear a major difference in sound quality vs the Q900.AS of now the Av Rim gonna go for is either the Marantz 6007 or the Denon 2313.Confusedddd
So people please tell me what do I do. To all the people who own them have heard them or people who themselves need help please feel free to help discuss suggest and ask questions to help me make the best and right decision.

Thanks!

UPDATE!
Today i heard the GOLDENEAR TRITON 2'S at audio vision india, fort mumbai

GOLDENEAR TRITON 2'S--- They had the Tritons hooked to a 150w Onkyo AVR.They are relatively good looking,slender floor standers dressed up in black cloth. the room in which i heard the speakers was not acoustically treated.

SOUND QUALITY-the minute i started listening to them i knew there was something wrong.it just didn't sound good. the guy assisting me agreed too.the problem was the placement of the speakers.there was too much reverb going on. So we changed the location and placed it faraway from walls and other objects on the sides of the speakers.Now they sounded good.let me tell you the imaging on these speakers is freakinn crazy. i mean close your eyes and you can feel and pinpoint where the singer and the different instruments are playing in front of you as if they speakers arent there.but you have to feed them high quality flac or wave tracks to really enjoy them after all what you give is what you get. But the bass. i was not so sure about the bass. i mean the bass was there alot of it since it has a built in 1200 w subwoofer but it was not controlled.maybe because i heard it in room which was not acoustically corrected.so the audio vision dude is setting up the the tritons 2's as well as the B&W cm9 in one of their acoustic rooms to test the speakers tommorow.lets see if there any difference in sound quality.so yeah good highs and mids but bass not somuch but im giving them the benefit of the doubt
 
Last edited:
Chirag.

IMHO, with 2 Lakhs Budget, you have more space to audition and recommended to audition at-least 10 Speakers with Amp.Let say if i was placed in your position will give try to Usher's BE 718,Dynaudio Concerto,MONITOR AUDIO GX50, Focal 726v ,Sonus faber Toy's ,ATC etc.

Just check out the available set-up's in your location and try to audition the max(The Max you audition) will get the better feel after purchase enhancing to sweetening sound

Kef Q and R series are more attractive in design and also in reviews, Golden Triton is owned by one of our Fm's. Hope he had shared review on the same too.



All the best for your audition and purchase, awaiting to see the Full satisfied Set-up)
 
I am only familiar with Kef R700 which are very good speakers and they come real close to B&W 804D (except for the high frequency performance). However R700 needs a bit of careful placement and placing from the wall can be critical to achieve the optimal performance.

If Goldenears were not in the equation then Kef R700 would be my choice.
Howevers Goldenears are pretty special that you do not need an additional sub (Which saves money & space & troubles associated with integration with the sub). However again with the powered sub, speaker placement in the room is important as well. The sound is very nice though and would be happy to live with.

Please note that I never owned either but only had KEF R300 whose bass was a bit unnatural to my liking.

To conclude, I am inclined more towards the Triton2, if there are no space constraints!
 
Chirag.

IMHO, with 2 Lakhs Budget, you have more space to audition and recommended to audition at-least 10 Speakers with Amp.Let say if i was placed in your position will give try to Usher's BE 718,Dynaudio Concerto,MONITOR AUDIO GX50, Focal 726v ,Sonus faber Toy's ,ATC etc.

Just check out the available set-up's in your location and try to audition the max(The Max you audition) will get the better feel after purchase enhancing to sweetening sound

Kef Q and R series are more attractive in design and also in reviews, Golden Triton is owned by one of our Fm's. Hope he had shared review on the same too.

you have a point there buddy but the way i see it the more speakers i listen to the more complicated it gets. its because of the very nature of sound and its quality.different amps different rooms..remebering how each speaker sounded.but you do have a point.i may find which sounds perfect to my ears




All the best for your audition and purchase, awaiting to see the Full satisfied Set-up)

you have a point there buddy but the way i see it the more speakers i listen to the more complicated it gets. its because of the very nature of sound and its quality.different amps different rooms..remembering how each speaker sounded.but you do have a point.i may find a speaker which sounds perfect to my ears.

thanks buddy
 
I am only familiar with Kef R700 which are very good speakers and they come real close to B&W 804D (except for the high frequency performance). However R700 needs a bit of careful placement and placing from the wall can be critical to achieve the optimal performance.

If Goldenears were not in the equation then Kef R700 would be my choice.
Howevers Goldenears are pretty special that you do not need an additional sub (Which saves money & space & troubles associated with integration with the sub). However again with the powered sub, speaker placement in the room is important as well. The sound is very nice though and would be happy to live with.

Please note that I never owned either but only had KEF R300 whose bass was a bit unnatural to my liking.

To conclude, I am inclined more towards the Triton2, if there are no space constraints!

you are absolutely right about placement satmumbai. i mean improper placement can make even the best speakers money can buy sound bad.so its true even for the tritons 2's and r700's.so i take it you have heard the triton2's or own them? i am planning of building a 7.1 system so i will be getting a subwoofer but that's much later.so as of now im giving the triton 2's another listen in a better room with a possibly better placement because i think the triton 2's are very fussy when it comes to placement.Otherwise you think i should go for r700 not the studio 100's??
 
you have a point there buddy but the way i see it the more speakers i listen to the more complicated it gets. its because of the very nature of sound and its quality.different amps different rooms..remembering how each speaker sounded.but you do have a point.i may find a speaker which sounds perfect to my ears.

thanks buddy

You are absolutely right:),There is No ONE ROOF AV Stores and only way to attain is "AV Meets":),

Just give a try for Good BS too, I found all the speakers which you have auditioned were of FS.
All the best Bro:eek:hyeah:
 
I have heard the Goldenear Triton 2`s and they are rather special. Nothing else at that price range comes close to them and a simple good quality integreated amplifier works wonders with them. My friend in Singapore has 2 pairs in his home, 1 for 2 channel and 1 for HT in his den. They were stunning. I propose you hear them once again before taking any decission because they are the Samsung of the Hi Fi world. The other bonus is great bass (which can be tuned), easy upgrade to Home Theater whenever required and man ribbon tweeters. What more can we want. Good luck.
 
Have you auditioned Paradigm Signature S6, I think it is more balanced system compared to Studio 100, especially when paired with a good Sub.

I would love to have the following 5.0 setup along with my SVS PB12 Plus Sub
Signature S6 Fronts
Signature C3 Center
Signature ADP3 Rears

Can anyone give approx price of each of these
 
ht_user

where did you audition s6. But they are expensive. Last I heard they are beyond 2.5 lakh for the fronts. I remember you coming to my place and listening to s4.

Thanks.
 
chirag,

the studio 100 could be an overkill.. that depends on your room size too..

choose something that fits your room else you will have an elephant in the room making too much noise

take a look at the studio 60 if you like paradigm sound.. these are nice speakers.. which will allow the sub to breathe in the sense that there will not be double impact of the studio 100 and the prospective sub filling the same freq level..

all else being same.. play it by the ear.

spend it wisely..

mpw
 
chirag,

the studio 100 could be an overkill.. that depends on your room size too..

choose something that fits your room else you will have an elephant in the room making too much noise

take a look at the studio 60 if you like paradigm sound.. these are nice speakers.. which will allow the sub to breathe in the sense that there will not be double impact of the studio 100 and the prospective sub filling the same freq level..

all else being same.. play it by the ear.

spend it wisely..

mpw

well said mpw.thanks for the advice.
 
ht_user

where did you audition s6. But they are expensive. Last I heard they are beyond 2.5 lakh for the fronts. I remember you coming to my place and listening to s4.

Thanks.

I didn't audition S6, I read it in the review. I also found that Studio 100 is having 4 Nos of 7" drivers, adding to a matching center, there will be 12 nos of 7" drivers in the front side of HT, which would be an overkill if the setup is having good sub.

Studio 60 is having only 5.25" drivers, where as S6 is having 3 Nos of 7" drivers (S8 is having 5 nos of 7" drivers)
 
PARADIGM STUDIO 100 v5, KEF R700 and the GOLDENEAR TRITON 2

GOLDENEAR TRITON 2'S--- They had the Tritons hooked to a 150w Onkyo AVR.They are relatively good looking,slender floor standers dressed up in black cloth. the room in which i heard the speakers was not acoustically treated...so the audio vision dude is setting up the the tritons 2's as well as the B&W cm9

I didn't audition S6, I read it in the review.

The S6 is considerably more than the Studio 100.

That said I would also look at Focal's Chorus series (maybe the 826 or 836) if you are looking for a speaker that will be used for HT as well as 2 ch. audio.

If 2 ch. audio is your primary concern and a good subwoofer can be accomodated the Sonus Faber Luito is a good option but at a considerable price increase (same range as the Paradigm S6)

Other HT options are PSB's Synchrony 2, Monitor Audio Gold 200/300, Wharfdale Jade 7, and if you can find someone who has them the Salk Soungtower. Wharfedale Jade 7 Speakers
 
If you are gonna look into brands like Salk, then dont forget to look at the PhilHarmonics. They are the best speakers for their price, if you like the aesthetics of them. They are sonically close the the Salk SS8, which are way expensive, but beautiful than the Philharmonics.
 
Alright I'm back to where I started cause being new to the audiophile world I just learnt that the amp has to be really good to drive speakers of this caliber and a midrange avr wont do it justice. So I have decided to go for a lower price range speakers and spend the rest on a quality stereo amp and later on upgrade my speakers. Any thoughts suggestions???


Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2


Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2
 
And I was about to suggest ProAcs studio 140. Pair them with Exposure 2010s2 (amp is ~1L) and they will sound sweet. See if the amp budget fits you. The speakers are within 2L.

EDIT: i just realized you are looking for an AVR set up. The 2010s2 is stereo.

sent from my SIII using tapatalk
 
Alright I'm back to where I started cause being new to the audiophile world I just learnt that the amp has to be really good to drive speakers of this caliber and a midrange avr wont do it justice. So I have decided to go for a lower price range speakers and spend the rest on a quality stereo amp and later on upgrade my speakers. Any thoughts suggestions???

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

If you buy stereo amp now, you will have to buy AVR later, when you decide to move on to 5.1/7.1 setup. You can buy mid range AVR and budget speakers now; later you can add high end speakers and external 5 channel amp to drive them. Ensure that the AVR you buy has pre-amp outputs.

Another option is to buy high end AVR and high end speakers now itself.
 
Back
Top