Paradigm Electronics is a Canadian company that’s been focused on building products with a strong performance to value relationship for over 25 years, and specializes in the production of in-wall, on-wall and freestanding loudspeakers as well as subwoofers.  Paradigm offers several different speaker lines across a broad price spectrum, but their flagship line is appropriately called the Reference Signature Series.  I was excited about reviewing the very best home theater speaker system Paradigm has to offer in the Signature S8 v.3 floorstanding speakers, Signature C5 V.3 center speaker, Signature ADP 3 v.3 surround speakers, along with their SUB 25 v.3 subwoofer all in the Piano Black finish.  FeaturesIntroduced in 1996, the Reference Signature Series is Paradigm’s cost-no-object approach to speaker building.  Features like Paradigm’s best high frequency, midrange and bass drivers, as well as cabinet design and finish.  Upgrades include: ...

Paradigm has been making highly regarded loudspeakers in their state of the art factory in Ontario, Canada for the past 25 years. Their longevity is likely due to making quality products across multiple markets at reasonable prices. They make excellent speakers for budget audiophiles, home theater fiends, and for uncompromising two channel high end aficionados like myself.I have heard various Paradigm set-ups in friend’s houses and have always been impressed. Personally, I’ve used the amazing little Paradigm Atom mini monitor in various small spaces in my own house. After buying a 55 inch High Definition Vizio television, I knew it was time to upgrade the sound system as well. In my household, we typically watch about one or two movies a week, either on digital cable or DVD.  We also watch tons of musical performances, which are often mixed in ...

In years past, I’ve usually rolled with an integrated amplifier. Reasons included less space, fewer cables, tons of inputs, conveniences like headphone jacks, remote controls, and even subwoofer connectivity. But there are integrated amps and there are integrated amps.  I was in the budget component and midfi camp during my college days.  At that point, integrated amps were not known for being state of the art. Things have changed quite a bit since then. Integrated amplifiers have approached, if not crossed into the state of the art. Most exalted high end audio manufacturers are currently offering battleship integrated amps along side their flagship separates. Many designers are even offering built in world class phono stages, Digital Audio Converters and digital inputs.It has been a number of years since I have had any experience with a high grade integrated amp in ...

Panasonic’s DMP-BD60K Blu-ray player features a solid lineup of features at a fairly reasonable price.  It’s not going to blow anyone away, but at an MSRP of $199, it doesn’t need to. The BD60K does most of what we’ve come to expect from a low to mid priced Blu-ray player.  It outputs video at a 1080p resolution at 24 frames per second.  That includes upconverted standard definition DVDs.  It offers support for Deep Color and x.v. Color, and has a few features to clean up and enhance video further. The audio side is fairly standard as well.  The DMP-BD60K supports decoding and bitstream output of Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD.  It has a range of audio manipulation functions such as Dialogue Enhancer, Night Surround Mode and Dynamic range Compression.  A common complaint about the BD60 is the lack of Netflix ...

Alluring more to venue displays, museums, and custom home theater construction, Pioneer’s BDP-V6000 veers little from Pioneer’s other home theater application Blu-ray players.  That, however, is a compliment in itself, as the quality screams from the rooftops much like their high-quality BDP-320.  Sporting proficient Profile 2.0 connectivity underneath the hood, spectacular visual attributes, and a few earmarks like RS-232 connectivity and their enhanced GUI, it takes a few strides beyond its little brother to accommodate for more complex situations.  They all come at a commerical price, however, at $999.99; it’s a player to consider for its added enhancements and build longevity, not to mention the easy-to-apply rack mounting equipment included.  Home theater enthusiasts will find that Pioneer’s other units will be just as comparable in quality, though it should find its place with home-theater constructionists.  Out of the Box:As far ...