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Paradigm 11se MkII speakers

Well, if you so want I am a 'kept man' - I am a stay-at-home dad for our two adopted, special needs kids, Mariah (8) and Malachi (9). My wife and I both have PhDs in chemistry, but she is the by far more career driven one of us, so when the kids moved in two years ago - almost to the day - she kept her academic job, which sounds glamorous, but is not particularly well paid, especially considering the hours she puts in. I decided to stay at home and look after the brats for a while. She'd never make me sell anything I really want, and in addition to the fish tanks I have an extensive camera/lens collection that I recently upgraded from manual focus Minolta to Canon EOS. I have a DSLR and a gazillion lenses from 10mm to 400mm, but I usually pay for the stuff from money I make by buying and selling gear on eBay. We'd be broke if tried to siphon the cash out of the household money!

Regarding the speakers, I have a pair of Atoms in the living room and a pair of ATL HD 304 in the bedroom. The latter are a German made speaker, and little known around here, but those are my babies and would never be sold! I bought them in Germany when I was in my teens. The 11se I haven't been able to use in months, so they are just an eye sore in the family room right now. Considering for a moment that I'd keep them - you guys are a bad influence on me - but in a way you are right, I do like them and I paid good money to have them shipped to me some years back, which would obviously go down the drain if I sold them. What kind of system would you recommend for driving them? I only need an amp and a cd player. It shouldn't break the bank, but I am vary about buying audio stuff second hand. I made some major purchases of used NAD and Nakamichi equipment maybe three years ago, and all the stuff I bought died within a few months. So while I buy most aquarium and photo stuff second hand, I don't want to take that risk any more for audio stuff. Problem with the 11se is that they need quite a bit of umph to get them going - much easier with the Atoms and the ATL, which are not much bigger. I have a second pair of Atoms stored away in the basement, which I was planning to use to replace the 11se :D

BTW - if I actually got the 11se going again, my wife would not object. While not into photography or fish tanks, she loves classical music, and used to play the violin at a level where she could have easily chosen to become a professional. In other words once the sound great there will be no objections, but at the moment they just look big and ugly!

:thmbsp:GREAT ANSWER!
 
If you can stir a pot, you can service this machine.

Does that involve soldering? I can built a DIY filtration system for a 300G fish tank, as well as a cabinet to put the thing on and a canopy with the lights and all to cover the sucker. Not only will these things work, but they'll even look good. I can also take apart a Minolta SRT camera and put it back together again! But if I have to solder two wires together, the darn things will never stick! Anything involving soldering is not going to happen if I have to do it! So I guess anything that needs servicing is out of the question for me. :tears:

Frank
 
We are getting side tracked here. Any more suggestions for a good, cheap, NEW CD player and amp to go with a pair of Paradigm 11se MkII?
 
We are getting side tracked here. Any more suggestions for a good, cheap, NEW CD player and amp to go with a pair of Paradigm 11se MkII?

Define "cheap" for us please!

A new CD player makes sense- DAC technology has advanced a lot in recent years. Marantz CD5001 is a nice player for $300.

Not sure if you want a NEW amp too. IMO that makes less sense, vintage units in good shape are a great deal. For example, Kenwood KA-7100s routinely go for less than $100, 60wpc (conservative) dual power supplies, very good sound.

Onkyo integrateds from the early 80s are kind of under the radar and nice units.
 
Does that involve soldering? I can built a DIY filtration system for a 300G fish tank, as well as a cabinet to put the thing on and a canopy with the lights and all to cover the sucker. Not only will these things work, but they'll even look good. I can also take apart a Minolta SRT camera and put it back together again! But if I have to solder two wires together, the darn things will never stick! Anything involving soldering is not going to happen if I have to do it! So I guess anything that needs servicing is out of the question for me. :tears:

Frank


You weren't "feelin'" me. :no:

NO SOLDERING REQUIRED. I was pointing out that the unit(s) can be kept up and running for another 15 or 20 years for less than the cost of a good bottle of wine. Can you operate a Phillips screw driver and pull out a plug? That's all you need unless you want to go wild with the serious mods.
Unit sounds damn good "as is". Sony spent a lot of money on these, parts wise. The sampling/read protocol still sounds better to me than the "better" **** out there today.
You will be amazed. Very Musical and Euphonic.
Craig
 
Does that involve soldering? I can built a DIY filtration system for a 300G fish tank, as well as a cabinet to put the thing on and a canopy with the lights and all to cover the sucker. Not only will these things work, but they'll even look good. I can also take apart a Minolta SRT camera and put it back together again! But if I have to solder two wires together, the darn things will never stick! Anything involving soldering is not going to happen if I have to do it! So I guess anything that needs servicing is out of the question for me. :tears:

Frank

The "service" with regards to tracking error involves turning a screw just like setting bias on a tube amp. In fact, one adjustment for a laser is, it's "bias".
Anyway, I gave you an excellent suggestion. If you do find those two pieces and DON'T like them, I will buy them off you and pay the freight from Ohio.

Good luck,
Craig
 
Define "cheap" for us please!

A new CD player makes sense- DAC technology has advanced a lot in recent years. Marantz CD5001 is a nice player for $300.

Not sure if you want a NEW amp too. IMO that makes less sense, vintage units in good shape are a great deal. For example, Kenwood KA-7100s routinely go for less than $100, 60wpc (conservative) dual power supplies, very good sound.

Onkyo integrateds from the early 80s are kind of under the radar and nice units.


How CORRECT YOU ARE!!! :yes:
Unless you go "hi-end" :thumbsdn: which I finally learned was what we already had, 30 years ago.

Craig
 
I used to have a model train set as a kid, and used to string cable to all the switches and signals for weeks and months. I've also changed the electrics in both my dad's place and my own house whenever required. So yes, anything that doesn't involve soldering I can do :yes:

Many thanks for all your suggestions. I'll have to have a serious look into those!

Frank
 
I just wanted to say I think you guys convinced me to keep the 11se. Hooked them up to my Nakamichi AV-500 and Toshiba SD-4800 this morning, and while not the most high end system in the world, that's by far the best sound I have around the house right now! Listened to some Opera first (Turandot, Non piangere Liu) followed by some James Brown, and boy, with those puppies you never need a subwoofer :yes:

Trouble is, I need the AV-500 for my home theater, and the 11se don't fit there. Tried a Nakamichi Receiver 3 with the 11se, and while not bad, the thing simply doesn't have the power to drive those speakers adequately. Especially in comparison with the AV-500 the lack is striking. So I need another amp, and I decided to try and have a stab at resurrecting the NAD 3020 that I used with the 11se a long time ago. Maybe with the help of the good people of the DIY forum I can bring it back to life!
 
I am thinking of selling my pair of Paradigm 11se MkII speakers. I kinda hate to loose these puppies, but my wife is keen to get them out of the house due to their size. Also my amp blew some months ago, and I don't have the cash right now to buy another one that could adequately drive them. Shipping these guys is probably a deal breaker, since they weigh a ton, so I am thinking of putting them on Craigslist. What would be a fair asking price for these? I want them priced to sell, but I don't want to give them away for nothing. They work and look like new - always been babied by me. I haven't bought or sold audio equipment in years, so I am kinda clueless.

Many thanks

Frank
It doesn't take a much of an amp to drive the 11se's as they are 6 ohm and fairly efficient.
 
I am thinking of selling my pair of Paradigm 11se MkII speakers. I kinda hate to loose these puppies, but my wife is keen to get them out of the house due to their size. Also my amp blew some months ago, and I don't have the cash right now to buy another one that could adequately drive them. Shipping these guys is probably a deal breaker, since they weigh a ton, so I am thinking of putting them on Craigslist. What would be a fair asking price for these? I want them priced to sell, but I don't want to give them away for nothing. They work and look like new - always been babied by me. I haven't bought or sold audio equipment in years, so I am kinda clueless.

Many thanks

Frank
If they were the original Model 11 se (not mk ii) I would hang on to them as they are terrific. Not sure why Paradigm went to the MK II's as they were no where near as musical sounding as the original model.
 
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