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Paradigm 3se or 5se?

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xjustinx

Active Member
I'm looking for bookshelf speakers and currently have lines on Paradigm 3se or 5se. For those that are familiar, which do you prefer? All the specs that I've found tend to show them as carrying the same size woofer and the same ability to handle power. Neither pair are mkII or mkIII.
 
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whats the price diffrence betweeen the 2 i would do some investigating but prob would go with the higher model. sometimes that always not good though.
 
There's only a $25 price difference between the two. Given that the speakers all seem to have the same size woofer, I can only wonder if the crossovers and cabinets are that much better.
 
All things being equal go for the 5SE's. I have a pair of 7SE's on stands and they are very good. I also have restored Acoustic Research AR11C's and AR2AX's as well as Dynaco's and Heathkit, and after the AR11's the 7SE's are my next favorites.
 
sstring said:
All things being equal go for the 5SE's. I have a pair of 7SE's on stands and they are very good. I also have restored Acoustic Research AR11C's and AR2AX's as well as Dynaco's and Heathkit, and after the AR11's the 7SE's are my next favorites.
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I own the 7se's as well but can't seem the get them fully going, Like but don't love yet:no: What Amp/Receiver do you have pushing them:scratch2:
 
I have 5se's (not MkII or III) and consider them some of the most musical bookshelves in my collection (among the likes of Dynaco 25, KLH 6 and 23, Polk Monitor 5, DCM CX-17, Axiom M3ti). The Vifa tweeter is very, very nice. However, don't expect them to reach very deep with any significant amount of volume. The 8" mid-bass driver experieces over-excursion pretty quickly with bass heavy music if you start to throw some power to it. Pair them with a good subwoofer and avoid any bass boost or loudness and it's a very pleasing combination. I've powered them with a 100 wpc Carver integrated, Kenwood M2 Sigma, and a 250+ wpc Hafler 500 and the littel Pardadigms sound great with all.
 
Thanks for the input. I've been doing a little bit of research over the last day or so, and I keep finding really positive reviews about each of them, but no comparisons between the two. Hopefully I'll gather enough to make an informed decision by this weekend.
 
xjustinx said:
There's only a $25 price difference between the two. Given that the speakers all seem to have the same size woofer, I can only wonder if the crossovers and cabinets are that much better.
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Identical drivers and crossover...only difference being the 5se has a slightly taller cabinet and a front port as opposed to the 3se's rear port. 3se's suffered from a slightly tubby sounding bass, the 5se's larger cabinet helps reduce that a bit.
 
I bought a pair of 5se for $60, and I can't complain one bit. Love the sound of these, they perform very well for what they are.
 
I have to agree with the above. The 5se are wonderful to listen to at low to moderate volume levels as long as you don't blast them. They are very musical and the temptation would be there to pump the volume up but it will only start to distort and sound thin after.
 
5se’s most definitely! I have the 11seMk2’s, The Studio Reference 20v.2’s with matching center channel and they are all excellent speakers! The cones and surrounds all seem to be very durable and they all age extremely well. The 11semk2’s are nearly 20 years old and all the drivers are in perfect working order with no need to refoam & seemingly no near future need either. The 20v.2’s are some of my favorite speakers I own! They are speakers I will never get rid of. Especially since I have mine with stands about 36” off the ground and biamped with 150WPC from a Marantz MM9000 going to both the highs and lows. Huge fan of Paradigm speakers.
 
There's a pair of 5se mk3 for sale locally - are they as good as the 5se? What's a good used price on a nice pair?
 
Lark said:
There's a pair of 5se mk3 for sale locally - are they as good as the 5se? What's a good used price on a nice pair?
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The 5se mk3 is a small tower with much better bass extension than the original 5se. If your looking at the ones on Canuckaudiomart I think they're overpriced...even if they're mint.
 
Na, these are on the local cl, for a buck and a half. I could prolly snag em for a buck. (With a couple goose eggs behind it.)
 
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