Paradigm Question

[ratatatwilly]

Hey all,
I am a newbie here so I apologize if I sound like an amateur. I found a pair of Paradigm LCR 450's at a local Thrift Store ($17 for the pair) and have had a hard time finding much information on them. One of the speakers was missing the bridge clips and they are a little banged up. I bought them because I thought that I could sell them and make a little coin but when I got them home they sounded really good that now i'm thinking about replacing my current speakers with these. I currently have a pair of JBL HLS 615 that I use with a Mirage Omni S10 and a Polk CS2 center channel (I have a cheap Onkyo TX 8020 and run the center channel off of "B"). I use my setup for TV, Movies, Music, ect. So my question is can these Paradigms be used like this? Should I go all in on the Paradigm's and sell the JBL's?

 

[mroboto]

Hello,

I really like my Paradigm 7SE (Slightly modified)

On yours, the 25mm (1 in) Paradigm tweeters are probably higher quality and heavy duty compared to 10mm Audax TW010E1 or TW010F1 JBL HLS series tweeter.

Maybe your woofers baskets are alloy , like on mine, better than pressed steel of the JBL.

 

[ratatatwilly]

Hi, firstly congrats on your find. Paradigm are very nice kit. When I was into HT I had all Denon and Paradigm: 11seMkIII, cc300, dipol surrounds, phantoms in the rear with a PS1200 sub. Personally, for mass market production units the Paradigm are better than the vast majority of other manufacturers like Polk, JBL etc. Where the competition stiffens for Paradigm, in my opinion, are the more 'hand crafted' 'audiophile' products.
In my opinion, use your ears. If you like the sound of the Paradigm over the others, than move the others on and put the money toward something else you desire. If you dropped Paradigm a note re: information on your specific model, I suspect they'd supply you with a pdf... heck they might even send you a new pair of jumpers just for being a cherished Paradigm customer..... Cheers and enjoy!

@MarZutra thanks for the info. I reached out to Paradigm so hopefully that can help me out. Thanks for that suggestion! These speakers look like centers but I think they sound great as fronts. Do you see a problem with that? I appreciate all of y'alls help!

 

[ratatatwilly]

Hello,

I really like my Paradigm 7SE (Slightly modified)

On yours, the 25mm (1 in) Paradigm tweeters are probably higher quality and heavy duty compared to 10mm Audax TW010E1 or TW010F1 JBL HLS series tweeter.

Maybe your woofers baskets are alloy , like on mine, better than pressed steel of the JBL.

Thanks for that info @mroboto !

 

[Tom Bombadil]

That was a great deal. The Paradigm LCR450 is a quality speaker. Only caveat is that Paradigm designed these to be across the front of a HT system, and set up to be "small" speakers, with an 80Hz cutoff. The 450 naturally rolls off at 70Hz, so it won't have much deeper bass. When used with a subwoofer, they are quite nice.

 

[classic carl]

In the first photo, as you mentioned, one of the jumpers is missing from the binding posts. You'll need to find a jumper or you can make one from speaker wire.

 

[ratatatwilly]

In the first photo, as you mentioned, one of the jumpers is missing from the binding posts. You'll need to find a jumper or you can make one from speaker wire.

Yeah, I got it rigged with some speaker wire right now. Hopefully Paradigm can hook me up with a jumper. It doesn't matter which terminal the speaker wire goes into as long as they're bridged together right?

 

[ratatatwilly]

That was a great deal. The Paradigm LCR450 is a quality speaker. Only caveat is that Paradigm designed these to be across the front of a HT system, and set up to be "small" speakers, with an 80Hz cutoff. The 450 naturally rolls off at 70Hz, so it won't have much deeper bass. When used with a subwoofer, they are quite nice.

Thanks @Tom Bombadil! Yeah I have a sub paired with them too and am pretty stoked with the sound.

 

[classic carl]

Yeah, I got it rigged with some speaker wire right now. Hopefully Paradigm can hook me up with a jumper. It doesn't matter which terminal the speaker wire goes into as long as they're bridged together right?

Correct. If you have a pair of bi-wire speaker cables, you can remove the jumpers and connect to each terminal.

 

[totem]

This model LCR-450 and the original version for use as a center, yes there was a different cabinet designed 450 model
which was wedge shaped same drivers etc and short lived, were a transition to there higher priced up scale aspirations,
and a blip in history.

Initially you would use the LCR-450 L & R and the wedge cabinet version can't recall model but very similar, with a sub. It was found that the LCR-450's sounded better due to cabinet volume and people started to want 3 of the same style L-R & center.

 

[toxcrusadr]

http://www.paradigm.com/support/manuals-literature.php

Interesting they show an LCR-350 but not 450. And the 350 manual only has setup and usage info, nothing about specs even. I hope they can dig up more on the 450 and get it posted on their site.

It looks like a nice speaker. Are those both active woofers or active + passive?

Curious how you get a center channel off of 'B'. You would either have to run left or right, which is not truly a center channel, or mix them somehow. If you are using this system as home theater, you might want to look for a surround receiver or a surround processor.

 

[ratatatwilly]

This model LCR-450 and the original version for use as a center, yes there was a different cabinet designed 450 model
which was wedge shaped same drivers etc and short lived, were a transition to there higher priced up scale aspirations,
and a blip in history.

Initially you would use the LCR-450 L & R and the wedge cabinet version can't recall model but very similar, with a sub. It was found that the LCR-450's sounded better due to cabinet volume and people started to want 3 of the same style L-R & center.

Wow @totem, that's very interesting. Thanks for that insight. That's pretty much how I plan to use them, only I don't have the center channel, I'm using a Polk center channel instead.

 

[mroboto]

With Paradigm specs you also have to look to.

Low Frequency Extension 45Hz (DIN)

45Hz looks better than 70

 

[ratatatwilly]

http://www.paradigm.com/support/manuals-literature.php

Interesting they show an LCR-350 but not 450. And the 350 manual only has setup and usage info, nothing about specs even. I hope they can dig up more on the 450 and get it posted on their site.

It looks like a nice speaker. Are those both active woofers or active + passive?

Curious how you get a center channel off of 'B'. You would either have to run left or right, which is not truly a center channel, or mix them somehow. If you are using this system as home theater, you might want to look for a surround receiver or a surround processor.

@toxcrusadr honestly I really don't know. The only way that I knew what model I had was by taking the terminal plate off. Yeah I'm just running the center channel off of "Right". I had an old Fisher Studio Standard Stereo receiver that sounded great but crapped out on me so I tried to stick with just a plain ole' stereo receiver instead of going with a Surround Receiver because I feel like that would sound fuller. I'd really like a tube amp to run all of this through. Ok, thanks for that advice on the surround processor.

 

[toxcrusadr]

There might be a way to synthesize the center channel but I can't remember the details. Either the center, or the rears, are a 'difference' signal created by subtracting left from right. What's left goes out that channel. Whether there is a way to do this low-tech, I don't know. You might search around on it. What you're listening to now is mangled up stereo, if I may be so bold.

Lots of people run HT and 2-channel audio using the same front main speakers. You could have a 2-channel tube rig for music and a surround receiver for HT. It's the best of both worlds. You would have to have a speaker switch for the front mains to switch them between sources.

Lots of options to ponder. That's what makes it fun.

 

[ratatatwilly]

There might be a way to synthesize the center channel but I can't remember the details. Either the center, or the rears, are a 'difference' signal created by subtracting left from right. What's left goes out that channel. Whether there is a way to do this low-tech, I don't know. You might search around on it. What you're listening to now is mangled up stereo, if I may be so bold.

Lots of people run HT and 2-channel audio using the same front main speakers. You could have a 2-channel tube rig for music and a surround receiver for HT. It's the best of both worlds. You would have to have a speaker switch for the front mains to switch them between sources.

Lots of options to ponder. That's what makes it fun.

Thanks Tox! Yeah, that makes sense. I don't know why I didn't think about that before but that makes a ton of sense. I was mainly just trying to boost the mid's because you couldn't really hear them with my old setup and the JBL's. I appreciate everyone's help and input on here! These speakers have been hard to find anything out on but I think that i'm going to stick with them.

 

[totem]

I did own 3 of the LCR-450's and ran them as L-R center, at the time there was little info on the series and only a passing mention of the
wedge/angled cabinet of the original center, of which I did see a picture, the model of the center channel might have been CC-450.

I still have 1 of the LCR-450's with the box and use it as a center, if you find one reasonable buy it.

 

[toxcrusadr]

After snooping around about your gear...the JBL HLS are 88 db/w very insensitive speakers, paired with a 50 wpc receiver. You may have a power shortage there. Good that you have a separate sub as the HLS don't dig very deep and if they did they would suck that Onkyo dry. I don't know the specs on the Paradigm, probably similar to the 350 model, and I bet they are several db more sensitive. So they might do much better with the Onkyo. I'm not sure why the JBLs would have anemic midrange but it may just be how the two interact. Or you just like a lot of midrange.

 

[ratatatwilly]

After snooping around about your gear...the JBL HLS are 88 db/w very insensitive speakers, paired with a 50 wpc receiver. You may have a power shortage there. Good that you have a separate sub as the HLS don't dig very deep and if they did they would suck that Onkyo dry. I don't know the specs on the Paradigm, probably similar to the 350 model, and I bet they are several db more sensitive. So they might do much better with the Onkyo. I'm not sure why the JBLs would have anemic midrange but it may just be how the two interact. Or you just like a lot of midrange.

@toxcrusadr i appreciate you checking that out for me. Yeah, it's definitely probably the receiver. I need to get something else that has some umph to it. At the time I just something affordable that I could use a remote with. Any recommendations for a 2.1 system?

 

[ratatatwilly]

I did own 3 of the LCR-450's and ran them as L-R center, at the time there was little info on the series and only a passing mention of the
wedge/angled cabinet of the original center, of which I did see a picture, the model of the center channel might have been CC-450.

I still have 1 of the LCR-450's with the box and use it as a center, if you find one reasonable buy it.

@totem will do man. I'm very pleased with these. Thanks!