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Paradigm Reference Signature S8 / C5 / ADP / Servo Home Theater Speaker System
Author: Roger Kanno - www.hometheatersound.com | Source: signature.paradigm.com
Setup | page - 1 2 3 4
Setting up the Reference Signature system was relatively easy; it required little adjustment to achieve optimal performance. Although the S8s are quite large, they didn’t seem oversensitive to room placement, so long as I gave them enough space. I placed them a couple of feet from the rear and side walls and toed them in slightly. Due to its large size, the C5 center-channel was placed on an 18"-high Premiere J18C stand provided by Paradigm. The ADPs ended up on 4’ stands in the usual positions for surrounds in my room: to the sides and slightly behind the listening position. And to achieve the best bass integration, I put the Servo along a side wall, a little farther forward of where I usually place subs.
Reference Signature sound
 The sound of the Paradigm Reference Signature speaker system was spectacular. Not only were there few if any shortcomings, but in many areas of performance it exceeded my expectations for speakers at anywhere near the price.
Take, for instance, the DTS soundtrack of Saving Private Ryan. The Signatures’ clear and open sound and seemingly unlimited dynamics gave me a renewed sense of admiration for this often punishing but finely crafted soundtrack. The sounds of machine guns and ejected shell casings in the early scenes on the Normandy beach were so cleanly reproduced that the sense of realism was startling. There was an excellent sense of depth and layering in all directions; far-off voices were easily discernible in all channels even as explosions repeatedly shook the room. In the final battle scene, as the Germans close in on Captain Miller and his men, the bass from the rumbling tanks totally engulfed the room while remaining tight and responsive, never boomy or excessive.
The integration of the Signature system was amazingly coherent reproducing my reference disc for multichannel music, the DTS CD of Boyz II Men’s II [Motown/DTS 71021-51001-2-8]. Each voice was exquisitely detailed, pristinely reproduced in each channel. In fact, the ADP surrounds and C5 center were on a par with the spectacular S8s. The system gave the wonderfully recorded vocals a spine-tingling quality no matter what channel they emanated from. A perfect example of the seamless 360-degree soundstage was the shaker on "I’ll Make Love to You," which moved effortlessly from front to rear without ever changing timbre.
Although I’ve described the Signature system as sounding incredibly clear and detailed, it did not sound lean or bright in any way. The piano on the SACD of Diana Krall’s The Girl in the Other Room [Verve B0002293-36] was rich and solid, and her voice had a smoky, sultry quality while remaining finely detailed and sounding totally natural. Christian McBride’s bass in "Temptation" was deep, the body of the instrument resonating warmly, but its image was also tight and precise, slightly back in the soundstage.
The Signature system was extremely neutral in the best possible sense of the word, with a transparent yet musical sound, as well as the power handling and dynamics to easily reproduce even the most extreme movie soundtrack. And while the Signatures could play incredibly loud without strain, they didn’t seem to be a particularly difficult load -- my 120Wpc Bel Canto eVo6 amplifier played them as loudly as I could stand.
Also contributing to the system’s tremendous sense of power was the Signature Servo subwoofer, which took control of my listening room with absolute authority. Even though it’s relatively small, the Servo never ceased to amaze me with its low-frequency extension, lack of distortion, and sheer quantity of output. The complex bass rhythms of the DVD-Audio disc of the Blue Man Group’s Audio [Virgin 4 77893 9] were reproduced with incredible pitch definition and clarity, even at ridiculously high levels -- and the "Heartbeat" test tracks from Dr. Chesky’s 5.1 Surround Show [Chesky CHDVD272], also on DVD-A, were downright scary. The 50Hz tone was incredibly loud yet controlled, while the 20Hz tone was just as "loud" but extremely visceral, more felt than heard. The almost complete lack of audible distortion was remarkable.
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