Test of the PARADIGM Reference Studio 100 v4 speaker system

The Studio 100 v4 loudspeakers stand out for their detailed sound and dynamics and their exceptionally deep bass. Speakers do not have special genre preferences, but because of the original tonal balance of sounding, they reproduce energetic music with prominent dynamic contrasts in the most interesting way.

Test: Denis GONCHAROV, Consumer magazine.Video & Audio

Design

PARADIGM Canadian company launched the 4th generation of the Reference Studio line. In the new speakers the developers did not touch the design of the previous version, but they significantly revamped the MF/HF tweeter drivers.

The Studio 100 v4 models come in MDF enclosures of the same volume and construction as the Series 3 speakers. They use a 3-way electroacoustic crossover made up of 3rd order filters with 300 Hz and 2 kHz partition frequencies. HF and LF sections of the filters are physically separated and mounted on separate PCBs, wired internally using an oxygen-free copper cable.

Speakers equipped with a new G-PAL tweeter, inherited from the “older” Signature series. “The squeaker unit is equipped with a 25mm gold anodized aluminum dome. For voice coil cooling ferromagnetic fluid and Apical vented frame design. Tweeter motor uses dual ferrite ceramic magnets.

The chassis is cast aluminium and the rear driver section is fitted with an asymmetrically shaped damping box. The tweeter dome is enclosed by a solid board with a complex surface topography: a textured periphery on the pad serves to attenuate sound diffraction and an acoustic lens is built around the dome.

The new 178mm tweeter features a snow-white S-PAL diaphragm made of anodized aluminum. Massive aluminum bullet in the center of the cone dissipates heat and controls sound dispersion. The speaker comes with a cast aluminum chassis with a signature solid holder protruding from the front.

Layered voice coil driver has a diameter of 38 mm and is wound on a frame Apical. Metal damping shell with heat sink fins is attached to the back of the speaker motor to both eliminate unnecessary heat and act as a magnetic shield.

The Studio 100 v4 bass drivers are inherited from its predecessor. The three bass drivers are equipped with polypropylene cones with mineral additives, the membranes are made of butyl.

The cast aluminum chassis in the front carries the same overlay as the midrange driver and the bass driver has a bass reflex port with its signature metal bell. All speaker chassis are front plate-mounted using our proprietary IMS/Shock Mounting mechanical decoupling technology. The side-mounted feet of the speakers can be mounted on pointy spikes or rubber shock absorbers.

The Studio 100 v4 speaker cabinets come in a choice of two colors: a dark front panel paired with a cherry or burl walnut finish on the sides.

Sound

The tonal balance of the Studio 100 v4 is slightly sloped toward the lower frequencies, but the MF/HF range is subjectively perceived as perfectly even. The loudspeakers are pleased with fast, even nuanced sound and excellent dynamics across the whole spectrum, especially good dense, solid bass. Slight deceleration in the pulse work is only in the first octave. The middle of the canadas is not the most emotional, but one of the most detailed. Vocal parts sound with a cool undertone, but the speakers are able to show the performers’ artistry and the play of their voices. It means the Studio 100 v4 excels not with emotionality, but with a high technique.

The upgraded Studio 100 retains the clear and focused disco pattern inherited from the previous generation speakers. The top always sounds rather bright and expressive without any artificial smoothing, all the aftershocks and reverbs are worked out perfectly. At the same time, the new speakers have less “roughness” in the upper octaves and are less prone to sound harshness at high volume.

The Studio 100 v4 builds a very wide scene with excellent pattern localization in azimuth, the depth of stereo image is also good, but the far layers of the picture are not as de-talented as the front ones. The scale of images on the stage is slightly enlarged, all the contours are drawn clearly, so the speakers are able to play music of different genres and compositions, including orchestral.

Price

:

70 400 Dollars.

Measured at

No unusual features on the impedance curve related to extraneous resonances are noticeable. In the range of 90-100 Hz speaker impedance drops to 3.8 ohms, so the speakers require a fairly powerful amplifier. Maximum impedance in the MF/HF range is 12.1 ohms, reached at 1kHz.

The inverter tuning frequency is around 22Hz, which is an impressive value. On the axis the curve of AFC is within +/-3,5 dB at frequencies up to 17 kHz, thus the most even spectrum is exactly the HF, not counting the sharp increase in sensitivity in the last octave. The +/-3dB low end is fixed at 41Hz. Directivity diagram Studio 100 v4 wide, on the upper octaves of the axial and “angle” curves are almost the same level, a slight drop in sensitivity noticeable only in the MF HF crossover bands section.