To Roger Kanno,
I read a few of your reviews and have always valued your opinions. A few years ago I bought a pair of Energy Veritas V2.3i speakers after listening to them and the Paradigm Signature S2. I didn’t find the beryllium tweeter superior at the time; perhaps I couldn’t hear anything above 15kHz anyway. However, I am now very tempted by your review as you seemed to be saying that the Paradigm Reference Signature S6 v.3 sounds even better than the original S8.
I don’t know if you have heard of the Veritas line, but if you have, could you offer your opinion on whether the S6 that now costs double the price of my V2.3i back then will sound noticeably better? My room is small, only 12' x 20' x 8'. I don’t like speakers that may be purposely made to sound bright or warm and prefer speakers designed to be neutral and that would sound true to the original recording.
Best regards,
Shiu
I actually reviewed a home-theater system based on the Energy Veritas V2.3i a few years ago. One of the things that struck me about the V2.3i was how tight and articulate the bass response was, much like that of the Signature S6 v.3. And although I found the Veritas V2.3i to sound quite smooth through the mid and high frequencies, the beryllium tweeter of the S6 v.3 sounds a little smoother and sweeter and is on a par with some of the very best speakers available today. Note that the original Signatures did not have a beryllium tweeter, but instead had a gold-anodized aluminum tweeter.
I would characterize both speakers as sounding quite neutral and the sweetness that I described in the high frequencies of the S6 v.3 does nothing to detract from that. The S6 v.3 is a superior speaker to both the Veritas V2.3i and the original Signature S8. However, as you have noted, the S6 v.3 costs about twice as much as the Veritas V2.3i and nearly as much as the original S8.
It is up to you whether you think the additional performance is worth the price. The S6 v.3 is one of the finest speakers currently available at its price, but the original S8 and the Veritas V2.3i remain very good speakers. . . . Roger Kanno
