We’ve got a lot going on these days at AE! Much of the new excitement is from Paradigm.

     As you may well know Paradigm is a proudly held family company from Canada that started in 1982. Paradigm has earned the reputation of making among the best speakers at bargain prices. For example, even the classic Atom that has run $219pr used a cast frame woof and nice ceramic tweet with heavy magnet. The Atom has been a classic small speaker that has largely embarrassed its similarly priced competition. The other guys out there use stamped frame drivers and tiny little magnets at this price point. They have little beef to their sound! The Atom has always been full and powerful.

     Paradigm has just upgraded and condensed its ENTIRE LINE! I’ve sold Paradigm since about 1990 and even I couldn’t keep all their models straight! They had too many series and options. While there were mostly winners in the line, there were a few price point fillers along the way. This very welcome upgrade simplifies and IMPROVES everything.

     The new Monitor Series replaces the old Monitor AND Performance models. There are fewer speakers. They’ve made distinct improvements in technology and model choices. If you download our most recent catalog on the site and go to p. 6&7, you’ll get the gory details. But I’ll give you some of the tinsel here.

     The just introduced Monitor Series has a new Titanium Tweeter throughout. The sound is lighter and more open than before. It’s a nice improvement in air and imaging. But the coolest thing about these speakers is the new mid/woof. Paradigm is incorporating a Santoprene surround material which is overmolded at the molecular level to the driver cone. The result is a dramatically faster and more efficient sound. These guys are so easy to drive that any garden variety receiver will do a nice job with them! Given all the superstore receivers out there that say they have 100 w/ch (but are actually 30w when you blow away the smoke!), these new Paradigms will give much improved sound.

     They sound fine out of the box but after a couple hours of breaking in, the bass gets deeper and they really warm up. As good as Paradigm has always been, these speakers are much better.

     Paradigm is also thinking about size/performance issues. In the past the model 7 and 9 were a little wide and boxy by today’s standards. The new 7 & 9 are lean and sleek. The new 7 in particular will provide the attractive look that SHE wants, but still give you real sound. What I like about this is… these are not “lifestyle” speakers. Lifestyle speakers look nice and sound lousy. They’re typically ABS plastic or tin cabinets that sound like big clock radios. The larger they are, the worse they sound! The new 7 produces powerful bass that you couldn’t imagine coming from this size enclosure. Well, it’s not magic. It’s just the physics of a thick walled cabinet with edge of the art driver technology. When we play them for customers they always think we’ve got a subwoofer on too!

     The new Atom (5 ½ mid/woof) and Mini (6 ½” mid/woof) are outstanding small bookshelf speakers. The Titan (7 ½” mid/woof) has been redesigned to be a large bookshelf speaker. The 7 (5 ½” mid and woofs), 9 (6 ½” mids & woofs) and 11 (7 ½” mids & woofs) round out the line. There are matching centers.

     Paradigm introduces two new killer subs as well- the UltraCubes. The UltraCube 10 at $799 and UltraCube 12 at $999 are as small as you can get to house drivers with real testosterone. Both have 650w amps which really pack a wallop!

Panasonic Pro Plasmas- FIVE YEAR WARRANTY!

     How serious is Panasonic about its confidence in the Pro Line?! They have a one month special- any Panasonic Pro Plasma purchased from us in December has a FIVE YEAR WARRANTY, parts and labor! With picture quality and flexibility (optional input card construction) pushing the tip of the top- what a great time to snare a Panasonic Pro Plasma!

Tivoli Music Systems

     Tivoli has just shipped its new Digital Music System featured on p. 21 of our new catalog. It’s cute and compact. But don’t forget you can still get Tivoli’s Model Two with CD and SUB. That whole package runs $480 and is a superior sonic package with bass and separation. If you could use some music in your bedroom or computer goof-off room, the Tivoli packages will impress you!

Compact Discs

     I know there are lots of places to buy CDs out there. But don’t forget us. We have classical music and specialize in boxed sets.

     Many customers say they enjoy classical music but don’t know enough about it to know what to buy. Try going over to the discount stores or the big book stores to get some advice. You’ll be lucky if they can find the Beethoven section for you!

     Being a die hard classical lover I can get a handle on your tastes and recommend some CDs that will send you down the right path. One thing will lead to another and pretty soon your collection will abound with gems!