Floorstanding loudspeakers — Paradigm Electronics Monitor SE 6000F

Paradigm Electronics offers the Monitor SE 6000F as the middle of three towers in its Monitor SE series, between the 4-driver Monitor SE 3000F at USD 429.99 each and the Monitor SE 8000F. It is a passive 5-driver, 3-way bass reflex design listed at USD 599.99 each, offered in Matte Black or Gloss White. The narrow cabinet is 18 cm wide, 105 cm tall and 36 cm deep, and each speaker weighs 19.9 kg.

Key specs that matter

The on-axis response is specified as 53 Hz to 21 kHz within plus or minus 3 dB, while the 30 degree off-axis measurement runs from 40 Hz to 17 kHz within the same tolerance. Low frequency extension by the DIN method reaches 43 Hz. Sensitivity is listed as 93 dB in a room and 90 dB anechoic, and the nominal load is described as compatible with 8 ohm amplifiers. The suitable amplifier range is 15 to 130 watts, and the maximum input is 100 watts.

Engineering and use context

At the top of the baffle, a 25 mm X-PAL dome tweeter is damped and cooled with ferrofluid and fitted with a patented Perforated Phase-Aligning lens, described by the maker as working like a refined phase plug that stops many out-of-phase frequencies. The dome is pure aluminium. Below it sits a 140 mm midrange with a mineral-filled polypropylene cone, a downroll surround and an inverted dust cap. Bass is shared by three further 140 mm drivers built the same way, with mineral-filled polypropylene cones, inverted dust caps and downroll surrounds, so every cone in the cabinet has the same diameter, and Paradigm describes these cones as lightweight and rigid. The company states that materials and patented technologies in the Monitor SE line come from research carried out jointly with the Canadian National Research Council. Division is done by a second order electro-acoustic network with points at 800 Hz, between the woofers and the midrange, and at 3.0 kHz, between the midrange and the tweeter.

Pairing

The moderate recommended power range points to modest stereo integrated amplifiers or AV receivers, and the easy load does not ask for amplifiers built for low impedances. For a multichannel system the same series includes the 3-driver, 2-way Monitor SE 2000C center channel at USD 299.99 each, the 2-way Monitor SE Atom bookshelf at USD 399.98 per pair, and the Surround 1 and Surround 3 models.

Alternatives

The Monitor SE 8000F is the bigger tower in the Monitor SE line, using three 8 inch woofers and a 6.5 inch midrange and listed at USD 999.99 each.