Paradigm Monitor 7 (Series 7) 3-driver, 2½-way Floorstanding Loudspeakers

Best Affordable Speaker Runner-up: Paradigm Monitor 7 "truly great sound on a budget" - Home Theater Review's 2011 Best Of Awards

Rome Wasn’t Built in A Day. Neither Was Monitor.
It took three emperors and 15 years to build Rome’s colosseum, architecture that still elicits awe centuries later. And while we’re not so bold as to compare the colosseum to the new Series 7, you have to admit the speakers look more than a little awesome in the backdrop of Ancient Rome.

Good architecture will stand up well over time, as will good sonic architecture. Our Monitor Series 7 is a classic example. Now in its seventh iteration, each new generation is an opportunity for refinement: design innovations from our higher-priced reference lineups, reference-quality component parts, cabinets and even finishes!

When it comes to getting value for your money, it doesn’t get better than Monitor Series 7. Since its inception, the Monitor Series has been a favourite of audiophiles on a budget — with Series 7, that hasn’t changed.

We can’t promise it will still be around in two thousand years, but we can promise it will play louder, plumb deeper, look smarter and sound better than any other brand in its price range.

Advanced S-Pal™ Satin-Anodized Pure-Aluminum Bass/Midrange Cones. First seen in our Paradigm Reference lineup, very high stiffness-to-mass ratio and outstanding internal damping. The result? Remarkable midrange clarity, superb extended bass response and freedom from unwanted resonances and distortions. In an affordable audio category – unbelieveable quality!

Advanced Carbon-Infused Injection-Molded Polypropylene Bass Cones. The high mineral content and injection-molding process have created a durable and rigid cone with affords us bragging rights for cone consistency and repeatability.

Advanced S-Pal Satin-Anodized Pure-Aluminum Domes with powerful neodymium magnets and ferro-fluid cooling for increased power handling! Highs are more soaring and spacious, crystal clear and undiluted even at the higher bandwidths.

Wire Mesh Tweeter Guard and WaveGuide. More Reference technology, ensuring a smooth, wide panorama of audiophile-quality sound. Wire mesh protection for the pure-aluminum tweeter.

Sophisticated crossovers in an affordable audiophile product! Again, it’s almost unheard of: polypropylene film or bipolar electrolytic capacitors, air core and laminated core inductors, high-power resistors. Crossover topologies are first and second-order with corresponding acoustic slopes of second and third-order providing optimal bandwidth and seamless integration as drivers cross over.

Long-Travel Motor/Magnet Structures. Despite fewer drivers than in previous series’, floorstanding and center channel speakers actually plumb deeper. This is, in part, attributable to the advanced motor/magnet structures: high-temperature copper or aluminum wire voice coils (varies by model) wound on Kapton formers, oversized magnets with all components FEA-optimized.

Foam-Rubber Elastomer Surrounds. Reference Studio Series geometry! Help achieve that play loud AND play deep effect by allowing longer, expertly controlled cone travel.

The new Monitor Series 7 baffle is a work of art – worthy of a spot in the arches of a colosseum. It boasts …

• A clean aesthetic, nothing to see but the the beautiful drivers, no screws or fasteners visible
• Thick and rigid ¾" MDF across the lineup
• FEA-optimised (including a stress analysis) to overcome the limitations of the physical materials.
• A modal frequency analysis allowed us to deliver the most resonance-, vibration- and coloration-free Monitor Series cabinet to date!
• Critically tuned to the rest of the cabinet

The Roman Plinth
New Monitor floorstanders sit on a plinth, a sleek  and secure base that provides stability for the slimmer footprint — an aesthetically pleasing columnar look.

Paradigm Monitor 7 (Series 7) 3-driver, 2½-way Floorstanding Loudspeakers Reviews

Best Affordable Speaker Runner-up: Paradigm Monitor 7 - Home Theater Review's 2011 Best Of Awards
Paradigm knows value and the new Monitor 7s take their dedication for bang-for-your-buck speakers to a new level. More refined, better drivers and a meaningful dealer network only start to suggest why Paradigm is such an industry leader ... these speakers call to anyone looking for truly great sound on a budget.

Home Theater Review by Andrew Robinson - Oct 2011
As for the Monitor 7's appearance, it is one that screams tailored versus budget for its clean lines, narrow profile and seamless, soft touch baffle give it a decidedly higher end look than its predecessors and competition. The new plinth that attaches to the bottom of the Monitor 7 also helps dress up what would otherwise be an unassuming box speaker.

There's even more good news when it comes to the Monitor 7's driver compliment. Starting with its five and a half inch Pure-Aluminum Bass/Midrange driver, which were introduced in Paradigm's costlier Reference speakers, the Monitor 7 is clearly the benefactor of Paradigm's trickle down philosophy.

My review pair of Monitor 7 loudspeakers arrived safely and securely despite FedEx's best attempts to damage them, evident in the various dents, gashes and slices found in both boxes. To say Paradigm packs their products well is an understatement for neither speaker suffered any damage despite the boxes being all but unusable for future travels.

... produced a strong, palpable center image that reached forward of the speakers' front baffles creating a slightly energetic presence.  On their own, the Monitor 7s sound a little lean, nothing too objectionable but nevertheless leaning towards the lean side of neutral. It's this tone or voicing that gives the Monitor 7 a very fast, dynamic demeanor; one that attempts to retrieve every detail and showcase it in a way few budget conscious speakers can.

Despite being a rather compact floorstanding loudspeaker, the Monitor 7s were outright explosive and so long as I kept the volume within reason (peaks below 95dB), they didn't compress at the extremes like so many other budget loudspeakers.

Turning my attention to the Monitor 7's high frequencies for a moment I found them to be extended and supple, though at higher volumes I was able to get them to act up. Again, in smaller to medium-sized rooms this is less of an issue, for when I moved the Monitor 7s into my bedroom for a quick listen, they seemed far more at home than when they were in my reference room.

In the smaller surroundings of my master bedroom the Monitor 7s absolutely shined. While there were many aspects of their performance that I liked from their brief stint in my reference system, there was much more to like when placed in a space more conducive to their size.

I'm not saying that the Monitor 7s can't handle volume, they most certainly can, but they're just designed for smaller spaces where you don't necessarily have to result to excessive volumes in order to hear and/or fill the space.  If your room is larger than, say, 250-300 square feet you're going to want to invest the extra money in one of the larger, floorstanding Monitor speakers such as the Monitor 9 or 11.

Also, it's best to view the Monitor 7s not as a floorstanding speaker (which they are), but more like a robust bookshelf speaker for they do require the use of a subwoofer in order to achieve full-range status. Adding a subwoofer will not only fill out the Monitor 7's low end performance but also aide in opening up its midrange and treble performance as well by taking some of the burden off the speaker as well as your amplifier.

Lastly, the Monitor 7 looks so much better with its magnetic grill off and in its Heritage Cherry finish. With the grill on and in black ash there is little to distinguish the Monitor 7 from other plain Jane loudspeakers, outside of its plinth of course, which is somewhat of a letdown, for in its cherry clothing and with the grill off the Monitor 7 looks decidedly up-market.

Playback Presented by AVguide by Chris Martens
PREVIEW of Monitor 11 (full review of each model to come) But until then, just know that the new Monitor Series 7 models are the best yet from Paradigm, and carry forward their tradition of sonic sophistication and value for money.

... in many way adopts technologies and design approaches previously seen only the firm’s more costly Reference Studio-series speakers.

In keeping with longstanding Paradigm practice, the changes seen in the new Monitor Series 7 range are more evolutionary than revolutionary, but when you make a bunch of small, positive changes in unison, the net effect can be surprisingly dramatic, as I discovered ... sound quite refined and sophisticated (if I heard them in the dark and was told they were Paradigm Studio models, I might well have believed that assertion).

... revealing enough to make child’s play of side-by-side comparisons between different DACs, making even very subtle differences between competing DACs easy to hear  ... remarkably easy to drive ... a really nice combination of bass extension, power and control.

Paradigm Monitor 7 (Series 7) 3-driver, 2½-way Floorstanding Loudspeakers Specifications

Design 3-driver, 2½-way bass reflex, quasi-3rd-order resistive port, floorstanding model
Crossovers 3rd-order electro-acoustic at 2.0 kHz, 3rd-order electro-acoustic at 700 Hz (lower bass drivers)
High-Frequency Driver 1" / 25mm S-PAL dome tweeter, ferro-fluid cooled and damped
Bass / Midrange Driver 5½" / 140-mm (5-1/2 in) S-PAL cone, 25-mm (1 in) high-temperature voice-coil, oversize ceramic / ferrite magnets, GRIP chassis
Bass Driver 140-mm (5-1/2 in) carbon-infused polypropylene cone, 25-mm (1 in) high-temperature voice-coil, oversize ceramic / ferrite magnets, GRIP chassis
Low-Frequency Extension 34 Hz (DIN; DIN 45 500. Indicates -3 dB in a typical listening room.)
Frequency Response:
On-Axis  ±2 dB from 48 Hz - 22 kHz
30° Off-Axis ±2 dB from 48 Hz - 18 kHz
Sensitivity - Room / Anechoic 91 dB / 88 dB
Suitable Amplifier Power Range 15 - 180 watts
Maximum Input Power 130 watts (With typical program source, provided the amplifier clips no more than 10% of the time.)
Impedance Compatible with 8 ohms
Dimensions (H x W x D) 91.6 x 17.5 x 22.9 cm (Height includes spikes and outrigger feet. Width excludes outrigger feet.)
Weight (unpacked) 14.8 kg

5 Year Warranty