Paradigm Reference Signature S8 6-driver, 3-way Floorstanding Speakers v3

No 7 in Audiophile Review's "The 25 Ultimate Audiophile Speakers of All Time"

"... a great alternative for audiophiles who don’t want to compromise on performance, but who also don’t want to spend a ridiculous amount of money ... soar into the stratosphere while keeping your budget firmly grounded." Jeff Fritz, Ultra Audio

The third series of Paradigm's Signature speaker range were designed to improve on the previous model's supreme accuracy to create the ultimate in music and home theatre sound. The Reference Signature S8 v3 is the top speaker in Paradigm's top line.

The pinnacle of Paradigm’s lineup, Signature speakers are a medium for music, an open window on the original performance. They take us from the mundane to the magical, beyond the ordinary to the extraordinary. They are a reflection of character. Not the sonic character of the speaker, since speakers claiming to be the finest must be devoid of acoustic personality. Rather, the finest speakers deliver an intimate unfolding of the songwriter’s mood, the composer’s message, the director’s vision. They allow us to feel the music, hear the magic, and see through the mind’s eye, into the very heart of the performance.

• 1 x 1" / 25mm Gold Anodised Dome Tweeter: Dual Neodymium Ring Magnets Ferro-Fluid Cooling, Die Cast Heat Sink Chassis.
• 1 x 7" / 178mm Mirange Driver: Co-PAL™ Cone, ferro-fluid damped / cooled, ATC™ chambers with 38mm Voice Coil.
• 4 x 7" / 178mm Bass Drivers: Mineral Filled Polypropylene Cone, Overmolded NLC™ surrounds with 38mm Voice Coil.

For the ultimate in music and home theatre, there is no more sonically coherent choice than Paradigm Reference Signature … revealing everything the artist intended.

"the Paradigm S8s were simply breathtaking" Home Theater Review

About the Paradigm Reference Signature Series

"flawless ... utterly pure ... completely transparent ... beautifully articulated ... magnificent" Doug Schneider, Soundstage!

Paradigm Signature speakers deliver truly high-end performance that are unmatched regarding their technical design. The version 3 models, which feature elevated output of an impressive three dB, include redesigned bass/midrange and bass drive units that reassert the line as the value and performance leader among reference quality speakers.

Thousands of "no-holds-barred" Paradigm research and engineering hours went into developing the Signature Series v.3 speakers, which are the highest-output, most dynamic high-end loudspeakers ever produced.

Contributing to v.3's 50% increase in output are extensive modifications to the bass/midrange drive units. Bass/midrange drivers are fitted with extreme low-density NLCTM (Non-Limiting Corrugated) TPE surrounds, FEA-optimised and overmolded onto the cone.

The state-of-the-art surround material is 10 times more effective than standard thermoplastic elastomers in damping vibrations and resonances and the new corrugated design has increased peak-to-peak cone excursion from 20-mm in earlier versions to a full 30-mm.

A new long-stroke split-coil motor system takes advantage of the extreme excursion by doubling the linear portion of the stroke without requiring a larger magnet. The redesigned motor also keeps mass and inductance of the voice coil low for breathtaking midrange clarity.

Bass cones on Signature v.3 speakers were re-engineered for increased stiffness and better equipped for higher output with new NLCTM  SantopreneTM surrounds. To support the extended excursion, the motor structure was also redesigned, increasing the linear portion of the stroke through voice coils almost double the original in length. New core parts including a yoke and pole piece were retooled and FEA-optimized and even the magnets were thickened to accommodate double-distance cone travel.

Value-conscious audiophiles will appreciate the option of Paradigm Reference G-PALTM (gold-plated pure-aluminum) dome tweeters on the compact S1, C1 and ADP1 models, making the Reference Signature experience even more attainable.

The following information looks at some of the highlights of these stunning speakers.

P-Be™ Pure-Beryllium Tweeter Domes: Pure beryllium was chosen for its exceptional thermal, physical and mechanical properties: lighter than diamond or aluminum with unmatched rigidity. Response is instantaneous and extraordinarily uniform. Elevating the dome promoted optimal off-axis dispersion.

ARB™ Aperiodic Resonance Breakup Fins: Die-cast aluminum fins in rear damping chamber capture and quickly disperse residual internal resonances, rendering them inert.

Co-PAL™ Cobalt-Infused Anodized Pure-Aluminum Bass / Midrange Cones: Combine high stiffness-to-mass with superior internal damping for exceptional accuracy. The result is smooth, completely uncolored frequency response.

Paradigm Reference Signature S8 6-driver, 3-way Floorstanding Speakers v3 Reviews

Audiophile Review - Oct 2011

The 25 Ultimate Audiophile Speakers of All Time - No. 7: Paradigm Reference Signature S8 - Total Score 166 / 200

When it comes to audiophile grade floorstanding loudspeakers, names like Revel, Wilson Audio and Bowers & Wilkins are often dropped – but at one third the price, the Paradigm Reference Signature S8s hang right in there with the 800s and WATT Puppies of the world. While the S8s might not pack the “audiophile mystique” of speakers costing three times the price – they have the performance. For those looking for no-holds-barred performance from a slim, gorgeous speaker that won’t ruin your IRA – take a serious look at the Paradigm S8s.

Aussie Hi Fi Note: the Number 1 speaker on the list, the Wilson Audio WATT Puppy Sasha, scored 175 out of 200, bust costs $44,950/pair. In fact, the average cost of the top 6 speakers is $115,325 a pair.

The 5th on the list has the exact same score as the Signature S8, but costs 5 times more.  Just something to think about.

The Audio Beat by Marc Mickelson - May 2010
... acutely designed to achieve certain sonic characteristics, including wide dispersion, low distortion, low coloration and wide bandwidth.

At Paradigm, drivers drive the speaker-design process. They are the building blocks of every model, and each is a Paradigm creation. The drivers for the Signature series are the most ambitious the company has ever made. The 1" P-Be tweeter is a technical marvel. Its pure-beryllium dome offers a sympathetic combination of extremely low mass and high rigidity. However, beryllium's brittleness means it's a very difficult material to work with, especially if you're making small speaker parts from it, but Paradigm has been able to do so nonetheless.

It would not be boasting to say that the P-Be tweeter is one of the most advanced high-frequency drivers ever made.

The S8v3's midrange and woofers are no less ambitious ... instead of the midrange and tweeter output being padded down to match that of the woofers, all of the drivers are used to their full output capabilities.

The first thing to know about the S8 v3 -- or any Paradigm speaker -- is that its grille is not a mere cosmetic enhancement. Paradigm speakers were designed to be used with their grilles on. The grilles are low in diffraction, minimizing interference from the cabinet, and the Controlled Waveguide helps the speakers achieve their wide, uniform dispersion. Most of all, you can easily hear the advantage of using the grilles.

Its fleet, uncolored sound lends itself to timbral accuracy and harmonic liveliness, and the space a pair of S8 v3s can re-create when set up properly is the domain of much more expensive competitors. The Signature S8 v3 proves that Paradigm's well-engineered speakers are as serious at reproducing music as they are dialog and car crashes.

It is probably debatable as to the Signature S8 v3's most noteworthy design feature, but in sonic terms it's the beryllium tweeter. It combines the stop-start speed of a ribbon with the transient launch of a metal dome and the sweetness of a silk dome. It imparted convincing airiness, body and delineation, along with the quick pace of even the busiest music.

The transition from tweeter to midrange was handled well, the two drivers sounding like one. This is vital to suspending disbelief, a poor transition or sonically mismatched drivers ruining any possibility of achieving realism ... You can put on your most challenging vocal recordings and the Signature S8 v3 will reveal the totality of their performance without imposing a clumsy disposition of its own, even into the midrange's lowest registers.

This leads to another of the S8 v3's strengths: retrieval of musical detail. Here, it's not just a matter of how much the speakers convey, but how much and with what qualities, the tweeter paying explicit dividends. Recording after recording, I was impressed with the Signature S8 v3's information-rich presentation and the easy way the speakers presented it. Their great resolving power was unemphasized and unforced, the speakers sounding fast but uninsistent.

The S8 v3 not only revealed all of the nuance of this nuance-driven music, it did so with a combination of transient snap and subtle fluidity, both of which were part of the recording. In other words, the speakers were conduits for the music, and very effective ones.

The depth of the S8 v3's bass was impressive -- reaching a point where it may make your walls rattle. There was nothing excessive about it, especially the expression of detail -- the delineation of a bass line or shifting of pitch. Its depth was often easier to feel than hear.

While the perception of Paradigm as a company whose speakers are used primarily for home theater may exist for a valid reason, it obscures the exceptional performance of the Signature S8 v3 with what we audiophiles like to call music. There is a great deal to admire about Paradigm's best-of-the-best effort, including a dazzling treble region, thanks to one special tweeter, a well-integrated midrange, and nimble, deep bass. Diligently set up, these speakers convey space, including height information, better than most, and better than some that cost many times their price, and they transport you into the unique sonic world of each recording in an exhilarating way.

Golden-eared audiophiles, and especially the audio press, need to hear these speakers, perhaps again and again, so that the music-making abilities of Paradigm speakers sink in.

Home Theater Review by Jerry Del Colliano Sept 2011
Paradigm's Reference Signature S8 v3 (S8) loudspeaker is about as well designed as any speaker on the planet. I've personally seen the master craftsmen just outside of Toronto making the drivers, including its one-inch state-of-the-art Beryllium tweeter.

You could talk about the S8 versus other loudspeakers in the same price range but the Paradigms simply wipe the floor with nearly every player in that part of the market on most levels. I prefer to up the ante and compare them to the lofty likes of Revel, Magico, Wilson Audio and the big boys. While Paradigm's Reference Signature S8 may not come with the same panache, they do come with the sound and for many that is all that matters.

... the Paradigm Signature S8 is possibly the best value in high-end loudspeakers period.

Paradigm Reference Signature S8 6-driver, 3-way Floorstanding Speakers v3 Specifications

Design 6-driver, 3-way floorstanding
Crossover 3rd-order electro-acoustic at 2.0 kHz;
 2nd-order electro-acoustic at 230 Hz (bass drivers)
High-Frequency Driver 25-mm (1 in) P-Be™ dome, ferro-fluid damped / cooled, rear damping chamber with ARB™ fins and integrated heatsink, dual super-neodymium ring magnets, die-cast heatsink chassis, IMS/SHOCK-MOUNT™
Midrange Driver  178-mm (7 in) Co-PAL™ cone, ferro-fluid damped / cooled, ATC™ chambers,
 38-mm (1-1/2 in) dual-layer voice-coil, super-neodymium ring magnets, AVS™ die-cast heatsink chassis, IMS/SHOCK-MOUNT™
Bass Driver Four 178-mm (7 in) mineral-filled polypropylene cones, overmolded NLC™ surrounds, 38-mm (1-1/2 in) four-layer long-excursion voice-coils, massive hard ferrite magnets, AVS™ die-cast heatsink chassis, IMS/SHOCK-MOUNT™
Low-Frequency Extension* 24 Hz (DIN: DIN 45 500. Indicates -3 dB in a typical listening room.)
Frequency Response:
 On-Axis `±2 dB from 39 Hz - 45 kHz
 30° Off-Axis ±2 dB from 39 Hz - 20 kHz
Sensitivity - Room / Anechoic 92 dB / 89 dB
Suitable Amplifier Power Range 15 - 150 watts
Maximum Input Power† 250 watts
Impedance Compatible with 8 ohms
Dimensions (H x W x D) 123.2 x 21.0 x 52.1 cm (includes spikes and outrigger feet, widths do not include feet)
Weight (Unpacked) 45.3 kg