Paradigm Announces Founder Series Six-Model Loudspeaker Range
Canadian audio specialists, Paradigm have today announced its latest range it calls Founder Series.
The six-model Paradigm Founder lineup offers a range of premium speakers is said to deliver high-end performance for both hi-fi and home cinema systems.
Drawing on over 40 years of Paradigm innovation and evolution, Founder is the first completely new speaker line to be introduced since Paradigm founder Scott Bagby reacquired the company two years ago.
The new range brings a host of new technologies to its driver designs, cabinet construction and even the hardware that holds it all together. Designed and manufactured at Paradigm's state-of-the-art facility in Toronto, Canada, the new series includes three floorstanders, the Founder 80F, Founder 100F, and the hybrid active/passive Founder 120H, which also boasts ARC Genesis room correction. These are joined by the Founder 40B standmount, Founder 90C centre and Founder 70LCR, which can be installed vertically or horizontally.
Naturally, the flagship Founder 120H gets all Paradigm's latest technologies starting with a 1-inch AL-MAC (aluminium, magnesium and ceramic) dome tweeter with OSW waveguide and patented PPA lens. This is joined by a 7-inch midrange AL-MAG (aluminium and magnesium) cone with a Resonance Mitigation Coupler, PPA Lens and 2-inch high-temp voice coil. Finally, three 8-inch ultra-high-excursion CARBON-X (mineral-infused carbon fibre moulded as a single piece ) Cones with Active Ridge Technology (ART) Surrounds are driven by an integrated 1,000-watt amplifier. The built-in ARC Genesis Room Correction delivers controlled bass down to 18Hz. The overall quoted frequency range for the 120H is an impressive ±2dB 22 Hz-23 kHz with an in-room sensitivity of 95 dB.
All of the range shares the same AL-MAC tweeter rated to 23kHz with the Founder 40B compact standmounter pairing it with a 6-inch AL-MAG mid-bass driver in its cabinet that's less than 20cm wide but still manages a stated on-axis frequency range of ±2dB 69 Hz-23 kHz. To this recipe, the Founder 80F floorstander adds a pair of 6-inch Ultra-High-Excursion CARBON-X bass drivers, enabling its 2.5-way design to reach down to a claimed 28Hz. Next in line is the Founder 100F, which tops the 80F by not only adding another Ultra-High-Excursion CARBON-X driver, but all three are 7-inch versions.
The Founder 90C centre channel loudspeaker (below) is a full-range centre that can play down to 47Hz in-room. Again, the same 1-inch AL-MAC dome tweeter with OSW waveguide and PPA lens is used, but here it's mounted coaxially in a 7-inch AL-MAG midrange driver. This array is then flanked by two 7-inch CARBON-X bass drivers, and two 7-inch passive radiators with Active Ridge Technology (ART) surrounds. The result is a quoted on-axis frequency range of ±2dB 55 Hz-23 kHz.
Finally, the Founder 70LCR, as its name suggests, can be used vertically in a two-channel system or as a surround unit or as a centre channel speaker and laid horizontally. Once more, you have a coaxially mounted 1-inch AL-MAC tweeter in a 7-inch AL-MAG driver, which is bolstered by a pair of 5.5-inch CARBON-X bass drivers.
All models are available in a choice of four artisan-grade finishes – Walnut or Black Walnut fine-quality wood veneer and Midnight Cherry or Piano Black high gloss.
Commenting on the new range, Scott Bagby, Founder and CEO of Paradigm, told StereoNET:
The Founder Series is a strong accomplishment for Paradigm. We are combining an iconic design, sound that has astounding clarity along with a delicate and believable realism, and a sonic impact that will send shivers down your spine. I am immensely proud of our development teams' devotion to produce a line that clearly exceeds all expectations.
Paradigm's Founder Series is expected to be available in April priced as follows per pair but can be bought individually: Founder 40B is £2,400, Founder 80F costs £3,800, Founder 100F is £5,400, and the Founder 120H is priced at £8,600. The Founder 70LCR and Founder 90C are £1,700 and £2,700 each, respectively.
For more information visit Paradigm
Marc Rushton
StereoNET’s Founder and Publisher was born in England and raised on British Hi-Fi before moving to Australia. He developed an early love of music and playing bass guitar before discovering the studio and the other side of the mixing desk. After writing for print magazines, Marc saw the future in digital publishing and founded the first version of StereoNET in 1999.
Posted in: Hi-Fi | Home Theatre
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