This Might Be The Only Speaker You Need! Paradigm Founder 120H Audiophile Speaker Review 

*Thank you for stopping by ! The High Gloss Finish is probably the most glossiest finish I have seen ! I have to admit I had some trouble getting some small dust and finger prints off. I'm definitely going for the walnut but I hope paradigm starts offerings non-gloss versions of this finish because it's gorgeous* Paradigm 120H: www.paradigm.com/en/floorstanding/founder-120h Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/jayiyagi follow on Instagram: instagram.com/jays_iyagi/ follow on Facebook: facebook.com/jayiyagiofficial Follow soundstage take 2 reviews: ru-vid.com/group/PLPOzvlhtSqn5xdc__ftuSt4Rxy_wm5Af0 Speaker stands: amzn.to/3ssRhI3 Better speaker stands: solidsteel.it/my-product/ss-7-vintage-hi-fi-speaker-stands/ acoustic panels I use: ua-acoustics.com/ acoustic curtain: amzn.to/31d1zAM BDI Cabinet I use: bit.ly/2OJRwQQ amzn.to/3chBuFZ other BDI Cabinets: bit.ly/3ctxXV1 amzn.to/30bsUCH my fav hifi tweaks: (Isoacoustics devices) amzn.to/3j5FGvM #hifi #audiophile #homeaudio

I just got my 120Hs thanks to this informative review. Paired it up with the Peachtree PreDAC/GAN400 stack. Had the opportunity to compare my rig with my buddy's' KEF Blades/Diavalet rig and a B&W 801D4/PASS Labs. Especially considering my rig was fully 1/4 the price of the other two, my 120Hs cooked and ate those other speakers. They are truly musical wizardry.

I won't give in to upgradeitis...I won't give in to upgradeitii...I won't give in to upgradeitis...

Bought these used for well under half price a few weeks ago. They are absolutely outstanding! So balanced full range dynamic amazing midrange. Want a speaker that will play any genre with aplomb this is your dude! Best speaker I’ve had and I’ve had maybe hmm 25-30 I think? Some with a higher Msrp. I normally find the higher priced speakers suck for rock/metal. These are the KINGS for that type of music.

I'm planning on the 120H's as a housewarming/Christmas gift. Appreciate the review!

The best speakers are the ones which make you want to listen to more music regardless of looks, specs and price point.

I too have seen their facilities in Mississauga - very impressive.

Hi Jay, love your videos. I just wanted to point out that Definitive Technologies have had this design philosophy for over a decade already. I'm also Canadian and I'm really pleased that paradigm has adopted this design. Thanks for bringing this speaker information to all of us. Cheers, Kelly.

As always, your review is thoughtful, detailed, and listening to you is a pleasure. Paradigm should deeply thank you for this one. I am going to listen to a pair mostly because of this review. I look forward to your work in the future. Stay joyful.

About 1983. I purchased a pair of Paradigm bookshelf speakers from Bay Bloor Radio in TO. They were excellent value for money.

OMG! Its my desert island speaker! Thank you SO much for reviewing these!

I heard these as they launched with a Unison Research Sinfonia, and it's still the best combination I've listened to, and currently still my dream system at a realistic budget.

Your room is looking really great. ✌️ It’s come a long way.

Thanks Jay! I've been waiting to hear what you thought of the floorstanders since your review of the bookshelves. The 40Bs sounded great at Axpona paired with a sub and an Anthem amp with room correction. It's easy to see why you spoke so highly of them!

Great review. I can see this will be a hit with the vacuum tube amp crowd. Powering just the mids and highs directly is an easy job for the lower power class "A" tube amps. Solid state power for the lows "built right in" is a really good idea. Looks like you have some mono blocks with 4-250's? In my tube stock, I have maybe 50 of those. Great tubes for the broadcast transmitters I have worked on. Have a great day!

The bookshelf version of these have been on my short list for a while now, along with the PSB Synchrony B600. Look forward to being able to try them out one day.

Sound like impressive speakers! Drop dead gorgeous imo

Greetings Jay, first class detailed translation of a beautiful design speaker. Hopefully I will have the pleasure of listening to a pair over here in the UK. I heard a pair of GoldenAir T66 that blew me away in a very large room & if these speakers are anything like the GA T66 they must be magnificent. I'll wait until I can demo the Paradigm so I can chose which suits my multi style of music. Once again I very much enjoy your passionate deliberation. Peace out ...👊🏾🇯🇲🇬🇧

I have a set of these being built in Martin Logan walnut. Paradigm offers a great custom service. Thanks for the review.

I have the 120H’s & also the 90c being pushed by an Anthem MRX 1140 - I’m blown away at the performance and how they fill up my space. I’ll be upgrading my sub to the XR13 later this year.

Beautiful listening room. I just bought a pair of Infinity IRS Betas to replace my v1 S8's. The S8 will be used for center channel on a 12' screen. I collect and restore antique radios and it amazes me that the fundamental design of the dynamic speaker has not changed since the early 30's but the resultant sound sure has! I am a fan of ribbon drivers the best I have ever heard was a pair of Apogee Divas powered by big Krell MDA series amps. I would love to hear what Paradigm has to offer these days. The dealer in Syracuse has gone out of business after over 100 years.

Paradigm speakers are great. I had a pair of Studio 20's like 13 years ago. They were amazing for the size and money

Since the early 1980's for Paradigm .

The room correction only works from 15hz-400hz so it wont change the character of the speaker but helps tune to the room. The soundstage on the 120h is deeper, wider and higher than the 40b bookshelf. If you want to alter the bass leve or impactl you can do that in the arc software but in a very accurate subtle way.

I was considering the 80f's but I decided to add dual 8" subs to my BRX'S and that has reduced the nulls of my room to a minimum and the improvements are amazing. The 100h are a big step up but think I've got 8 to 9 tenths the sound for less than a third the 100h price.

I just tested these against Revel F228Be's with Hegel H590. The Revels sound very rounded, diffuse and soft in comparison, but the FR is much smoother especially in the highs, but the 120H is much more gripping, dynamic and clear sounding. The Revels sounded bigger, wider and deeper while the Paradigms had much more clarity and separation in the image while having relatively big soundstage as well. The bass wasn't yet DSP'd, but it was far better regardless. Neither was perfect and surely both are preferred by different people.

Go Jay! with Paradigm and RBH I would agree. learned that from Audioholics. I would send anyone to this guy too. Gene is dyed in the wool professional. Give him a shout.

I use amp with volume control for mid tweeter side on my Meggy and you could control brightness or too much bass. This way most of the music could be fixed to your liking.

Nice I have the Founders 80

I have the 100F… mainly for 2 raisons… first… I do not like to have an amp in the tower… what a mess if anything going bad in the future… and I prefer a external sub that I can move and set at the best place in the room… otherwise, the 100 and 120 are almost the same!

I own these speakers. They compare with $15,000 to $20,000 speakers.

It is a very interesting speakers with built in ARC. Would love to watch your review on Anthem STR preamp or STR integrated amp with the ARC too. A speakers with ARC VS Preamp with ARC.

Nice one..

Thanks for the review! 1 note: you CAN increase the bass and maintain correction if you are a bass head. In the ARC software you can bump up "room gain" by 1.5db for some extra oomph. I think it's in pro settings. Otherwise I totally agree and that's why I own a pair now!

Vandersteen has been using powered bass with eq for 20 years with upper models,it is a great solution .

ARE THEY BETTER THEN THE ARENDAL 1723 ..

These are in my dream speaker category - haven’t had a chance to hear them, but really appreciate the detailed review. I think the walnut looks beautiful.

I hope you’ll be able to review the KLH model 7 and the kef r11 or r7 metas this year

Great speakers at a very very competitive price tag.

Bro speakers are a wild world for instance I’ve tried so many different brands and everyday I’ve found another new brands with heritage in history!! But as a humble 15 years into audio I’ve found that Danish speakers are the best sounding ( personal experience) My advice to anyone who pursuits the pleasure of speakers purely sounding is to try out this brand ( Dantax) Trust me These people building a magic and not just a handmade in house speakers factory, check their drivers, designs ,wooden cabinets ,crossover platform , Its a ROLEX in speakers and they are handling most of amplifiers , try TD6 series and you’ll blame your self why you never know about this brand earlier ❤❤❤

I attended the Axpona 2022 show and Paradigm was debuting the 120H’s. I stopped in the room only because it was the next room to go into in the hallway and had no idea that the 120H’s existed. I was blown away. It was my favorite speaker at the show. The $8k price made them quite difficult to get but they sounded so fantastic to me. One day though, I’m hoping that I can call the Paradigm 120H towers my own.

I have the Founder 100F with JL sub. The 100F are the sweet spot in the Founder line-up with less technology to go wrong later. The 100F are also easier to move around and set-up. The 120’s are an interesting speaker though with lots of built in bass.

Hi Jay, great review as always. What are your thoughts on this speaker against the arendal 1723 towers. Thanks

Yes Alsyvox best speaker I've ever heard ;-)

I listened to the 100H for a while and found they had a resonance in the high frequencys. Once i heard it I could not unhear it so to speak. I would like to see someone do a sweep and see if they are storing up energy and ringning or if the set i heard were in some way defective. other than that one issue I was quite impressed with the speakers overall at the price point.

Just bought the Paradigm 80f. Smaller version but for smaller areas but incredible

My brother owns the Founder 80F and they are probably the best speakers I've ever heard in the sub $10000 price range. I suspect the 120H are just more of the good stuff.

I had the Prestige with the gorgeous midnight finish… so beautiful… but never again… almost impossible to keep perfectly clean as the dust becomes so apparent… and if somebody decides to « rag » the dust… small scatches appears… I went to wood finish!

The waveguide is a copy of KEF's coupled tangerine compression fins which had already been preparing for it by using a dual diaphragm design to equalise the dome to allow it to couple with the acoustics lens. The acoustics waveguide is the same shape and geometry as the grill to the XQ and IQ series. That'd interesting. I didn't even know that was a feature. The reason why suddenly uni qs are seen everywhere is because KEF's original patent expired from the 80s. So they reverse engineered their patent and now it works from every direction so even the rear, baffle, and surround are acoustically active. The Uni Qs are an optimised you can cover up the tweeter and it won't even change the sound. The sound comes from the Z flex and the array around the tweeter and is always presented as a single point of sound merged before it arrives to your ears. Then the port is designed not for boosting bass but to perform as if the sleeker were in an ideal chamber which is pressurised so that the port can blast the room to override it with the sound you'd hear if you had perfect room acoustics. Having perfect room acoustics is impossible so they tuned their port to vanish the rear of the room so the vanishing act doesn't only happen in front and there isn't just a phantom center but phantom surrounds and heights.

Can it get better than this? You ask Jay, referring to Paradigm 120H, the answer is absolutely. I've auditioned the 120h. It's a dynamic speaker, with great bass, good midrange, very good treble extension, but so-so Soundstage and imaging. Paradigms own Persona line runs circles around the Founder series, the Persona 3f is superior in every way (except bass & dynamic impact) to the 120h. For anyone interested in buying the 120h, I say, checkout the Persona 3f with an additional subwoofer for below 40hz, and you will be blown away.

Hey Jay. Compared to the Buchardt S400 mk2…..ignoring bass, would you say this has better or worse midrange and treble? Thanks Jay!!

I'm curious how the 100F speakers match up against the R11 Meta from Kef? However, the fact they are built in Canada is a definite two thumbs up!

Thanks for the info Jay! I wonder how these compare to GoldenEar Triton One R? They're also developed in Canada, and slightly cheaper. Also hybrid amplification. I have the Three's, and was considering an upgrade to the Triton 2+.

So, Paradigm has been scientifically honing their craft for over 40 years. While other transducer manufacturers claim a certain 'sound' that makes their products special, Paradigm consistently rebuffs that line of thinking with products that showcase THE sound, not THEIR sound. As a matter of fact, many reviewers have come to expect that certain brands will sound a certain way and are a bit put off by the lack of character of Paradigm speakers. The ARC (room correction) software is only applied to the active (bass) section. The mid and tweeter are straight-through from your amplifier, so they do not have correction applied to them. It is recommended by Paradigm to use the in-speaker ARC before running room correction applied upstream by your receiver or processor. The PPA lens is... interesting. While visually stunning, it may not have such a meaningful impact on upper-range phase alignment as phase changes with frequency. A device like the PPA lens can really only have an effect on an extremely narrow frequency band. So, to say that it has an overall effect on the high-frequency drivers is a bit inaccurate. Don't get me wrong, for the money, Paradigm's have imaging in spades, nothing short of incredible. As far as the finish being too glossy. The Founders 120H is a high-end piece of gear and it lets you know just by looking at it. It is, however, not obnoxiously demanding of your visual cortex as some other brands that make you question what it is that you are looking at (Wilson Audio comes to mind). When I am purchasing speakers, I want to hear art, not see it. Anyway, these speakers belong in your listening room, not home theater - where lighting (and reflection) is paramount.

Hey Jay if you had too pick between these founders or martin xt f100, kef r11meta, jbl jdl 3800 or arendal 1723 which one would you choose thank's

While very different design , what do you think the comparison would be compared to Goldenear reference towers? Similar in hybrid design minus the DSP. Also what are pro/cons if a person is running these through a dsp on the processor (ex dirac). Great vid!

Jay, thanks for the video. I would appreciate your input if possible. I have a pair of Sonus Faber Venere 2.5's which I am thinking of replacing. What would be a good choice you think: Audio Vector QR 3, Kef R5 Meta, or Paradigm Founder 80F? Also, do you think they would a significant improvement to what I have? Cheers.

Look quite good for the money.

Bough paradigm prestige 75f in 2018, it is driven by accuphase e-380 in a pure vinyl system, the deck is Yamaha gt-2000. Paradigm is not popular among vinyl aficionados in this part of the world but to my ears the 75f sound correct. I auditioned proac, dynaudio, Harbeth and b&w but none sound clean and dynamic. I think it is time to audition founder series.

Best speakers I have ever listen to was VAF signature I93MKIII I have owned both aperion speakers and paradigm signature series speakers. Nothing has come close to the VAF. Especially the base it can produce during watching movies

are you planning on a review of gr research speakers you heard in TX?

Hi guys. I know Jay will not advise on the sounds off is creation (Typhoon). Since they are the same price range. Anyone has heard both of them and could advise which one they preferred.

These are in the sweet spot of probably the best speaker most of us have heard at a price though high is doable for most folks if you really wanted .

Jay, you were enthusiastic about the Arendal THX 1723. How does Arendal's performance compare to the Paradigm Founder series?

That is a beautiful speaker. Is it just correcting the bass? Not sure for that would work for the passive mid and tweeter.

do those 3 bass drivers churn out the same frequency? or they work like stacked rels?

has J tried large ATC speakers yet?? maybe after SCM100 he may change his viewpoint

Jay did you try a Dynaco Stereo 70 with the upper end?

Still rockin' my circa 2002 Studio 100 V2, and just added a CC690 about two years ago. Servo-15 is also still kickin'. Man, what an investment. I can't tell you just how many movie hours the family has enjoyed thanks to Paradigm. My poor AVM20 is just sitting in my closet not worth $200. I look forward to finally upgrading one day in the future when the need arises.

Seems like the only issue here is software. I like neutral sound but i also like +5dB bass with metal music to feel the drums. Afaik harman target for speakers in room is not flat but +5-10dB bass flat mids and slope down to -5dB for trebles. Also small dips between bass and mids and trebles makes a black background and better separation feeling (gamut does so with their speakers with great result)

Beautiful speakers. I bet they sound fantastic. But dropping 9k I'd be worried all the time about the amp going bad on the bass drivers. Just my take.

Wpuld these be an upgrade from b&w 803D3 ?

How the hell did you carry those things upstairs they weigh a ton.😂 Great video

Gotta say active subs on a speaker are not my cup of tea. I have the Def Tech 9060 speakers and those always pop loudly when powered up. I don’t believe they did this initially. Also I’ve seen a lot of people complaining the sub amps dying on them. I am sure the 120H are using better quality sub amps, but what happens if the amp shits the bed? Any way to power them with an external amp? Probably not am guess. How long is the warranty on the amp?

... Memories ..

I was hoping to see a part 2 GR-Research video of you listening to Danny’s system. We have communicated before so you have my email. Any comments would be strictly private. Ron Vaillant

These versus nova 2s?

How would a Vincent audio hybrid sound on these

I’m starting a (downsizing) new house build and I’m losing my media room a few years to the kids here at the new one. I am currently getting ideas for new speakers that will make the other half happy since they will b😢going in our living room and need to be able to do a good job with TV in stereo so I’m worried that if I choose the Midnight Cherry finish that I will not be able to take my eyes off of these and forget there is a TV in the room. Anyone else have a problem like this?

Did you review the martin logan motion xt f100 s yet?

Do they test @ the NRC ?

Do I need to buy two REL S812 to my Founder 120H stereo ? Thank you. ( actually I have 5.2 system two 15'' REL HT series , and somewhere on the way truck with new speakers pair of 120H ,90C, and pair 80F for surround , using processor Anthem AVM-70, Anthem 525 -2Gen. Amp.)

What about Sonus Faber Olympica Nova 3 compared with this Paradigm….

Yes but is it real? Does each instrument carry its own space? Does each soloist singer have the height off the stage and moves around the sound tapestry? Does each solo instrument become a standing apart? Do choirs have levels as they do in reality? Are they in absolute phase? Do they reproduce for instance the fantastic recognized sound signature of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at full crescendo? The MBLs do this to a good degree. It seems current state of the art amplifiers can do this.

I dont see how arc corrects for nodes. I think it has more to do with the bottom port. You cannot correct for a true node.

Paradigm 120H or the Arendal 1723 THX, can you please compare them? They are both the best for their price range and with similar characteristics? Are they both paired very well with Vincent SV-237MK?

I think room correction only works for the bass. How could it work for the midrange / tweeter when the are passive and using an amplifier with no correction in the path way?

Where is your buddy you film with?

No more need Focal 816V + LRS+... that's it, that's all!😊

So how much is it?

I hope I am the first comment there. I loved the speaker when you reviewed the bookshelf version I believe the 40 B I just spent $3500 on dali Epicon2

I thought your new speakers the typhons were going to be the last speakers that I would ever need 😅

I think the midrange in the 120h is a true midrange and not a midrange/woofer. This likely is what you are hearing v. the bookshelf.

Contrasty?

Aways get the walnut.

How do you afford all of this audio equipment?

But that's the thing. One person's "better" is another person's "different"

How does it compare to Persona 3F and 5F ?

My uncle has the Paradigm PS1000 subwoofer :D It's beyond powerful, SVS sound like trumpets lmao I'm interested into near field speakers :x for my PC setup.

they run about 3 to 4 times the price of the arendal 1723 are they 4 times better? ps with tubes and a turntable these must be nuts lol