As a native European, I don’t particularly love bubbly people: Too much sugar makes my teeth hurt. I’m sympathetic to my friend Nick, a Brit who reliably bristles when he hears Americans use the word “awesome” for the most mundane things. A slight drop in gas prices? Awesome! How was the meatloaf? Awesome!
It irks him that the words awe and awesome are now nearly divorced. But I like to remind Nick that this hyper-pleasant, optimistic American attitude is surely preferable to the alternative.
In fact, over time, I’ve warmed to Yankee sunniness. “Great meeting you!” “Have a wonderful day!” Euro citizens may consider such pleasantries fake, but they’re worlds better than the icy haughtiness or gruff indifference that has long been the norm among, say, French waitstaff and Amsterdam shop clerks.
It recently occurred to me that this American energy and ebullience long ago snuck into the DNA of our1 loudspeakers. What do classic brands such as Klipsch, Altec Lansing, JBL, Advent, Cerwin Vega, Paradigm, and Acoustic Research have in common? One thing, surely, is sound that’s neither polite nor reserved—that suggests an unapologetic appreciation of a good time. They can do delicate and detailed, but they’re not pusillanimous. They’re meaty, not meek; boisterous, not bashful.
Did you catch the error in the previous paragraph? Paradigm is Canadian, not American (or US-ian). Still, considering that its home is in Mississauga, Ontario, just an hour or so from our northern border, I hope Canadians will accept the accolade. Wherever they’re from, Paradigm speakers, like their brawny US cousins, have always kicked serious posterior.
Around 2002, I owned a pair of remarkably cheap but tons-of-fun Paradigm Atom monitors. At $189, they ran circles around competitors costing three times that. A friend had speakers from Paradigm’s Reference Studio series; their performance was so good—so likely to make you good—that he still
