Major Mojo: Paradigm Millenia CT Desktop Speakers Page 2

Easy Does It
Humble Pie's "Rockin' the Fillmore" kicked the Millenia CT into high gear. If you're the type who likes to really crank your desktop tunes, this system will make you very happy. Hushed, late night levels sound good as well, but the Millenia CT isn't as airy and pure as my Emotiva airmotiv 4 desktop speakers, they are more transparent. The Paradigm had more grunt and power than the Emos, the sub definitely makes a big difference down there. Micah Sheveloff's new CD, "The Exhibitionist," remained in heavy rotation throughout the review period. Sheveloff's vocals sounded you-are-there natural, and sure, the mix is free of the usual overdone compression, reverb, and equalization, and the CT system made that abundantly clear. Play a heavily compressed and EQ-ed recording like Booker T's "Potato Head" CD from a few years ago and it's going to sound pretty bad. The CT tells it like it is.

I set up the Millenia CT just minutes after taking down the KEF LS50 speakers I reviewed here at InnerFidelity, and the KEFs sounded a lot better. As they should, the LS50s run $1,500 a pair, and unlike the Millenia CT ensemble, the LS50s aren't self-powered, and I was using a $2,500 Bel Canto REF500S amp to drive them. My Schiit Bifrost DAC and Mac mini computer were used in both test systems. The Millenia CT, for $699.99 may not be a serious contender for state-of-the-art desktop sound, but it offers bona-fide bang for your audiophile bucks.

Resources
Paradigm website, and Millenia CT product page.

Comments

Nice review

Submitted by FLAudioGuy on November 19, 2012 - 2:34pm.

Nice informative review. Seems like good overall quality for the money. I agree with you on the button-less controller, having a volume knob and input selector switch would be highly useful additions. Not surprising that the KEF's are better as they have steadily refined the Uni-Q drivers over the years. Cheers!

Clarify

Submitted by iHawk on December 20, 2012 - 7:06pm.

Could you explain this a bit more

"but the system takes a few seconds to wake up after it receives signal, so I'd have to go back and restart the music."

Do you have to hit the power button or does it wake up automatically when you turn on the TV for example. Thanks

Millenia One

Submitted by warpdrive on January 14, 2013 - 8:27am.

I was really curious about these because of the fact the satellites look just like the $450/pr Millenia One satellites. I have a pair of those One satellites and they are really really good, one of the best micro/mini satellites I've heard, neutral, detailed, refined and most importantly they have solid tuneful bass (instead of having bloated mid/upper-bass trying to sound bigger than they are). It seems this CT system offers an active sub + 2 channel amp + sats for only $699 which is a great deal if they sound anything like the more expensive Millenia One. It seems they were able to get the price down by making the satellites out of plastic instead of metal, and the CT sats are a sealed design instead of the ported One sats. Of course, the sub is weaker too but it should be more than adequate for desktop or small room placements.