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The Premier range is far from the most expensive in Paradigm’s speaker lineup, but the performance and build quality that it offers lets it compete with speakers twice the price.

There is a ton of competition in the $1000 speaker market. One of the things that many monitor type speakers have challenges with is a fast and deep bottom end without mid-bass bloat. The 200B does not have those issues commonly found in this price range.

In summary, the Premier 200B speakers worked with a powerful high-end amp, and a lower powered amp in a receiver. The speakers always sounded clean, with good bass extension and crisp, clear high frequencies.

The soundstage that it can throw is impressively large and makes singling out individual singers and instruments quite easy. With acoustic instruments, it is remarkable in reproducing the natural sound without coloration so that it sounds like the musician is in front of you. The bass response is good, and almost never left me wanting for more. If you never heard the 200B’s with a subwoofer you’d never know you were missing anything, but if you do pair them with a sub their soundstage grows even larger and their impact increases.

This Paradigm Premier system achieves a very high level of fidelity considering the asking price. To my sensibilities, the best thing about the system is the availability of a center channel that’s a proper 3-way design and truly a match for the towers! Add the fact it’s all made in-house, in Canada, at a price that’s competitive and you can see why Paradigm is such a popular speaker brand.

The sounds are sharp and direct, having a tactile quality—as if the speaker drivers are mechanically connected to my ears. I feel the music as much as I hear it.

A 5.5-inch surround with carbon-infused polypropylene cone with a larger PPA lens handles the midrange frequency driver, and two 5.5-inch ART surround polypropylene cones provide the bottom end.