My last experience with Canadian Paradigm Loudspeakers was a long-term audition followed by an enjoyable review of the superb, expensive, massive Persona 9H Loudspeakers. And in today’s stratospheric pricing of statement loudspeakers, a relative bargain at around $31,000/pair.

This review is of the much smaller, much cheaper Paradigm Founder 40B bookshelf loudspeaker, a stand mount and the smallest of Paradigm’s Founder Series—the series is one down from their top Persona line. The 40Bs sell for $2240/pair. And while the very expensive Personas are lookers with sound to match, I prefer the classic and sexy look of the 40B on its stand. Class and high design personified, difficult for a small box speaker.

The speaker is a 2-driver, 2-way stand mount with ported enclosure. It is handcrafted in Canada. The review was completed with the 40Bs on Custom Design UK stands.

Paradigm describes the Founder Series: Founder is no ordinary loudspeaker. We’ve treated every part, large and small as if it were the most crucial piece of the whole. Every component has been thoroughly researched, designed, engineered, and tested. Not only are the drivers completely new, but so are their mounting hardware, and the cabinet’s internal structure and shape. By leaving no element unaddressed, we’ve created something that is much greater than the sum of its parts.

I’d like to thank Atlas Audio Video for the loan of the Paradigms for this review.

My Use

I wanted to pair the $2240/pair 40Bs with appropriate gear. I matched it with Audioquest cabling, a Thorens TD 1600 Turntable, a Marantz 40n Streaming Integrated Amplifier (review forthcoming), a Lumin U2 Mini Network Player and an AudioQuest Niagara 5000 Low-Z Power | Noise-Dissipation System, about a 17K system all in. An audiophile setup that would be worth saving for and would not be obsolete in a few years.

I auditioned the speaker in a medium-sized, well-treated room. The stage was set.

Features and Specifications

CROSSOVER: 2nd order electro-acoustic at 1.6kHz (tweeter/midbass)

TWEETER: 1" (25mm) AL-MAC™ Ceramic Dome with Oblate Spheroid Waveguide (OSW™) and Perforated Phase-Aligning (PPA™) Tweeter Lens, ferrofluid damped/cooled

MID/BASS FREQUENCY DRIVER: 6” (152mm) Ultra-High-Excursion AL-MAG™ Cone with Perforated Phase-Aligning (PPA™) Lens, Gen3 Active Ridge Technology (ART™) with Vertical Mounting System, Advanced SHOCKMOUNT™ Isolation, and a 1.5” high-temp multi-layered voice coil with ventilated Apical™ former

LOW-FREQUENCY EXTENSION: 41 Hz

SENSITIVITY ROOM/ANECHOIC: 92 dB / 89 dB

IMPEDANCE: 8 ohms

DIMENSIONS: HXWXD14.5” x 7.8” x 12.8” (36.8cm x 19.7cm x 32cm)

WEIGHT: 25lbs (11.3kg) each

FINISHES: Piano Black, Black Walnut, Midnight Cherry, Walnut

Sound

At 8 ohms and 92 dB, the 40Bs were exceptionally easy to drive. The Marantz 40n, doing multiple duties, was a great match.

I’m not a fan when audiophiles refer to a component as “a nice little xxx”. I hear and read it all the time. In my audiophile (and musical) world, “nice” and “little” are pejorative. The 40Bs are sized appropriately and far more sophisticated than “nice”. And they’re small for a reason with all the audiophile attributes implied by a quality bookshelf monitor. Imaging and soundstage kings. From my protective slant, yes, I enjoyed these loudspeakers.

They’re lovely to look at—the Paradigm design team hit it out of the park with both Founder and Persona visuals. Having that gorgeous perforated lens cover doesn’t hurt—also, the strikingly large waveguide surrounding the ceramic dome tweeter. Sitting atop the Custom Design UK stands, the 40Bs look like winners before they play a note. And from my photos, you can see the workmanship and design that drew me to them in a store filled with speakers.

The large waveguide’s dispersion pattern is wide with a generous point source. Thus, lots of people get to enjoy its soundstage and imaging rather than one audiophile glued to his/her IKEA listening chair.

I began with the easy stuff; I recently discovered the band Boards of Canada, two Scots with inventive harmonic language and recording techniques. Easy to replicate on a well-designed speaker and not the most effective as a reviewer’s tool, but highly imaginative and mesmeric. Both Music Has the Right To Children and Geogaddi were exceptional and all the undulating pulses and creative harmonic progressions sounded wonderful. The Founder’s bass goes down to a respectable 41 Hz and this enabled the speaker to stand tall.

More difficult was The Firebird, Stravinsky’s youthful masterpiece played by the LSO with Dorati on Mercury (AAA 180g reissue). Not only a massive orchestra, but sonorities to go with it. The 40Bs maintained Stravinsky’s excitement and the Thorens turntable/cart combo gave a good account of Stravinsky’s myriad of subtleties. Most modern speakers can play loud, and if a cut above, timbre, soundstage and imaging, too. Quiet immersion is far more difficult; maintaining the correct timbres in a fulsome but quiet sound. The 40B is in this category and for $2400/pair.

Physics and its limitations were met on Tranquillity Bass’ Let The Freak Flag Fly, specifically “Five Miles High”, a general musical melee; a controlled raucous free-for-all all where the box size limitations gave only a glimpse of what happens to a room when this track energizes via large, full-range speakers. It was fun, but on these processed albums where soundstage and imaging are less important, a monitor is going to have to rely on its other attributes.

My comparisons include the Harbeth Audio P3ESR XD Loudspeaker, Acelec Model 1 Loudspeaker and Xavian Perla Esclusiva Loudspeakers, three value-added bookshelf gems. You can throw the 40Bs on the pile, too. It held its own with all of them but for different reasons. Primarily voicing. The three comparisons are unique loudspeakers with sounds to match. The Paradigm is a much more middle-of-the-road sounding loudspeaker. As such, it works on many genres and will image like a champ if allowed. The Acelec is considerably more expensive and can handle gobs of power, the-darlings-of-the-internet Harbeths have a unique presentation beloved by classical fans and the Xavians are diminutive and mighty (I remember a Le Sacre pounding through those small drivers and pressurizing my small room). Very impressive.

I’m in the middle of another bookshelf review, the Totem Bison. Look out for that review; I’ll be comparing it to the gorgeous 40Bs.

Summary

So, Paradigm is two for two around here, and at both ends of the price spectrum. Bravo, for that. $2400/pair is not inexpensive, but for high-end, it’s a relative bargain. And when you take into account the quality sound, driver implementation, style and workmanship, the Founder 40Bs should be heard by all researching a sub $3000 speaker purchase. Recommended.

Further information: Paradigm