Loudspeakers

Paradigm's very generous 92dB sensitivity rating for the Founder 120H is on the money, these flagship speakers delivering a thundering 93dB (2.83V/1kHz/1m). However, sensitivity does fall to 91.1dB across 500Hz-8kHz thanks to a loss in axial output around the 2.4kHz crossover between the AL-MAG mid and AL-MAC tweeter, the 1-4kHz dip being more obvious in one of our pair [see Graph 1, below] and entirely responsible for the 5.7dB matching error. Either side of this region the 120H's pair matching is a deeply impressive 0.8dB but the dip also magnifies the response errors to ±6.0dB and ±5.1dB, respectively. Listening slightly off-axis, beyond 2m, will provide a far smoother response than is illustrated here, while the low ~0.2% bass/midrange THD (all re. 90dB/1m SPL) also bodes well for a 'clean' sound.

Bass is equally thunderous with the trio of DSP/actively-driven 'Carbon-X' woofers unified in their 31Hz-340Hz (–6dB) bandpass, supplemented at 29Hz by the downward-firing port to realise a rib-tickling 18Hz extension [–6dB re. 200Hz – green shaded area, Graph 1]. As the 120H is 'active' below ~300Hz it does not present a tough/high current load for the partnering amplifier, the –85° to –37° phase angle (20Hz-300Hz) largely irrelevant in the face of the high 100-6.4ohm impedance. In practice the mild misterminations at 790Hz and 1.05kHz – visible as peaks on the forward trace and lobes/ripples on the CSD waterfall [see Graph 2] – may contribute more to the 'character' of the speaker. At ultrasonic frequencies, the alloy/ceramic tweeter's primary mode is at 26.6kHz and secondaries at 35-50kHz, all +7dB above the audioband [pink shaded area, Graph 1]. PM