Well, last night was a lot of fun! We listened to music from 6 PM until 10:30 on The Fisher KX200 with the W70s, Sansui 2000 with the W70s, MC2205 with JBL L26s, and Bose 1801 with JBL L46s and Kef 105s.
The W70s opened up on The Fisher. I really didn't expect such a difference, to be honest. But it was as though a veil was lifted from them when we plugged in The Fisher. Just to be absolutely certain, I put back the Sansui 2000, and I discovered that it actually sounded quite good when playing unplugged, as in MTVs "The Unplugged Collection Volume 1". But when we played other music, the veil came back up. Even classical, which kind of surprised me. The W70s with The Fisher sounded absolutely crystal clear! The bass was a little light, but unless it was the beer talking, I believe the W70s started to open up more as the night progressed. I wonder if some vintage audio rubber restoration/preservation compound would help them. I'm thinking yes. Matt thought that the woofers wanted to extend more and that the stiff surrounds were holding them back.
I really like them, and at another time and place I would keep them, but I think I will restore these and then move them onwards to a home where they will get more appreciation. Very special speakers, but I have many of those in de house! Can't keep them all.
As for the Paradigms, well, they are quite impressive. Again though, I think I already have some pretty special speakers and these don't fit. I agree that they would be awesome in a home theatre system, especially one where you don't want to put in a subwoofer. These babies go really low.
However one of the things I really like is trying different speakers with different amplification. I actually have my ex wife's husbands Sansui AU-717 in de house and will likely try it out tomorrow. Now how weird is that!
He has some pretty nice stuff too.