Paradigm Premier 120B v2: The Little One That Learned from Founder

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We listened to the 120B v2s paired with the Marantz 70, along with the Denon PMA 2000 NE integrated amplifier, mounted on rigid stands and placed at least 50 cm from the back wall—the distance at which they seemed to perform best. Moreover, the depth of the cabinet makes them unsuitable for a bookshelf; they belong on a dedicated stand.
The sound is very good, and the first thing that stands out is the soundstage. The soundstage opens up wide, well beyond the edges of the speakers, and doesn’t collapse as soon as you move away from the ideal listening position: this is where the waveguide and crossover really make their presence felt.

Listeners who enjoy music in the living room—perhaps while reading or chatting—will appreciate a tonal balance that remains consistent even when off-axis.
The soundstage is excellent. The vocals remain anchored in the center, the instruments occupy precise and stable positions, and the depth of the soundstage is surprising for a monitor of this size. The granularity is also remarkable: the texture is fine, the orchestral sections and distorted guitars do not blend into a single mass, and the sound remains clear even when the recording becomes dense.
With a sensitivity of 90 dB in a listening environment and an 8-ohm impedance, the Paradigm is easy to drive and pairs well with a wide variety of amplifiers: the manufacturer specifies a power range of 15 to 130 W, and a good integrated amplifier with 50 W per channel is more than sufficient. Its power handling is impressive: you can turn up the volume without the midrange becoming harsh or the bass losing control, thanks in part to the vented voice coil and the woofer’s generous excursion.

Where the 120B v2 falls a bit short is in micro-detail and naturalness. The finest nuances, reverberating tails, and subtle ambient sounds come across as slightly less refined than what higher-end monitors offer, and the slightly warm timbre is pleasant but not entirely neutral. These are real limitations, but they must be put into perspective: you can’t expect a thousand-euro speaker to sound like one that costs three thousand.

At the low end, the physical limit is 140 mm. Up to about 60 hertz, the range is full and well-defined; beyond that, the sound pressure drops: listeners who enjoy electronic music, organ music, or movie soundtracks would be wise to add a subwoofer. The same applies to home theater setups, where the small Paradigm is a natural choice as a front speaker in compact systems or as a surround speaker behind the 720F v2 and 820F v2 towers, with which it shares tweeters and crossover settings.

Conclusions

In our opinion, the Premier 120B v2 is the most successful update in the new series. At the same price as the 100B, it offers technical specifications in a whole different league, and the crossover frequency lowered to 1.2 kHz proves that “trickle-down” isn’t just a marketing ploy but a design reimagined around Founder’s components. In exchange, you’ll have to accept a bulkier cabinet that requires stands. For those who own a 100B, the leap in performance is substantial; for those looking for their first serious bookshelf speaker under 1,000 euros, it should be at the top of your listening list.

Technical specifications:

Type: Two-way floor-standing speaker, bass-reflex with rear port
Tweeter: 25 mm AL-MAC (aluminum, magnesium, ceramic) dome with OSW waveguide and PPA lens, ferrofluid-cooled
Woofer: 140 mm AL-MAG with ultra-high excursion, PPA lens, Gen3 ART suspension with Vertical Mounting System, 25 mm voice coil on a ventilated Apical mount
Crossover: 2nd-order electroacoustic crossover at 1.2 kHz
On-axis frequency response: 62 Hz – 23 kHz (±3 dB)
30° off-axis response: 62 Hz – 20 kHz (±3 dB)
Low-frequency extension: 39 Hz (DIN)
Sensitivity: 90 dB in a room / 87 dB in an anechoic chamber
Nominal impedance: compatible with 8 Ω
Recommended power: 15–130 W
Maximum input power: 70 W
Connections: dual terminals for bi-wiring and bi-amping
Dimensions (H × W × D): 305 × 178 × 307 mm, including grille
Weight: 7.4 kg each
Finishes: Piano Black, Walnut, Black Walnut, Satin White

Price: 990 € per pair

Manufacturer: Paradigm

Distributor: Audiogamma