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Paradigm Studio/20 Bookshelf — Made in Canada, Rosenut, Bi-Wire

Paradigm Studio/20 Bookshelf — Made in Canada, Rosenut, Bi-Wire - view 2

Paradigm Studio/20 Bookshelf — Made in Canada, Rosenut, Bi-Wire - view 3

Paradigm

Paradigm Studio/20 Bookshelf — Made in Canada, Rosenut, Bi-Wire

Name: Paradigm Studio/20 Bookshelf — Made in Canada, Rosenut, Bi-Wire
Brand: Paradigm
SKU: 16895
Price: 595.00 CAD
Availability: OutOfStock

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Description

Paradigm Reference Studio/20 Bookshelf Speakers — Made in Canada, PAL Pure Aluminium Dome, Bi-Wirable, Original Boxes, Rosenut

The original Paradigm Reference Studio/20, built in Canada, in very good condition with its factory boxes — the speaker Stereophile called the finest under $1000 a pair they had heard.

What Stereophile Said

That is not our line, it is theirs. Stereophile reviewed the Studio/20 in February 1998, and Robert Reina’s verdict was that it was, by a wide margin, “the finest speaker under $1000/pair I’ve ever heard.” He added that he would happily own them as a reference. Paradigm still hosts that review on their own website nearly thirty years later, which tells you what it meant to them.

The Rosenut Finish

Paradigm called this finish dark rosenut, and it is the reason these photograph the way they do — a deep reddish brown with far more warmth than a black cabinet and far more restraint than a bright cherry. It was one of three shades offered across the Reference line, and the dark one has always been the one people hunt for.

Inside the Cabinet

The engineering is more serious than the size suggests. The tweeter is a 25 mm PAL pure aluminium dome in a die-cast heatsink chassis. The woofer is a 170 mm MLP mica-polymer cone with a 38 mm voice coil, in its own die-cast heatsink chassis. They meet through a third-order quasi-Butterworth crossover that Paradigm designed to be phase-coherent — built with high-power ceramic resistors, film capacitors in every signal path, and a mix of air-core and steel-core inductors. That is crossover construction from a considerably more expensive speaker, and it is where a lot of the money went.

The Bass

The bass is the part that surprises people. Reina measured solid output down to 50 Hz with a gradual rolloff below that and still-audible output at 32 Hz, from a cabinet fourteen inches tall. His own five words for it were extended, natural, quick, dynamic and tuneful.

Placement

The port fires from the rear, so give them some room to breathe — a foot or two off the wall behind them is where they come together, and they were reviewed at two to four feet out. On stands, out in the room, is where these belong, and we have a pair of Paradigm’s own J-60 stands available if you want the matching answer to that.

Bi-Wire and Bi-Amp

They are bi-wirable and bi-ampable, with two sets of terminals and the original jumpers still fitted. Run a single cable now and they work exactly as they should; take the jumpers out and the bass and treble sections separate for bi-wiring or bi-amping later. Nothing to source and nothing missing.

Amplifier Matching

On amplifiers: sensitivity is specified at 89 dB and measured at 86.5 dB, and the impedance drops briefly to 4 ohms in the lower midrange but is otherwise an easy load. A competent integrated amplifier of moderate power suits them well. They reward a good one — this is a speaker that shows you what is upstream of it.

Build and Weight

At 20 pounds each these are dense in a way that budget bookshelf speakers never are, and the weight is in the cabinet walls and the driver chassis where it does some good.

Original Boxes Included

The original factory boxes are included. That matters more than it sounds: it means these can ship anywhere safely, and it is the packaging a future buyer will want when their turn comes to move them on.

Condition and Service

Condition is very good, and both speakers have been tested here to confirm they perform as originally designed, which every pair we sell goes through.

The speaker that made Paradigm’s Reference name — Canadian-built, in very good condition, and still in its original boxes.

Features

Original Paradigm Reference Studio/20 — the first of the series
Built in Canada
25 mm PAL pure aluminium dome tweeter in a die-cast heatsink chassis
170 mm MLP mica-polymer cone woofer with 38 mm voice coil
Third-order quasi-Butterworth phase-coherent crossover
Film capacitors in every signal path, ceramic resistors, air-core and steel-core inductors
Rear-ported — best placed out from the wall on stands
Bi-wirable and bi-ampable with original jumpers fitted
20 lbs each — dense cabinet construction
Original factory boxes included
Sold as a pair

Paradigm Reference Studio/20 Bookshelf Speakers Specifications

Model: Reference Studio/20
Design: Two-way, rear-ported bookshelf loudspeaker
High Frequency Driver: 25 mm PAL pure aluminium dome, die-cast heatsink chassis
Low Frequency Driver: 170 mm MLP mica-polymer cone, 38 mm voice coil, AVS die-cast chassis
Crossover: Third-order quasi-Butterworth at 1.5 kHz, phase-coherent
Crossover Components: Ceramic resistors, film capacitors in all signal paths, air-core and steel-core inductors
Frequency Range: 54 Hz to 22 kHz on axis
Sensitivity: 89 dB specified, 86.5 dB measured (Stereophile)
Nominal Impedance: 8 ohms, dipping briefly to 4 ohms in the lower midrange
Terminals: Two pairs with original jumpers, bi-wire and bi-amp capable
Finish: Rosenut
Country of Manufacture: Canada
Accessories: Original factory boxes
Condition: Very good
Dimensions: (Width x Height x Depth) 8.25 x 14.0 x 11.0 inches (210 x 356 x 279 mm)
Weight: 20 lbs (9.1 kg) each

🔌 Speaker Cable, Bi-Wiring and Connectors

The dual posts here take bare wire, spades, pins or bananas, and they mean you can bi-wire or bi-amp if you ever want to. Our bi-wire speaker bridges replace the factory straps with something considerably better made. We hand-build speaker cable here in any length you need on our Custom Speaker Cable Builder, terminated with our own gold-plated banana plugs or spade connectors. 👉

✅ Buy With Confidence — The Radique Promise

Backed by Radique Audio’s Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and our Perpetual Trade-Back Program. When you’re ready to move on, we’ll take it back. That’s the Radique difference.

📦 Watch how we protect your gear — our unboxing video.

📺 Curious about our business? Check out our YouTube channel for behind-the-scenes videos and more!

📞 Questions? Use the Ask a Question button above, or call us at 613-416-9995.

⭐ Don’t Just Take Our Word For It

Radique Audio holds over 600 customer ratings averaging 4.97 stars across six public platforms — Facebook Marketplace, Kijiji, Canuck Audio Mart, Google and others. Every rating lives somewhere we don’t control, so you can read the originals yourself, including the less flattering ones. See what our customers say. 👉

Additional information

Weight	42 lbs
Dimensions	15 × 22.5 × 18 in

About brand

Paradigm at Radique

Paradigm has designed loudspeakers in the Toronto area since 1982, with engineering roots that run through Ottawa: it took part in the National Research Council's loudspeaker research here, and its research lab has been in Ottawa since 1993. We've had more than 600 Paradigm listings so far, covering 193 different models, more than any other brand we resell. Every used Paradigm here is inspected, tested and serviced as required, then photographed in-house and covered by our Bumper-to-Bumper Warranty and Perpetual Trade-Back Program. Don't see the model you want? Tell us on First Dibs and we'll email you when one arrives.

Our five best-selling Paradigm models so far: the Cinema 330 v.3 on-wall speakers, the Mini Monitor bookshelf speakers, the Monitor 7 towers, and the PS-1000 and PDR-10 subwoofers.

The Paradigm story, 1982 to today

Jerry VanderMarel and Scott Bagby founded Paradigm in 1982 in the Toronto area, VanderMarel running sales and marketing and Bagby design and manufacturing. Their first speakers made their debut at a Toronto audio show that year, and Paradigm says 12 dealers signed on.

The Ottawa years. In the 1980s almost every major Canadian speaker maker measured its designs in the National Research Council's anechoic chamber here in Ottawa, and Paradigm took part in the research Dr. Floyd Toole led at the NRC, which paired chamber measurements with blind listening tests. Paradigm built its own anechoic chamber in 1988, sparing its engineers the five-hour drive to Ottawa. In the late 1980s and early 1990s it was one of several Canadian companies in the NRC's Athena project, which studied speakers that adapt to the room. NRC scientists Peter Schuck and Marc Bonneville then joined Paradigm, which says it opened its Ottawa research centre, PARC, for them in 1993. That lab went on to design Anthem's electronics and its room-correction system. A 1990s Paradigm Titan is now part of the collection at Ingenium, Canada's science and technology museums, here in Ottawa.

Growth. Paradigm moved into the US market in the mid-1980s, added its first in-wall speaker in 1989 and launched the Monitor series in 1990. The Titan was a hit by 1991, the Atom followed in 1992, and the PS-1000 of 1994 was its first powered subwoofer. By 1992 Stereophile counted about 256 Paradigm dealers in the US.

Reference and the new factory. The Reference line, with its Studio speakers, arrived in the mid-1990s; Stereophile reviewed the Studio/100 in 1997. In 1998 Paradigm bought Sonic Frontiers, which brought Anthem into the family. In 2001 it moved into a new Mississauga factory with what it calls the hemisphere's largest privately owned anechoic chamber, at 33,000 cubic feet. A tour that year found the plant finishing 1,500 speakers a day, with driver frames cast, cones moulded and voice coils wound in-house.

Changes of hands. Co-founder Jerry VanderMarel left in 2005, when the private-equity firm ShoreView Industries became Scott Bagby's partner; together they went on to buy MartinLogan. Compact lines such as Cinema were built overseas from the start, and from the 2010s Monitor was too, while Prestige (2014), Persona (2016) and Founder (2021) have been built in Mississauga. In 2019 Scott Bagby and his son John bought Paradigm, Anthem and MartinLogan back from ShoreView, and their company, PML Sound International, added GoldenEar at the start of 2025.

Which Paradigm is which?

Performance Series (1990s to 2006): the entry line, with the Atom, Titan, Focus, Esprit and Phantom. A 1990s Titan's label reads "Performance Series … Made in Canada". At the end of 2006 the Atom and Titan moved into the Monitor line.

Monitor (from 1990): the step-up line, and from 2006 the entry line; today's version is Monitor SE. In the early 1990s it was topped by the Studio Monitor tower, in real wood veneer.

Reference Studio (mid-1990s to mid-2010s): the Studio/20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 plus matching centres, with die-cast aluminium driver chassis and aluminium-dome tweeters, made in numbered versions. From the v.2 generation of 1999 the sides came in laminate or, for a little more, real wood veneer. A favourite here is the Studio/80 v.2, a slim 2.5-way tower from about 1999 to 2003; the pairs with real wood sides are the ones to find.

Signature (2004–2016): the flagship of its day, part of the Reference family.

Cinema (from about 2000): compact home-theatre satellites and centres in polymer cabinets, designed to be used with a subwoofer, later sold as Cinema CT packages.

Millenia (from 2006): slim aluminium-cabinet speakers made to suit flat-panel TVs. The little MilleniaOne was Sound & Vision's 2011 Product of the Year.

Stylus (from 1999): weatherproof outdoor speakers.

Today's lines: Monitor SE, Premier (2018), Prestige (2014), Founder (2021) and the Persona flagship (2016).

Subwoofers: from the PS-1000 (1994) and Servo-15 (1996) through the PS and PW series to Defiance (2018).

Buying used Paradigm: what to check

The rear label. Where a Paradigm was built depends on the line and the year, and some names were reused (the Atom and Titan moved from Performance to Monitor, and the Esprit name appeared in more than one line), so the label tells you exactly what you have.

Veneer or laminate. On Reference Studio models from 1999 on, real wood veneer sides were an option; look closely at the sides before you assume.

Woofer surrounds. Owners report foam surrounds needing replacement on some older models, including early Titans. Press gently around each one.

Powered subwoofers. The amplifier is the part most likely to have aged. Run a used sub at volume and check that auto-on still works.

Everything we list is inspected, tested and serviced as required here, and comes with our warranty.