Surround Sound Speaker Systems
Paradigm Millenia 20 Hybrid In-Wall speakers
- Written by Greg Zakrzewski
- Published on 21 September 2009
- Paradigm Millenia 20 Hybrid In-Wall speakers
- Page 2: Design of the Paradigm Millenia 20 Hybrid In-Wall Speakers
- Page 3: Setup of the Paradigm Millenia 20 Hybrid In-Wall Speakers
- Page 4: The Paradigm Millenia 20 Hybrid In-Wall Speakers in Use
- Page 5: Conclusions About the Paradigm Millenia 20 Hybrid In-Wall Speakers
- All Pages
Design
The Millenia 20 Hybrids are similar to the on wall / stand mountable Millenia 20's in that they are a 5 speaker acoustic suspension design. The tweeter is a 1 inch aluminum dome and is flanked by two 4.5 inch midrange/bass drivers with aluminum phase plugs and then two further 4.5 inch bass drivers on either end. Paradigm states upfront that the Millenia series were designed to be used with a subwoofer. The single finish option is a framed black gloss panel with grey baffles around the speakers themselves.
The grill covers are also black and attach both magnetically and via friction fit around the edge of the baffle. These grills are rigid so they will resist random finger pokes or pets if the centre channel is located within their reach. (A mounting consideration which came into play in my case). While they are not so subtle that they disappear into the background or the wall itself completely, with the grills on the speakers have an elegantly simple and understated look. With the grills off the speakers have an aggressively technical bolted on look. The back portion of the enclosure (the portion that stays in the wall) is a simple black vinyl. The mounting posts are not 5 way posts but rather spring loaded clamp type so it's bare wire only for these speaker terminations. I had some locking banana plugs ready to use and was a little concerned about the long term gripping abilities of the clamps but a few stiff tugs on the speakers wires showed no signs of loosening.
The other significant design feature is of course the pre-attached wall mount brackets themselves. Made of a glass-reinforced injection-molded polymer (aka GRIP) the acronym pretty much describes exactly what they do. The two clamps on either end are held in place by two screws each that run right through to the front of the speaker where they meld into the bolted in look of the 5 driver units.
The resulting speaker fills a standard 2x4 wall front to back and sticks out about an inch and a half into the room providing the aesthetic match to a slim flat screen TV.
