Speakers and Radios.com

Paradigm is one of the most respected names in audio and has won continual acclaim from consumer and trade publications for their outstanding products, dedication to good sound, and service to the dealers and end users who serve as their customers.  Among major manufacturers they are also rather unique in this day of designing at home and outsourcing  the manufacturing to the Far East.  Paradigm manufactures their speakers right here in North America, in a sprawling factory outside of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

When offered a factory tour by Paradigm’s PR firm I was quick to jump on the opportunity, and to say I was impressed by what I saw is an understatement.  I thought perhaps some of the speaker parts were made overseas and just assembled here, but to say I was way off base in that assumption is yet another understatement.  With very few exceptions all of the speaker drivers and their component parts are made under a single roof, almost completely by hand in most cases.  In fact, many of the machines used to create the speakers are manufactured by Paradigm as well, because there is nothing commercially available that met their needs or could produce parts to the demanding tolerances they insist upon.  When you get a look at how some raw materials get turned into a finished speaker it is really eye-opening, and one thing that was readily apparent is Paradigm could do things much more cheaply if they wanted to and people would  probably never notice.  The attention to detail and precise engineering and manufacturing down to the smallest detail make it obvious that this enterprise is a labor of love for Paradigm’s owners and investors.  Apparently this approach works for them because a tour of the plant tells you this company is financially successful, as well.  Looks like doing things right pays off for those who care to do so!  

Paradigm’s Marketing Manager Mark Aling was a great host and a great guide and I came away with a lot from the experience.  I took a great many pictures and there is much to show you, so my tour will be posted over time in several parts.  So without further ado…

 

 A vintage Paradigm system provides music for the reception area.  As a lover of vintage gear, it was nice to see!

 

Paradigm’s success is leading to a factory expansion , as seen here. You really need to visit to get an idea of the scope of their manufacturing operations.

Paradigm actually manufactures many of the machines they use to manufacture their speakers. Why? Nothing commercially available could meet the tight tolerances they require in their manufacturing.

A perfect example of this is voice coils. Most machines only guarantee accuracy to within half a turn, which did not meet Paradigm’s demanding requirements.

Finished coil is wound to Paradigm’s precise specifications on a machine of their own design.

Voice coils are wound on Apical, a plastic with very high heat tolerance, ensuring reliability.   The wound wire/Apical backing is then baked to produce the finished coil.

Oven for voice coils.

Heat is the enemy and can send speakers to an early grave, so Paradigm takes steps to keep speaker components cool.  After baking, voice coils are holepunched with this custom machine.   The holes work with the airflow ventilation system molded into the driver chassis to provide more airflow for cooling.  Finished coil shown left.

The voice coil is then attached to the spider. Note finished spiders, on left.

Hand-gluing voice coil to the spider.

Gluing a surround to a speaker cone, using a custom-built Paradigm gluing machine. As the surround is rotated it applies a very fine bead of glue at the precise location of contact. Watch for the applicator needle in this animation.

The Steps are:

1. Operator places surround on machine (bottom of machine)
2. Operator places cone on machine (top of machine)
3. Machine applies glue and presses parts together
4. Operator removes finished cone

Speaker drivers awaiting final assembly. Note the grooves in the bottom of the speaker baskets- we will be talking about those later.

Custom-built Paradigm machine applies glue precisely and automatically.

The operator removes the basket and attaches the voice coil, spider and cone while another basket has glue applied- a very efficient process.

Spider is attached first…

…then the cone…

…the coil is attached to the cone…

…leading to this completed assembly, ready for the next step!

Assembled subwoofer drivers waiting for their new homes. Later on we will see them assembled into a complete subwoofer.

Mark holding a subwoofer basket. See the ribs inside?

Closer inspection shows them to be part of the voice coil’s cooling system. The back-and-forth motion of the back of the cone pushes air through the grooves, cooling the voice coil and preventing overheating. That’s some fantastic engineering, and putting the reverse piston motion of the cone to good use. It’s like getting something for nothing!

Component parts of a subwoofer driver, from right to left: basket with magnet assembly, voice coil and spider, and the driver cone with surround. All are made completely in-house.

Underside of subwoofer cone with surround. Ribs are precisely designed and  placed to guarantee stiffness in the cone and acccordingly, distortion-free bass.

Sub drivers rolling down the assembly line. Common lines are used for different speakers and are configured according to the day’s production schedule.

When Paradigm says they make speakers, they really MAKE SPEAKERS. I expected some common parts were subcontracted, but more often than not Paradigm makes it themselves, even down to the magnets. The tire-like ring on the right creates magnets for subwoofers. A metal slug is inserted into the open area, a precise and intense magnetic field is applied, and a new permanent magnet is created, destined to one day find a home in someone’s sound system.

Ordiniary metal slugs, soon to become subwoofer magnets.

Assembly of in-wall speakers.

Basket assembly for in-wall speaker. Baskets are cast by Paradigm off-site and delivered to the main factory.

Check back soon for Part 2 and a review of Paradigm’s Cinema 70 system!