April 2017 review of the Paradigm Persona 9H A home run for Paradigm!

Well Kuppe, we agree on one thing, CSA and Audio Nexus are not the friendliest of dealers and I do not patronize them either (although CSA is out of business now) and Andy Singer had a rep as overbearing but I always appreciated his knowledge and he always treated me very well. You and I also do not disagree on the freedom of one to like whatever speaker he chooses or whatever equipment he chooses. But my beef, as stated, was with Audiotroy who has invaded more than one thread that I have been in (and one which I was not on) or I would not be all over him. Look at the language he uses to promote Audiodoctor in the Wilson thread. I have never read any dealer post on the history of this forum that so shamelessly promotes his dealership. This was in line with how Dave tried to sell me at Sound By Singer and at audio shows. It just rubbed me and others the wrong way from the very first time I was subjected to it. I did my best to avoid Dave in my subsequent  visits to Singer's shop and mostly succeeded. Audiotroy deserves everything he got from me IMHO. His 12 posts on that thread were attempts to defend himself from me calling him out and to further promote his expertise and that of Audiodoctor.
Of course, in any thread, someone can make a suggestion of another brand or another alternative--I am never against that. It's the way Audiotroy did it (and as a dealer rep) that caused me to go at him. I am not the master of Audiogon propriety and indeed have never been as ferocious in writing in any forum or anywhere else as I was here on Audiogon with Troy.  
You, on the other hand, are apparently happy with the way they have treated you and I'm sure they are capable of that. They do carry some fine brands but I will exercise my right not to purchase those brands from them. You will exercise your right to not purchase from Audioconnection because John strongly promotes Vandys. And life will go on.
  

Again, we agree to disagree, I have never in the 20 years of being an audiophile and an occasional shopper, living in this area, found a kindred spirit such as  in  Dave and Audio Doctor. 

Never was I given a hard sell, as you described, and he proved in doing demos that little changes in system setups and pairings could totally change the sound, we did a shoot out between Wireworld and Audioquest Cables and the differences were easily audible and it was instructive and thusly changed my biases towards cable upgrades, I can't ever remember a dealer actually doing a cable demo everyone is always trying to sell me new speakers or components, not cables and power conditioning as a next possible step. 

Dave felt more to me as someone who was committed to the art of music reproduction, and the fact that these guys chose to work with lesser known but famous brands such as ATC, and Paradigm, says to me it is more about the sound then the brand, until now who ever thought of Paradigm as making world class speakers? And I can't ever remember anyone selling ATC in the New York metro area, I have seen lots of B&W, I have seen Harbeth and Spendor, never ATC. 

I really don't understand your resentment of Dave, and unless he went out of his way to treat me differently I am very shocked by how you feel, I talked with Finibx  after meeting him at the shop, and his story is similar to mine, he told me Dave came to his house and re set up Wilson 8 didn't charge him a thing, and now his Wilsons sound significantly better.

Andy on the other hand seemed to always be pushing me to spend more, and encouraged me to always be changing components. I ultimately bought a pair of Virgos and Scorpios from Andy, but I never got the feeling that Andy was in it for my best interest rather than his. He is a fascinating man and can be quite engaging. 

Wow, I don't even know where to start.  How the heck did I get pulled into this thread?  Glad I am Johnny's payroll. Sorry Johnny for buying my Ayre AX5/20 from Ralph at Take 5 in New Haven.  He's a GREAT dealer and a darn nice guy just like Johnny is.  Oh, I also got a small Linn system for the bedroom (hate it) from a dealer in Dallas.  Great guys all of them.  That was a year and a half ago.  Oh I forgot, I have recently purchased headphones at another dealer.  

My point is that you should never make a statement like that about me when you don't know me or anything about me other than some posts I make about equipment.  Like the owner of some dealership you have talked about, I've been in audio a bit too.  I've been involved since 1969.  I started my system early in life. I've been blessed to meet many great and some not so great folks in the industry. Heck, my ex was Mark Levinson's attorney many years ago.  I am in contact with many a reviewer too and know who I trust and who I don't.  There are some I like, but we hear very differently and like different products.  I believe in my own ears and don't need to go to dealers to tell me how great anything is.  Honestly, that's why I ended up at Johnny's and started buying Vandersteen's.  They sold themselves.  

The last thing I was going to even listen to were Vandy's as my old dealer I was loyal to sold them, but never had them set up properly so I never liked them.  I was closed minded.  Not any more. I hear a ton of gear as I travel and get asked to audition.  Heck, heard the 9H's the second day they made their NA tour at the Audio Store in Newington, CT where I grew up.  Bernie the owner is a GREAT guy and will also take the time to let folks audition.  See, again not working on Johnny's payroll or anyone else's.

Unlike many of the folks posting, I have no hidden agenda or any agenda other than have discourse and sometimes debate with some great posters and some, well.......

When you decide to make a post hiding behind a keyboard about someone you really should have your facts in order as that makes things personal. Talking about audio products is not personal regardless of how much we love what we own and listen to.  

I'm not made or hot under the collar, just stunned that my name came up in a thread by a poster who is clueless in making the allegations they have made.  It was just wrong and very rude.  

From now on, just email me to let me know when you bring my name up in any posts on any boards so that I may at least defend my name.  Pete at ctsooner@alumni.ou.edu   I'm not hiding behind a keyboard.

Oh, not that it matters, but I WISH I was able to work at Johnny's or any of the dealers I mentioned.  Since you don't know crap about who I am, I'll share a spec.  I'm a retired Navy Commander.  I'm a Surface Warfare Officer who drove the USS Kitty Hawk back in the day.  I'm a proud dad of two wonderful children.  One is 18, with Autism who stunned us all in his growth and is attending college this year in PA.  My daughter is a Jr at Univ of New Hampshire. She's majoring in Astro and Nuclear physics and minoring in Entrepreneurship. She also captains the cheer squad that is heading to nationals in April.  My wife owns an insurance agency and  writes in over 38 states. We have three Yorkies.

I can no longer work as I had Transverse Myelitis that was caused by MS.  I use a rollator to get around.  I'm very active and do everything I can possibly do, but many days I have to just stay home by myself with my dogs.  We will hang out on forums all day and listen to music of all types.  

There you go, that's what I have decided to share, but still not WHO I am.  Oh, I love Vandersteen's, Ayre, Basis and Audioquest.  Guilty for liking them all.  I also like a ton of other gear, but this is what I currently own and I realize that we all like different things and that's why there are forums.  Not trying to sell a darn thing, other than older gear that I wanted to move like many other folks.

Ctstooner I am glad you love Johny and love your gear, that is not the point, the point I was raising, is that there are plenty of guys on these forums that love their dealers, and are very vocal about their support.

And I am not trying to say anything other than you are friends with this one particular  dealer, the fact that he or any other dealer is doing anything for you because of it is between the both of you.

As I mentioned, the nice folks at Audio Doctor, treated me more as a friend then as a customer, and have been very hospitable, other then having Dinner there, I have been given the opportunity to hang out anytime and just watch a movie in their home theater room as well as spending hours listening to music.

All the New York stores seemed to be more with an agenda to make a purchase, then I have found with many of the NJ  dealers, high rents?

My point in some of these posts is not to denigrate someones choices but to point out as Troy did that we should all be open to the possibility of enjoying the sound and qualities of other products and you should be loyal to what sounds good to you and not just to a product.

What bothers me as I mentioned before is the narrow minds of some of the people on these forums.

I am a photographer I do not care which brand of camera I use they are tools, and over the years I have used different  brands and quite frankly I have never seen such polarizing views on brand loyalty as to what I have seen here.

To me there is no one brand that is better, I know you love Vandersteens, but how objectively have you listened to the competition, how do you know if you might not like a pair of similarly voiced speakers such as the Legacy's unless you have also gone down that path?

Like you I have my bias both pro and con to many of these dealers, I never felt warm at Lyric or Stereo Exchange, nor did I find great sound at either of these, I found Innovative also to be a bit on the weird side, l I did have a positive experience at Singer, I would not go there again, as their new store  is a shell of what they once were, and they have very little that I can afford that I think I would actually purchase, and Andy I know would not let me come in time and time again to just listen without making a purchase.

.

Cstooner, I hope that clarifies my position, I thank you for your service to the country, and you do sound like a terrific and very interesting man.

I also must apologize if I mentioned your name without knowing you, I was just trying to make a point about some of the fan boys here.

I am not on anyone's payroll, but like you, I have never found a store where it was more about me, and my experience of having fun and learning about and playing music, never found that degree of civility in most of the stores, and I think Audio Doctor is unique place so like you I am vocal and I will try to promote them as much as possible. 

We should all just visit more of the shops and try to keep an open mind. I know how I like and what I like I am open to listen to and consider anything.