FWIW,
I have heard the Persona 3F and I was blown away. First off, I thought they looked hideous in photos and was not excited about that aspect of them at all. However, when I saw them in person (the steel gray or whatever, which looks like a slight blue gray), I was stunned. Completely gorgeous and elegant looking. The phase aligning grilles on the tweeter and mid look like jewelry in person. They look expensive.
Anyway, I was expecting to not like the sound in some way, or at least be turned off completely by some aspect of the sound. I never have thought of Paradigm as "high end" at all. The Signature series have always greatly disappointed me every time I heard them, and to be honest, made me wonder if Paradigm really understood good sound when designing higher priced stuff (their low end monitor series are great).
To say that I was impressed would be an under statement. I want a pair now. I think Paradigm is making a huge mistake showing off those big 9F’s at all the shows, because that’s a really high price point for most people, and it was astonishing how good (and full range sounding in a modestly sized common room) the 3F sounded for "only" 10 grand. I think and hope Paradigm will have great success with this line. So taken back by how much I liked them.
If I had to sum up the sound in some simplified way -- I’d say they sound most like Focal Sopra/Utopia, Magico... and less like Dynaudio/Sonus Faber/Revel/Vienna etc.
VERY open and lively without ever being harsh.
Ok I’ll stop ranting -- just wanted to chime in with my enthusiasm. Take this product seriously. :)
I have heard the Persona 3F and I was blown away. First off, I thought they looked hideous in photos and was not excited about that aspect of them at all. However, when I saw them in person (the steel gray or whatever, which looks like a slight blue gray), I was stunned. Completely gorgeous and elegant looking. The phase aligning grilles on the tweeter and mid look like jewelry in person. They look expensive.
Anyway, I was expecting to not like the sound in some way, or at least be turned off completely by some aspect of the sound. I never have thought of Paradigm as "high end" at all. The Signature series have always greatly disappointed me every time I heard them, and to be honest, made me wonder if Paradigm really understood good sound when designing higher priced stuff (their low end monitor series are great).
To say that I was impressed would be an under statement. I want a pair now. I think Paradigm is making a huge mistake showing off those big 9F’s at all the shows, because that’s a really high price point for most people, and it was astonishing how good (and full range sounding in a modestly sized common room) the 3F sounded for "only" 10 grand. I think and hope Paradigm will have great success with this line. So taken back by how much I liked them.
If I had to sum up the sound in some simplified way -- I’d say they sound most like Focal Sopra/Utopia, Magico... and less like Dynaudio/Sonus Faber/Revel/Vienna etc.
VERY open and lively without ever being harsh.
Ok I’ll stop ranting -- just wanted to chime in with my enthusiasm. Take this product seriously. :)