First to 996cupracer, enjoy your Wilsons they are very fine speakers and incidentally I owned Wilson 3s and 5s in the past so I know a lot about the Wilson house sound.
The reason I commented on this post, was your interest in the Alexia which would not work well in your room and to mention an option that you might not have known about or even considered.
Whether you like product A or product B is not the issue, the issue in my mind is the negativity and brand zealotry that many audiophiles in this forum exhibit.
To Grpu I never said that the Paradigms are better speakers then a Wilson or a Magico or any of the other brands that I mentioned, I said they do certain things as well or perhaps better as many of the well known reference speakers brands that everyone is always discussing. that is not to say that they are better speakers, that is for the listener to determine.
As per the Absolute Sound Magazine the full review isn't out until next month, however, the snippet of the review shows that indeed Paradigm has built a product which can compete with Wilson, Magico, YG etc, and again it is up to the potential purchaser to seek out a good demo and judge for themselves, it does look like Paradigm has arrived and has shown the world that they can build a true reference product.
I did say we preferred the Personas to the other reference speakers we have tested in our shop including the Kharmas, which were excellent just not worth $120k, we also sell the KEF Blades which I do think are superb, I think the Personas do certain things better and I prefer due to the greater transparency of the Paradigms
As per Dave's track record on finding and picking very high value to dollar and great sounding products his record is clear, we do not say that all of our products are the best we like them for what they do for a particular reason, taste and price point.
Usher made and still makes a fantastic product, we chose to drop them due to their weight and lack of a new US distributor.
I would still take a pair of Scaena loudspeakers compared to the Wilson Alexandria, we chose to move on from them for reasons not relating to their sound which was some of the best we have ever experienced, by the was Johnathan Valin raved over them too!
Other brands we have championed include Conrad Johnson, Nuforce now Nuprime, T+A, Aqua Hifi, Light Harmonic.
We have many brands of speakers in our shop, including Dali, KEF, Legacy, ATC, Paradigm, Gradient, Vivid, Tannoy and others.
We are very found of ATC which do not use exotic drivers either, they use paper cones and silk tweeters by the way. ATC makes all their own drivers and their drivers are superb, the are also very holographic and very dynamic.
We would still say that for an ultimate reference speaker there are advantages in superior lighter and stiffer materials which we feel create a more pinpoint soundstage and greater low level detailing.
We have the $70k Polymer Research MKXs which uses the extremely expensive Acuton pure diamond midrange and tweeter in a 400 lb enclosure and I think you would freak out after hearing this level of transparency and holography.
We are choosing to focus more on the Paradigm Personas as they are $35k less than the Polymers, have adjustable room tuning and come in stunning colors and have a full line of speakers instead of one model add to that the Polymers are 400lbs and tough to transport is the reason.
A forum is a place where ideas get exchanged it is not for the exclusion or inclusion of a particular group and back to Grpu your thinking and reasoning is specious, dealers are not allowed to sell into other territories and many people in these forums live on a different coast and will visit their local dealer and not us, so we have nothing to gain.
Many of the people who post here offer ridiculous comments which show their lack of experience, and your criticality of what a "dealer says" is just about selling a product is ridiculous.
All I know is most dealers must purchase their products, if a dealer is buying a product unless that dealer is completely dishonest to themselves, are purchasing products that they believe in and are impressed in enough to purchase and therefor recommend.
Again directed to Grpu if you don't think that some of the avid posters here are not in your words "shills" for Vandersteeen or for Harbeth or Magico, whatever, think again.
The final word will always be the customer and we are proud of our products and we would welcome you to hear for yourself these products at our shop just to see for yourself just how good or bad in your minds the new Personas actually are.