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Paradigm Persona series

I'm beginning to poke around and gather opinions and information about a "super speaker" to replace my aging Thiel 2.4s.  I like the idea of bass dsp room correction and I am a bit of a point source type imaging nut (thus the Thiels).  So among other choices I've been looking at the Paradigm Persona series specifically the powered 9H with room correction for the bass.  However I'm skeptical of the "lenses" i.e. pierced metal covers on the midrange and tweeter specifically because of Paradigm's claim that such screens "screen out" "out of phase" musical information.  The technology in the design seems superlative but I just can't get past the claim re out of phase information and the midrange and tweeter covers.  What could possibly be the science behind this claim?  It just seems like its putting a halloween moustache on the mona lisa given the fact that the company is generally a technology driven company.
pwhinson
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,320 posts
 
I disagree.  In the concert hall I've never heard massed violins playing fortissimo sound shrill.
But I do hear that on a number of recordings and through a number of speakers.
Early DGG digital recordings are particularly guilty of this.  I've never found a metal domed tweeter that completely avoided this--the beryllium that Salk uses came close, the different one used by Fritz even closer.
Needless to say, recording+speaker effects can be cumultative.
Long live soft domes!
mgrif104
367 posts
 
I’m with twoleftears on these points.  

1) I love the sound of an orchestra live - it’s never shrill even though there’s a lot of high frequency information.   
2) one set of my speakers has a metal dome tweeter and I’ll never make that mistake again. I can’t tame it no matter what changes to electronics and cables I’ve made.  Metal and tweeters are a bad combination in my experience.
3) early DGG - heck most any recording by Deutsche Grammophone is nearly unlistenable.  It’s too bad because there were some really great performances that were very poorly recorded. I have a recording of Mahler’s 5th by DG that is so unbelieavably bad, it’s a wonder they ever released it.  Do those guys actually listen to these things when mastering?  Maybe the tweeters were blown out in the mastering room. It was a gift from my dad, or I would have returned it!

steve59's avatar
steve59
1,790 posts
 
I used to be in the camp that a tweeter didn't even have to be auditioned to know how it sounded based solely on the material of the dome, but I listen first now because i've been proven wrong a few times. listening to speakers that sounded so good I couldn't even guess which driver a particular note was coming from let alone guess the material of the tweeter dome. I suppose the less radical the design the easier, safer, path to good sound, but speakers like these may have the potential to surpass them all, if you know what you're doing. 
contuzzi
413 posts
 
@pwhinson can you let me know what tracks you found “bright” on the 9H?  Preferably stuff on Tidal or Qobuz.  I didn’t mean to be disrespectful or insulting and I apologize for doing so.  I’d like to hear which songs in particular you feel are bright.  
audiotroy's avatar
audiotroy
3,851 posts
 
The rear bass drivers based on their design are vibration cancelling by working in concert with the front drivers.

The purpose of them is to provide additonal bass output and to vent the rear bass wave around the rear of the speakers to better allow for the correction curve to work optimally. 

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Persona dealers


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