beryllium vs diamond

verdantaudio,

You posted "[that the Persona] is universally deemed bright and I found it **and every other paradigm product I have ever heard to be bright.** But, that has been there [sic] house sound since the beginning of time."

I never heard the Personas and express no views.  That said, I seem to recall that John Atkinson may have reviewed one of the Persona models and I noted that the top end was shelved up. That could possible explain what you heard.  

In any case, I own the Paradigm Signature 8 (v3) BE tweeter speakers.  Based on old reviews of its predecessor (S8 v2), I recall that the FR was pretty flat, although its impedance and phase angle curves were pretty wild.  On the other hand, I also recall that Audiophile Review.com reviewed a bunch of speakers and to my surprise, the S8s ranked 7 among a host of dozens.  

See https://audiophilereview.com/audiophile/the-25-ultimate-audiophile-speakers-of-all-time.html

Well, I still own the S8s and I do not find them bright or harsh.  I can't speak for other speakers in the Paradigm line, but the S8s with the BE tweeters sound very nice.  It could be that my ARC Ref 150SE tube amp tames the harshness, …. who knows.  In any case, IMO, your post uses a pretty broad brush to slap a lot of paint on a company's entire speaker line.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion.  I have been dying to listen to the Magico S5 Mk IIs, coupled with my amp.  Maybe one day I will get that chance.  But until that day comes, IMO, I do not think that I am listening to sonic swill.  

Respectfully submitted,

BIF

@bifwynne     I never called Paradigm sonic swill.  I have heard six or eight paradigm products since the mid 90s and they have had a consistent sound.  Paradigm has some of the most loyal and enthusiastic fans of any brand.  I feel like they have a consistent house sound and if you like it, you really like it.  If you don’t, you usually really don’t.  It’s not bad.  It’s my opinion based on my observations.  

I like Magico speakers and another poster in this thread I think said they are lifeless.  It’s an opinion and worth roughly what we all paid for.  Mine is worth just as much.  

Incidentally, in another thread, I told another poster that I hated using the word bright.  He suggested that “bright” was not a bad thing, just a descriptor.  I took his advice here.  Evidently, I was right.  

smodtactical168 posts07-15-2019 12:58am@ctsooner  those carbon tweeters on the Vandys look extremely appealing. You make it sound like they have the detail of a magico but the ease of a Wilson ?  For my ears they do, but we are all built differently and we all want to hear different things.  Often times folks don't listen to their own instincts and will listen to a dealer or someone doing a demo (in home etc..).  I try to listen to as much live music as I can with wife or friends.  That gives me a great idea on how things SHOULD sound when live.  Recordings are different.  That's why I try to listen to recordings that I know well on a few systems.  Again, it's what flavor do you like and can you trust your own ears and not have to trust others.  JMHO

I think this discussion comes down to implementation obviously. Also diamond has the advantage of greater stiffness but beryllium typically lighter mass. So perhaps there could be similar ratios.
The diamond tweeter in the Tonda D and Contriva g2 both sound beautiful. But the design of the speaker makes them sound very different. The former being smooth, relaxed and detailed... the latter giving you every single detail in a captivating soundscape.

My ushers had a dmd tweeter, my salon 2’s a Be and my 8k’s a be and the persona 7f that i’ve spent considerable time with also Be. I also home auditioned the kanta 3 with a be tweeter so I got some comparisons with the same components driving them in the same room. I really prefer the salon 2 and 8k tweeters on hi rez recordings while I found the dmd in the usher to be the slightest bit more forgiving and with the right components the persona would be right there, but I never got it home to compare. The focal didn’t produce any bass in my room so it sounded top heavy. I’m ready for some warmer weather and this quarantine to be lifted so i can gtfooh.