Paradigm Persona series

djverne, interesesting, every speaker you mentioned as liking are Two way speakers, vs a three way loudspeaker.

Could it be that you don't like a three way loudspeaker?

Also almost every loudspeaker has a soft dome tweeter that you mentioned. 

You are also assuming that the speakers are set up correctly at this person's house?

The reality is that ANY high resolution loudspeaker will be totally dependent on the equipment your are driving it with, the quality of the playback gear, and the cabling, then factor in the room's acoustics as well as postioning and you are going to hear glorious sound or horrible sound.

Yes you might not like the speakers but your findings are hard to extrapolate as to what was the issue with the setup.

We would welcome you to hear the Pesona series setup with the right gear in the right room at our shop, they are marvelous loudspeakers when setup correctly, they are however, very picky about what you use with them, they will show you everything both good and bad with the setup. Unlike other high performance loudspeakers they have both a Beryillium tweeter and midrange and therefore are going to show you everything in that stream, if the dac was sup par you are going to instantly hear it. 

Also with a three way loudspeaker you are going to be much more aware of coherence issues with placement and sitting distances, if you are too close you might not find the drivers blending correctly, other issues can be toe in as well.

We are not saying that the Personas are for everyone, there are people that are not going to be in love with their remarkable clarity if comming from certain much warmer voiced loudspeakers if that is their predilection, but it certantly sounds that you did not hear them at anywhere near their best. 

It is like a panel guy who loves panels most direct radiating loudspeakers are going to "sound" wrong to that listener. 

Sometimes it is a case of listener bias and or preference while others are going to be down to setup.

You mention a whole host of speakers you like however, you did not compare a single one in the same enviornment to the Paradigms, so your logic and testing methodology is not exactly the same.

You may want to relisten to the speakers at a Pardigm dealer and you might think differently about them or not. 

When we judge loudspeakers, amplifiers, or dacs, we don't just use one sampling before we get a picture of the line, we often will hear said product at multiple shows before we get a real impression or better yet at our shop and testing under known circumstances.

Good luck.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Persona dealers

I’ve visited Paradigm dealers where 75% of the salespeople will candidly admit that they prefer a competitor to the Persona line at similar cost for their home systems, and no these aren’t all people who don’t appreciate clarity or who lean towards warm sounding speakers because in some cases the preferred competitor also uses beryllium.

Horses for courses. Everybody likes what they like and it’s all subjective anyway.

I love the sound of Spendor, but no doubt there are some who would say Spendors sound terrible, and I wouldn’t tell them they’re wrong or that they must have heard Spendor in a bad setup. I’d realize that they just prefer a different sound than I do.

Now if if they say any candy bar other than Mounds is best, then we’ll have to take it outside ... : )

i heard a not cheap Klipsch setup today playing on a five figure Esoteric amp at a dealer and I swear it was one of the worst sounding speakers I’d ever heard in the cost range, but there was another customer there just eating it up and I could tell that to him it was sonic perfection.

Just reread my post and would like to apologize for my analogy lol...had a few beers.

The Personas were toed in but even if they were not properly spaced I should not be able to detect the crossover between the midrange and tweeter. As far as cables go, they were probably just using some run of the mill Monster wires. The source was off the guy’s phone streamed to the Mcintosh integrated amp. Maybe I am not a fan of Mcintosh. You know David Belles is right down the road I should see if he would be willing to loan and integrated amp to this store. I actually have yet to hear one of his amps but they have a small following.

On a side note, Audio Doctor I checked out your website and see you cary Exposure amps. I am a huge fan of their sound signature and I was wondering if you have had any experience with the difference between the 3010s2 and 3010s2D?

I love the Belles stuff.  For SS gear Belles is at a great price point and punch high.  Aesthetix gear is like that too in the Tube range (that new integrated is a game changer for tube gear in that price range).  

The new Ayre 8 Series stuff is just unbelievable for the cost.  Real meat on the bones and plenty of the Ayre micro and macro detail.  

Sorry to go on, but this is some of the new stuff I've really liked a ton.  The Ayre stuff is sick if you go afford it even withe a stretch.  

Heard the Persona 9's again at a dealer who has them set up in a great room and with top gear.  They sounded the best I've ever heard them sound.  They are still way too top heavy for my tastes, but I see why many like them.  

My experience trying to put together a greater sounding stereo has pretty much mirrored what audiotroy talks about. I don’t dispute their reality I just don’t like it because I cannot afford to play there. I had hoped that using audiogon and patience I would be able to assemble a class a system for a fraction of the cost. Unfortunately AT is spot on when they say you can’t buy a bunch of components that get great reviews and count on great sound, for me now it’s the chicken or the egg? Do I buy an amp/ pre amp and find speakers that like them? Wtf, seriously. I’m interested in great music not fancy boxes. There’s a lot of companies offering active speakers and to audiotroys analogy when you buy a Porsche it already has a sota tranny, tires, suspension, etc they don’t bankrupt you and then say what did you expect your garage doesn’t have a lift! I know they didn’t make the model but they support it.