Paradigm Persona series

only you can be the judge of that. Many find the Persona to be a bit bright and fatiguing and others love them. Anytime you get that type of response from a speaker you must listen to it with you gear. Even dealers who post on them say they have to be set up perfectly and you need great gear that has synergy as well as a room that is tuned properly in order for them to sound really good. I’ve heard the series and they aren’t my cup of tea.  We all hear differently. Can you audition anywhere?

Thanks for responding. Actually the more I read about these the more I think it would be too risky to buy without listening. And to answer your question I don't think I have a way to audition them. This thread might be the one I read a few months ago that had a lot of people either loving them or not so much. Then I saw a pre-owned set for sale that got me interested. There's a different thread here where everybody pretty much babbled incoherently how unbelievably great they were. I think some linked to some reviews that may have been skewed in Paradigm's favor. One speaker that nobody seems to ever talk badly about is the TAD stand mount. Maybe I should just be happy with what I have and keep in the back of my mind that someday under the right circumstances I may be able to get a set of those

I would take the TAD ME-1 over the Persona 3F. I would take the Persona 5F over the ME-1. I have auditioned all 3 when I was looking to buy. I would use my KRELL K-300i integrated on both lines because they could both use some warmth.

One of the worst auditions I had was with a 9H. Very disappointing that that dealer had no clue about setting up the speaker, he had the bass cranked up to 11.

TAD is no longer sold in the USA.

I auditioned the Usher Mini Dancer (non-diamond). I thought it sounded very good but the TAD ME-1 is much better. I also liked the KEF Reference 1 over the Usher Mini Dancer. The TAD ME-1 over the KEF Reference 1.

Check out the Yamaha NS5000 with some neutral gear. I liked it the best of all the speakers I have listed.

Thanks yyzsantabarbara for the very thorough response. Of all of the speakers you mentioned I think only the Kef and Persona 3F would be speakers I could consider to purchase new. All of the rest would have to be pre-owned to keep the price at 10k or under. Do you not think the Yamaha and the Persona 5F would be too much in a 9x12 room? Also would you feel confident buying TAD knowing they are no longer distributed here? Thinking if I ever needed a replacement part or something. Any thoughts of Dynaudio or Canton? Canton also seems like a company with little or no us presence. Thanks again

I recently called the dealer where I demoed the TAD ME-1 and after I heard they are no longer distributed in the USA I crossed them off my list.

The Yamaha and Persona 5F (naked) would be too much for such a room. I have the same room and I have an equally (well almost) large speaker, the Thiel C3.7, in this room. It was my mission to make it work in this small space. I now have it sounding amazing on my ROON streaming via physical sound panels from GIK Acoustics. I also have software DSP using Convolution files added into ROON Server. These DSP files were created by Mitch Barnett of Accurate Sound in Canada. I measured my room with tools recommended by Mitch and gave him the resulting data files. He cam back with the DSP Convolution file(s). I choose the one that was the best fit for me. Interestingly, when I recently got a CODA #8 amp I switched to the Convolution file that did not have a slight bass bump. 

You could make the Persona 5F and Yamaha NS5000 work in this space with the same technique as I used. However, I would suggest the following more appropriate speakers for you room to make your life easier. I wanted something inappropriate for the small space.

- Magico A1 
- Vivid Kaya 45 (very expensive)
- KEF Reference 1 (I would wait for Meta version if buying new)
- Persona 3F (need warm gear if you listen all day like me)
- KEF LS50 + KEF KC62 sub 

I have the KEF LS50 + KC62 system in a large room driven by a Topping pre90 and Benchmark AHB2 monos and it sounds very good. It would be incredible in my small office.