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
Thanks again to both of you guys for responding. As far as my ultimate goal in a speaker would be, I would say the feeling of being there if it were live performers is the goal. I think that’s the case for a lot of us. I do like a lot of micro detail if I’m saying that right. For instance I would not want even a slightly veiled sound even if it made the sound a little sweeter. What I’m already getting out of my Ushers is pretty darn good. Things like acoustical solos or vocals are pretty amazing. What I wonder is if it could be better when a lot of things are going on at once. I’ve often wondered when a bunch of musicians are playing at the same time and different vocals and sound effects and such, can any speaker really match the sound of a live performance? Maybe speakers with three or four drivers hold a big advantage in that way. I suspect you guys might know the answer to that. What I did yesterday is send an email to GR-research that specializes in upgrading speakers with better or even the best components internally. I know he has worked with different Usher speakers in the past. That would be my perfect and game if I could put a few hundred or maybe even a thousand or two into the speakers I have and match the performance of these speakers that are and the 8 to 15 thousand dollar range when new. I know that’s a tall task and may not be realistic. I know it’s money I would never see again if I ever sold them, but if I like them enough I don’t think I ever would sell them
Ushers are great speakers.  The xover upgrade for my be 20dmd’s was pretty reasonable. I sold them because I really wanted to try a pair of dsp units that came up, but usher does a really great job making revealing speakers that don’t shred your set list. The dmd midrange driver available as an upgrade is interesting, tho i really thought the be mid was perfect.
Hi guys we were Usher dealers great speakers in their day the personas are much more transparent and inage better

For your room persona 3fs

Or the personna b or kef ref1
With a good small sub for the persona B the Ref 1s go low enough for most

DAVE AND TROY
audio intellect
Paradigm and kef dealers


@milkdud Before you spend any money on speakers you should evaluate the room. electronics, speakers, and wires and decide if everything is optimized. The room being the most important in my view. You can put an incredible speaker in a bad room and it won't sound incredible.

Your speakers seem like they are pretty good from what I remember of the Usher Tiny Dancer and the Be20 that I heard. 

I worked with GIK acoustics remotely to help tame my office room and my simple KEF LS50s sounded incredible afterwards.

Actually a few minutes ago I rearranged some things in my living room where the LS50's now reside with a KEF KC62 sub and I was so happy with the results. It saved me a ton of money because I don't think I will change this setup for a while. The LS50 are bettered by the new LS50 Meta and the KEF Reference 1 but I could have bought one of those better speakers and had bad sound unless I fixed my room first.

BTW - If you want uber detail (like my living room system) demo some very quiet gear. 
I won’t argue with the personas being more transparent with better imaging I would suggest the bass integration is also phenomenal wrt personas, but the ushers are considerably less fussy to placement and partnering electronics.