Are the Paradigm Founder Series really, really good speakers?

The Founder 100's are amazing, I demod them for a few hours and was blown away by them. They honestly have me 2nd guessing my Paradigm Tributes that I use for my front left/right. At ~5k for the pair its a no brainer when comparing to 10k pairs, I can see them undercutting the lower end persona models on bang for buck(the personas are better...but are they really 10-12k better?).

I'm not sure the founders center channel 90c(which I own)is better than the cc-690 v5(which I also own), the highs/mids are definitely better on the 90c but the 690 digs juuuust a little bit deeper which I notice on deeper baritone voices in movies. The 690 also has a much beefier enclosure, like 35lbs heavier over the founders. The founders is gorgeous with the grills on or off.  

I also demod the founders 40B(bookshelf stand mounts) as my rear 6th and 7th channel in my system for a month, which were replacing my studio 40 v3. They had a cleaner upper range, but I thought they were a bit underwhelming in the lower end, the studios were for sure a better all around speaker, but if you crossover at 80hz I didn't really notice much of a difference between the two, and the 40Bs just seemed quieter/smaller vs the 40s. The founders bookshelfs again were absolutely gorgeous though with the grills off. 

Hope that helps?

daaajester,The persona's are true destination speakers that thrive in a system built around them. The founder line is more affordable and will likely sound better in a multi purpose room/system.

Steve59, No disagreement from me. I listened to the 7f in their own room being driven by 1.2kw Mcintosh amps, and I forget the source(equally impressive). In a dedicated 2ch setup, for that price point they are some of the best speakers I have ever experienced, but at 26k I wouldn’t say they are worth 3x what the founders 120hs are.. or 6 times the 100f’s.

The founders line is really really impressive for its price point. You could literally have a 6 speaker founder 120h setup in 5.1 config for the price of 1 pair of persona 7f’s.

Overall: I just added the 40b's to my desk set up and have been blown away! They're paired with a Naim Uniti Atom and Paradigm Defiance V10 sub.

Bass: Bass was okay with just the pair of 40b's, but I have yet to hear any bookshelf speakers that don't cost $2500+ each that didn't require a sub in the system for proper bass response. Proper bass requires volume. The Defiance V10 was an easy addition to the system. My home theater system has dual SVS PB-16 Ultra's...so you could say bass is important to me!

Sound Quality: They sound great! Really nice soundstage too. Fills my space easily without losing any resolution or separation. I've been listening to them 4-8 hours a day as my desk and haven't experienced any listening fatigue either. I've been playing all kinds of music and enjoyed them for all of it. 

Appearance: They also look great in person, much better than in pictures. Since I have them on my desk just a few feet away from my face looks are important. Without the speaker grills they look really premium and interesting. The lower driver has a great geometric laser cut design that looks superb

Before buying I auditioned them against comparably priced Sonus Faber, B&W, and Focal speakers. To me the Paradigms were the best.