What other similarly priced alternatives have you auditioned the Personas against? Logic suggests that at the price level you're operating at, there will be other makes out there that do it all for you, with no need to make allowances for certain listening conditions.
Listening Levels for Classical Music / Slightly electronic sound at high levels
I'm presently auditioning some new very high resolution speakers to possibly take the place of my Thiel 2.4's which are absolutely fabulous on classical music but which run out of steam on orchestral peaks. The new speakers absolutely do NOT run out of steam and are *perhaps* more highly resolving than the Thiels which is really saying something. However what I'm hearing on the Paradigm Persona 9h is sound of a different character between crescendos and quiet portions of the classical repertoire where individual instrument, although generally "right" in timbre (clarinets sound like clarinets and bassoons sound like bassoons) but there's a slightly electronic sounding envelope around individual instruments. It particularly noticeable at high listening levels but less so at moderate listening levels and low listening levels. In a word the music on the 9Hs sound ever slightly more "electronic" or "digital" with a tiny bit less immediacy and presence than with the Thiels on quieter portions of the musical line where solo instruments enter and the rest of the orchestra is sightly recessed. The 9Hs are astounding in so many ways that I'm just trying to get my head around the differences that I'm hearing. Amplification is a Pass 150.8, pre is the Aesthetix Janus, DAC is the PS Audio Directstream. I can listen at moderate levels and not be bothered by it so much but there's a subtle difference here. Once they're dialed in both speakers image like crazy and disappear in the soundstage. Any thoughts?