Paradigm Persona series

Cmsgold you miss our points entirely,  It is not about patting our selves on the back it is stating a simple reality.

We visit a lot of dealers all over the country and there are good dealers with matching equipment, to showcase expensive loudspeakers and there are ones that do not. 

That is also not to say that everyone has dialed in systems that are expensive some of these systems don't sound that great while other ones do. 

As per issues with us we get numerous calls a week with people who report that are posts are helpful and illuminating. 

In another thread about servers we stated a simple fact we sell FIVE different brands of servers, do you not think that gives us a broader perspective than a dealer who only sells one brand of servers?

We are always testing new brands of gear and new models to better serve our clients.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ

+1 csmgolf

I’ve been reading this thread for a while, and as an audiophile consumer... here’s my 2-cents.

I’ve never met or spoken with audiotroy or visited his shop, but what I have done is auditioned several high-end speakers in the $10-$25K range recently when I was bitten by the bug to upgrade. Frustratingly the Magico A3 was no where on display in the Washington DC area last year when I was doing my auditioning, but I listened extensively to Dynaudio’s new flagship Contour, Focal Sopra 3s, Rockport Atrias, Persona 5Fs and a few others. I auditioned these speakers several times in the various shops where they were on display... both with the dealer’s preferred gear and then finally with my own gear. I literally hauled my Hegel 30 amp, Hegel 30 DAC, Ansuz power conditioning, Aurender music server, all cabling and still-points to each place so I could hear the speakers with my own gear.

When this quest began... the speaker that sounded the best (in a room that closely approximated the size and shape of my own) was the Persona 5Fs driven by the dealer’s preferred Meridian amp and dac/pre front-end (and I think MIT cabling). It sounded lovely... silky, airy, open, expansive and lush. Bass was deep and powerful and palpable... midrange was liquid and utterly detailed with no brightness, harshness, or glare. Those were the speakers I was ready to buy. Then I swapped out the gear with my own... which was by no stretch sub-par. However, the sweetness and glow of the music vanished, and it just sounded "good" but no longer seductive (though still not . Interestingly, moving my same gear to the Rockports was almost a revelation... and was some of the best bass I have ever heard. In the end the speakers my own gear paired best with seemed to be the Focal Sopra 3s.

In any case, the point of this story is that in the same room, the same set of Persona 5Fs sounded phenomenal fronted by one system, but then swapping in another (of comparable cost and audiophile design) only sounded "good" but not compelling.

We all know that gear matters... and can matter a lot. Most of us have been around long enough and have changed enough components in our system over time to know that some $$$ gear can make or break a system... and what sounds fabulous in one system can degrade the sound of another. It’s all about the synergy.

So why are we arguing?

-Dave

Oops, deleted again. 

Gold star for me.