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
@ahofer I hope you end up buying something you love and can live with for the long term. I would be wary buying something that you find a fundamental flaw with, no matter how much someone may want to sell them to you. No amount of cabling, footers, or equipment will take away a 5 db bump in frequency response. Warmth is in the lower midrange, not in the treble. That is just trying to draw attention to something else, not fixing the problem. Trust your ears, not someone else’s, and make the right choice for you.


Cmsgolf, really don’t know why you have this evangelical hatred of the Persoanas.

We are not so powerful as to make Mr. Hofer or anyone purchase anything from us that they don’t like, sorry not going to happen.

The reality is that many people here have heard the 3F really like them. Yes it is irksome that they do not measure flat, it is possible that the Persona’s engineers felt that many listeners rooms would be over damped and this would compensate the other thing is that with Anthem Room correction a flat response can be assured in the room.

Even without room corection we have found that the speakers are not overally bright in real rooms. We have several clients with the 3F in real apartments and homes and so far all of our clients have been absolutely thrilled with their 3Fs..

Also having studied meansurements on many other highly rated speakers many of them are highly rolled of in the top end, so you can have it both ways you can have a dip in treble or a peak either way it isn’t flat,

All loudspeakers have a sound and yes Cmgolf with the right tweeks we can add warmth to a set of speakers, footers, power cabling, software processing can totally change the sound of a loudspeaker.

Do you wonder why Vandersteen’s are often paired with Ayre? Could it be that Vandys tend to sound overally warm and Ayre is a bit on the neutral to slightly tipped side of neutral?

Mr. Hoffer can purchase whatever he likes but in fairness a quick demo of the Personas does not allow us the time to play with the variables that can change the way they sound in ways that can add additional warmth and alter their tonal balance.

Loudspeakers are like any other decision they all have their particular sound and all loudspeakers can be tuned to match a listeners perferences.

Dave and Troy
Audio Doctor NJ Persona dealers
I first heard the 5Fs in a local store but bought the 3Fs because they were in my budget at the time, 2 years ago.  I'm now trading them in for the 9Hs and should have them in a couple weeks.

I auditioned several speakers named in this thread before hearing the Personas.  I wouldn't consider these speakers bright by comparison.  They are incredibly accurate, fast and dimensional. 
Post removed