Paradigm Personas anyone heard them

I listened to the small Personas at The Audio Doctor's shop. I preferred them to the KEF1 speakers.

Don’t get me wrong; I am not knocking the 9H, I would love them just as anyone else, but all I am saying is that they could of easily had a 9H and 9F version (for less money).

If everything the dealer told me is correct (he seemed to know his stuff), the 7F is the "9F" as you’re describing (take the 9H speaker but with passive bass instead of the 9H powered bass). But for whatever reason Paradigm called it 7F instead of 9F (maybe to save the coveted "9" designation for their statement version with powered bass). 

I only had about an hour yesterday and spent the whole time listening to the 5F which was astounding in so many ways (Transparent audio cables and Meridian dac/pre/amp electronics). Perhaps a bit bright compared to "warm" sounding soft-dome speakers. But not bright in an etched or sibilant way... rather, open, extended, airy, and ultra-refined micro detail that never sounded harsh or irritating. Very listenable. I have a feeling this open/airy character may work well with my own Hegel amplifier (when tends to warm/neutral IMO... not a bright or edge SS sound at all) so once I save more $$ I plan to bring my own electronics to the store to do some serious listening.

I also look forward to hearing how close/far the 3F are in comparison (would love to hear the 7F which they don't have on display sadly as they go straight from the 5F to the 9H). And they also have KEF and Monitor Audio so i'll be able to hear some comparably-priced other brands that are also well regarded (would love to hear the Monitor Audio Platinum 300 IIs). 

I want bass (which the Persona 5Fs have... tight and musical... it's sublime), natural mids (which sounded to me like they could be better but I wonder how my own electronic gear might affect that), open/airy/detail (5Fs have to perfection). And one other thing I want are speakers with wide dispersion so they sound good playing even when you're in the other room or walking around or dancing... and the 5Fs do that well.

I will say that the imaging on the 5Fs was phenomenal... wide, tall, low, and deep. It was like 3D IMAX with some recordings... not only "height" in some cases, but sounds came from below... like I was in a stadium IMAX seat looking up *and* down at music that filled my field of vision... not just a left-right horizontal spread. And some recordings with depth were astonishing. For "effects" audiophile recordings (think Pink Floyd etc) they are superb. They also sounded great with Holy Cole female vocals... and her "don't smoke in bed" album sounded like I was in the presence of a performance rather than a recording.

One thing that wasn't ideal though (and I'm very curious to hear in the future how this may or may not change with room and electronics) was that sonic images were "larger than life". This included close-miked pop recordings but also was true for more traditionally mixed stereo vocal-recordings... the "IMAX" analogy works here too as it was like everything was magnified. Now, this was playing loudly. When turned low things sounded life-sized, but that's not typically how I listen personally... when turned up for slam/impact, the music got "larger", not just louder.

It's not bad per-se, just not something I've experienced before. I'm curious if others have heard this too with the personas or other speakers... basically the effect that when the louder they are played, the *larger* the soundstage images become... as if they are being magnified like a projector that's zooming to create an even larger image. It's intriguing and I think it may be because of the purity of the highs/mids that remain completely clear and distortion-free even as they are played loudly... all of the ease and detail is still there, and the brain probably sees this as "larger", not just "louder". 

Can't wait until I save some more $$ for a more in-depth audition with my own gear...

I know this is old.  I am interested in the bookshelf model and wanted to listen to them.  I found them in a local box store.  They had all models connected with anthem, but it was so disappointing listening to great speakers in an open show floor.  It was competing with loud gaming next door and store noise.  I listened for an hour but didn't really get to hear them. 

@sttt How big is the room you want put the new speakers? Any reason why you have considered the monitor and not the 3F (or any other small floor stander).

yyzsantabarbara  Persona B Speakers
I had this big long write up and I hit the back button accidentally lost all of it. I will keep this short. The room is 14 X 20, but has an entrance way, hallway and stairwell. Not easy to set up.

Anyway, the speakers sounded horrible when I first hooked them up. I almost crapped my pants after paying so much money for these things (used). Long story short, I had to change settings in my Amp (NAD T-777 V3). I was running stereo through a zone and that turned out to be a no no. I had to set a main output to stereo by creating a profile and assigning it to a preset, then assign that preset to the source; BluOS. That and adjusting speaker position changed everything.

NAD comes with BluOs which has a library of musical providers. I have been using Qbuz, Deezer and Tidal. They are free, so they may not be the 24 bit quality version.

I have been listening for a few days now and i love the speakers. I think these speakers take some time to get used to. They can be harsh, because they are so honest. These are the most honest speakers I have ever heard. They play it like it is, good or bad and the sound you get seems like the exact sound.

I have a story. A few years ago the wife and I went to the Walnut Valley Bluegrass festival in Winfield, Kansas. As we walked through the main thorough fair, there were two young boys who were 12 or 13 years old. They were both playing banjos. I am not a banjo fan unless its Bela Fleck, J.D Crowe or the like, but these two kids were amazingly good. They were trading licks and playing at amazing speeds.

While I was at home repositioning these new speakers and walking around the room, I walked right in front of one of the speakers when a banjo tune came on. It was so stark and realistic, the image of those two boys playing those banjos at Winfield jumped into my head. I hadn’t thought of that since we were actually at Winfield. The sound was so real, I was back in Winfield for a split second.


These speakers won’t be for everyone, but I’m sold. The clarity, the bass, the accurate sound which is completely honest of the recording is something I like. I think it takes some tuning to get it right. I also think different amplifiers may have a different affect on the sound. Not all will fit.