Hey Melb guy dude you are so way off base it isn't even funny.
Compare the size of Magico in gross sales and net revenue to Paradigm, Paradigm has been making great speakers for many years using some quite superb drivers. Their factory is 250,000 sq feet.
Why is this relevant Paradigm makes money, a lot of money, with vast resources you can build anything you want and easily out spend a smaller competitor. If B&W wanted to build a 10 million dollar speaker they could, they are about a $300 million dollar a year company, for that matter so could Bose, they are about $3.4 billion dollar a year company.
It is talent and resources and desire that determines what a company can do.
Paradigm was always a conservative company, that always built a good but not earth shattering product with Persona they are producing a world class speaker that can compare with a $70k or more Magico easily and in terms of driver technology the Persona drivers are right up there with the best drivers on the planet, perhaps only the heinously expensive pure Diamond drivers of Acuton may be better.
Beryillium for years has been considered the best if not one of the best materials to build a loudspeaker cone out of it is self damping, extremely rigid and very light. No one uses it as it is extremely expensive and nearly impossible to source, as well as extremely toxic and difficult to work with.
Stop drinking the Magico cool aid, to think that a layer of diamond dust over a Beryillium alloy is even close to a pure Beryillium driver you got another thing coming, and Graphene is another way of saying fancy carbon fiber composite driver, again something that has been done many times before so don't start throwing stones at Paradigm engineering that have a boat load of patents on driver design.
Magico makes superb drivers but to honestly believe that their drivers are superior to any other superb set of drivers is just silly.
Magico makes a very fine speaker if you like them great, many people find Magico's boring, I visited a very famous retailer and heard the $170k pair and was hardly moved by them, they did many things well, one of our clients has the Rockport Arakis and quite frankly not even in the same ballpark as the Magico.
As per Jtinn's comments, I know exactly what is inside an Evolution speaker we did a repair job to replace a blown tweeter in a guy's house in CT, so yes I know intimately what is inside and how the speaker is constructed.
I have also been inside a Rockport as well so you have no idea to whom you speak I have been building speakers for close to 40 years and into this hobby since the 60's, my first system was all Dynaco hand built, Tandberg Reel to Reel and Ar3A loudspeakers, so experience I got a plenty.
Did Jtinn disclose duh that he is the manufacturer of Evolution Acoustics or Mike Lavigne is a partner in their venture? I work doing repairs and do occasional installation work so it is more of a fun part time thing,so it is pretty clear that I am affiliated with a dealer.
